Our Christmas tree is up, the house is decorated, we have started purchasing gifts, and I can feel my stress levels 
rising.
Ahhhhhh…the holiday season.
You officially have 2 choices to make: 1) be everything to everyone else with little regard for yourself and make yourself crazy; or, 2) do what you enjoy, recruit some help with tasks you don’t love and finish the season feeling relaxed and happy.
If you’d like to choose option 1, here are a few helpful tips to maximize the crazy, stressful, chaotic feeling and ensure you need a vacation come January :)
- Don’t make a plan for shopping, and make sure you do it all yourself. Be so sure your spouse is either incapable or of helping or unwilling to help (or oblivious of your need for help) that you insist on buying every gift yourself. Do NOT write down ahead of time each and every person you need to gift, because you will most definitely remember people like your kids’ bus drivers and coaches, piano teachers and babysitters. Not to mention your Great Aunt Norma.
- Don’t make a plan for working out or eating. Make sure you eat whatever you want, drink that egg nog and wine and convince yourself there is no time for expending energy at the gym. You’re on holidays, right?
- Overschedule yourself. Nothing makes a person jollier than feeling like there’s never enough time to get everything done. Say yes to everything, don’t pick 1 main thing to accomplish and see everything else as a bonus, and do NOT schedule some quiet time each week for yourself to enjoy some holiday me-time.
- Don’t plan your spending ahead of time. Whatever you do, don’t put away money each week through the year into a separate account just for Christmas. It’s way better to drop three or four thousand on your credit card than have it sitting ready in an account when you need it. Getting credit card bills in January is so fun…you wouldn’t want to miss out on that. Or the interest you have to pay because you overspent.
- Make sure you’re so busy and stressed that you forget what the holidays are REALLY about. Don’t bother taking time each day to think about what you’re grateful for and DON’T be present with your kids in the important moments…you may not get all those cookies baked!
Clearly I’m being very tongue in cheek with this post. I thought I’d mix it up a little so this article doesn’t sound like every other magazine cover and holiday blog post in your inbox.
Enjoying the holidays is really about planning and about honouring what YOU need as well as your family. If there is anything we can do to make it a little easier, let us know.
If you’d like my 10 Simple Tips for a Happy, Healthy Holiday, here’s a FREE download for you!
Cheers,
Dr. Shawna