Managing Holiday Stress To Enjoy More This Season

Making the holidays less stressful

The holiday season is upon us once more and with it comes much holiday cheer but also many challenges.

I want to help make life as stress-free as possible so that you can rise to the challenge of those experiences that you actually want to be able to have.

Managing stress successfully is all about recognizing your own situation but there are a few considerations that'll help us all with the stress that tends to come at us around the holidays.

Watch this as a video here, or continue reading below.

Make a basic plan for the holidays

I know everyone doesn’t love being a planner and having everything in their life mapped out but a little preparation can go a long way when entering a more stressful season.

Financial Stress

Look at your gift list and space those purchases out over the next four weeks if that helps you to experience less financial strain. By planning ahead and spacing gifts out over multiple paycheques it won’t put as much pressure on you.

I go so far as automatically scheduling a savings account to drip deposits throughout the whole year so I really don’t have to think about it by the time Christmas comes around. I just look at what I have saved and create a budget for all the gifts I’m wanting to give.

Social Stress

Plan your social engagements for the holidays if you are more introverted and find that all of the interaction drains you.

While attending holiday parties may not be as negotiable, you can look ahead to incorporate more me time or recovery time in there to balance it out. Take care of yourself as well with a little more me time and attention to your deep health. With that being said, this time of year is extra special for getting together with friends and family so look at the upside of those get-togethers and cherish them.

It seems like those gatherings are becoming less frequent. And we can all use them, especially after the last few years of experiencing more social isolation.

Planning To Get More From Your Vacation

If you have a vacation coming up, taking time to plan it out for yourself or with whoever you’re travelling with can enhance the experience that you have.

Humans are funny and often don’t even take the time to appreciate the rewards of our hard efforts.

When you are sitting on the beach basking in the sun and listening to the ocean waves and you catch yourself thinking about the next thing instead of appreciating where you are at here and now, it's a part of human nature.

The lesson we can take from this is to actively plan your vacation, think about it, and talk about it so that you also get the positive feelings of something to look forward to as you make that last push at work before the holidays.

Avoid Burning Out At Work

This is a stressful time of year at work for most of us too, and to enjoy this holiday season beating burnout is important.

Join me on this free lunchtime webinar hosted by the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce on how to beat burnout in the workplace.