Holiday stress can not only affect how you experience your moments in the coming weeks – it can also profoundly affect your health, your relationships – many of the most fundamental aspects of your life.
That’s why it’s so vital to manage holiday stress and not let it get the upper hand.
While the holidays bring great joy for many, they also come laden with memories, expectations, family dynamics – you name it. The net sum is holiday stress, unless you address it.
Maybe family disagreements have tangled and frayed communication. Maybe scheduling conflicts are making things difficult, or financial issues make it hard to create a holiday that lives up to ingrained expectations. Whatever the source of your stress – and whichever holiday is important to you, it’s key to be able to take a step back from the stress and find time to connect with yourself, let go of what you need to, and hold onto your perspective and balance.
Holiday Stress: De-Stress with These 7 Timely Tips
To address your holiday stress before it takes over, sapping your energy and draining the life and fun out of your holiday moments, try following some or all of the following timely tips:
1. Take Time to Yourself. We often take the time to think of others during the holidays – but don’t forget about yourself in the process. Remember to schedule “me” time and concentrate on winding down. In order to take good care of others, you first have to take care of your own health and well-being.
2. Keep a Cool Head. Sometimes the togetherness causes conflicts and clashing. Before you enter a family holiday event, identify possible conflict areas and tell yourself that you’ll give yourself breathing space and perspective should issues arise. This simple reminder can make a big difference in the heat of the moment!
3. Keep Up Your Exercise Routine. Sometimes the busy-ness and excitement of the holiday season disrupts your daily routines. Even a small break from exercise makes a big difference when it comes to your stress level. Try to keep up some form of exercise, as it provides you with a release from holiday stress.
4. Watch your Diet. You don’t have to completely avoid indulging around the holidays, but at the same time it’s important to remember that you always remain in control of your choices. Watch what you’re putting into your body, because large amounts of certain foods can definitely affect how you feel.
5. Get Enough Rest. Sometimes you’ll lose sleep because of holiday stress, and sometimes you’ll lose sleep because of holiday excitement. Either way, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by concentrating on relaxation and getting to bed at a good hour. If you start a pattern of getting less sleep than you need, you could be setting yourself up for stress without even really knowing it.
6. Learn to Delegate. If you come to the realization that you’ve been put in charge of too many things, don’t pile on the stress. Instead, delegate some tasks. Be wise enough to know when you need help and ask for it. You can even get the kids involved with certain preparations.
7. Be Flexible. Of course you have an image in your head of how you’d like certain holiday events to play out. You also know that things don’t always go according to plan. Realize that certain things will not be perfect, and your holiday stress will immediately decrease. Go with the flow and have back up plans if necessary. What a relief!
I hope that you find these 7 tips helpful in reducing your holiday stress – and wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season!
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