Timely Tips to Reduce Holiday Stress



Those old black and white movies portray the holidays as a carefree time of joyous celebration: leisurely shopping in beautifully decorated stores gently falling snowflakes smiling people on every street corner and friends and family opening presents with anticipation and delight. The full-color reality, however, is often quite different: jam-packed stores filled with irritated shoppers ridiculous prices never-ending lines bumper-to-bumper traffic and congested parking lots and inappropriate or less-than-appreciated gifts. Ugh! How do you make the 2003 holiday season more like those happy black and white movies? Try these helpful tips:
  1. Lower Your Expectations: Remember that holidays are meant to be enjoyed, not stressed out over. The watchwords are: Keep it simple. Simplify everything! Simplify shopping by shopping online (no more parking lots or overcrowded stores)! Simplify gift-wrapping by using gift bags instead. Or have merchants wrap for a small fee. Simplify holiday dinners by using the tips we provided above. Simplify holiday card mailing by either preparing them long in advance, or sending holiday greetings via email. Before you make any holiday decision, ask yourself, How can I simplify this?
  2. Give Yourself a Break! Schedule your holiday preparation days in advance and use the other days to maintain your current routine. This keeps your life in balance and helps you avoid completely turning your life upside-down. Allocate one day a week for meal shopping. Another for gift planning and buying. Perhaps another for card mailing. The other days? Watch your favorite TV show go to the movies take a leisurely walk exercise (a great stress reliever!) or read a book. Don’t cram so much activity into such a small period of time that every single day until January 2nd is a hectic race that makes you resent the whole holiday season.
  3. Delegate! Can your kids help shop wrap gifts address cards? Can your partner help cook, decorate, clean, or otherwise arrange to have it done? Don’t think you have to do it all yourself. If the task is too large and you simply don’t have any helpers, that’s the clearest indication that you need to cut back and rethink your holiday plans so you can enjoy the holidays, too!
  4. Organize Your Shopping List: Buy gifts for everyone on your list from the same one or two stores or websites. You’ll save on gas, effort, time, and shipping. Save hours of planning and shopping by giving gift certificates and letting people buy what they want, not merely what you chose for them. Try this idea and you’ll never go back!
  5. Don’t Feel Obligated: Co-workers inviting you to their holiday parties? Go only if you want to. It’s your choice to play office politics, even outside the company walls. Would you obligate others to attend your party? If not, don’t feel compelled to attend theirs. Many people choose to spend their extra time preparing for time with family. And no one can blame you if this is what you choose. Politely decline, stating that you’re behind on your shopping, or whatever reason you cannot attend.
  6. Avoid the Holiday Blues: Be proactive call friends and family now and see what they’re planning. You may be surprised to find how many other people don’t have plans and were hoping to hear someone else’s suggestions! Plus, many people prefer quieter activities during the holidays, such as sharing a movie with a friend… enjoying a long walk filled with deep and meaningful conversation in a place of nature. Others find the end of year to be the perfect time to spend some time alone to take stock review their past year’s accomplishments and reassess their goals for the new year ahead. Perhaps you’ll use this holiday season to plan an entirely new direction for your life: develop a fabulous business idea rethink your current situation and how you’d like it to improve. Don’t repeat last year’s mistakes. Instead, ask yourself “What worked for me in 2003? What didn’t? How can I apply what I learned in 2003 to make my life better in 2004?’


Bottom Line: There’s no one right way to spend the holidays. Choose to do what you want to do, without feeling pressured from anyone.

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