We all experience it, you start “planning” for the December holidays two months in advance, but it never fails, somehow all of the sudden you wake up one day and realize they are right around the corner.
Although this is supposed to be a time of joy, we cannot help but to feel stressed. Of course, this stress usually brings about sleeplessness on top of everything else. As we all know, this begins to take a toll on our health, especially our hormone levels. We go into detail on how stress affects our hormonal health in the post “How Holiday Stress is Affecting Your Health.”
There are several factors that contribute to holiday-related stress. For one, the holidays often mean hosting company. More often than not, the inevitable occurs and everything in your home begins to break two days before your company arrives. An article in the Washington Post offers ways to safe-proof your house from last-minute breaks and malfunctions. Learning from her experiences, Elizabeth Razzi provides some simple tips to avoid these miss-haps “Check all plumbing a week or two before guests arrive. Make room in the closets. Buy extra hangers. Get all the laundry done and out of the way to cut down demand for hot water. And don’t even think of putting vegetable peels down a disposal.”
Another article in The Cypress Times provides several tips for reducing holiday stress in order to enjoy the holiday season:
- It’s ok to say “no.” There is no need to accept every invitation to every holiday party, time at home with the family is far more important than “showing your face” at an acquaintance’s party.
- Re-evaluate your gift-list. Do you really need to get a gift for everyone you know? In reality, your friends would be equally as happy just to get together for coffee without exchanging.
- Keep your expectations realistic. Strive for the “do-able,” not the perfect.
- Enlist help. No need for you to bear the grunt of the work, ask each family member to chip in on something, even if it is tweaking the wrapping jobs.
- Try to avoid using your credit card. Do you really want to build debt on top of everything else?
- Spend quality time with the family.
Take time to treat yourself. Whether it be pampering yourself with a pedicure or simply meditating for a few moments, it is important to remember your needs too!