Ten Tips For Handling Holiday Stress
Do You Dread The Holiday Season?
For some people, holidays mean a joyful celebration where you get to see distant family members for the first time in months. For others, it means that you have to come in contact with people you consciously avoid at every other time of the year. Holidays also bring a lot of additional stressors to your life during a time of year that tends to be packed.
Why You Dread The Holiday Season
Unresolved conflict with family members
Fear of having to talk about difficult topics, such as work, relationships, and medical concerns, in person
Stress of having to be around a lot of people
Less time for yourself
Events that you don’t enjoy participating in
A pressure to present yourself as being put together
Having to have the “perfect” house and dinner
Financial stress
The good news is that there are a variety of things that you can do to reduce and manage a lot of stress during the holidays. These simple strategies will give you peace, comfort, and sanity during this busy time of year.
Ten Tips For Managing Holiday Stress
Don’t try to do it all
There are going to be more events than you can comfortably attend during the holiday season. There is also going to be more things that you could be doing that you probably should just decline. Instead of obligating yourself to doing everything, make a conscious decision about what events are worth participating in and which ones you can avoid. You don’t have to go to every holiday party. You don’t need to participate in the office secret Santa. You don’t need to host things at your home.
Don’t talk about things that you want to keep private
Someone is going to ask if you’re pregnant. Another person will try prying into your personal life and medical issues. Since we’re close to an election year, you might hear an earful about what everyone thinks about politics. The good news is that you don’t have to answer any of these questions. Instead, assume someone is going to ask these things and come prepared with rehearsed lines for deflecting and shutting down conversations. Some examples include: “I would rather not talk about that.”, “Can we change the subject?”, or “I need to get going, I will see you around.”Limit your time at boring or uncomfortable events and take breaks
Come late and leave early. After about a thirty minutes to an hour, go somewhere by yourself and decompress. If you don’t want to be somewhere, then there’s no need to spend your entire day at the event. This will be exhausting, frustrating, and extremely boring. Instead, determine beforehand how long you want to stay somewhere and stick to your schedule.Modify or get rid of stressful holiday traditions
Do you dread going home for Thanksgiving? Are you overwhelmed at the thought of Christmas season starting? If this is you, then something needs to change. Most of your holiday traditions and routines should be adding value to your life. If Thanksgiving or Christmas oftentimes devolves into people fighting or someone being very critical, make alternate arrangements for how you can spend the holiday. This doesn’t mean that you should isolate yourself from your family, but rather pick better ways of spending time with them that you can handle. Consider staying home and starting your own holiday tradition instead of defaulting into your family’s stressful holiday patterns.Stop making excuses
Making an excuse gives the impression that you’re obligated to do something or be somewhere. Not having the time, energy, or desire to do something is a perfectly acceptable reason for not participating or limiting your time in a holiday event. Giving excuses also encourages people to question or challenge your excuses.Focus on meaningful activities
It defeats the purpose of celebrating holidays if most of your time is spent doing things that you don’t want to do. This is a guarantied way of making yourself and other dread the holiday season. It’s normal to do some things just to check off a box, such as going to your partner’s holiday get together that you might not be excited about. However, most of your time should be spent doing things that add value to your life and bring excitement during this season.Make a holiday budget and stick to it
You don’t have to spend a small fortune on the holidays, especially when a lot of the gifts might not even be adding a lot of meaning and value to your relationship. You can also find other ways of celebrating holidays that don’t involve spending a lot of money. Don’t try to compete with people by buying expensive Christmas gifts. Set a limit on how much you can spend for secret Santa. Opt out of participating in exchanging gifts for the holidays.Don’t try to make everything look and be perfect
No matter how much effort you put into planning something, someone is going to be disappointed, upset, or rude. It’s not your responsibility to make sure everyone is happy at all times. Some of the most disagreeable people that you know are impossible to please. Taking the pressure off of yourself will make it much easier to relax and enjoy your around others.Ask for help and support
It’s very common for the holiday season to be overwhelming and stressful. You are not alone. This could be a good time to lean into your friends and family for support, consider starting therapy to get additional support, and creating self-care routines that will help you through the season.Plan for buffer time in your schedule
Holidays can oftentimes feel like a marathon. This is why it’s so important to plan for meaningful self-care and relaxation. If you don’t plan these things into your schedule, it’s likely that you’re going to get overwhelmed with everything that you need to do.
Questions And Challenges For You To Consider:
What parts of the holidays do you find most stressful?
What are things that you need to adjust about how you handle the holiday season?
What strategies can you apply to your life from this article?
