10 Ways To Lower Your Holiday Stress
10 Ways To Lower Your Holiday Stress
If you have ever wondered how Santa keeps up such a cheery attitude during the last month of the year you are not alone. Any CEO will tell you that it is hard enough to even stay sane with that kind of pressure deadline much less keep a merry "Ho, Ho, Ho" on your lips this time of year. Here's some information that just might keep you singing instead of sighing this year.
1. Plan, organize and delegate: The best defense against stress is a good offense. Be relentlessly strict about your "to do" list, shopping list and even make a calendar so you (and everyone else in the family) can visualize your goals and objectives. Delegating is key to your personal sanity. Choose things that are least important to you to delegate so that not getting them done exactly on time or exactly how you wanted it won't matter.
2. Give up on perfection: Expectation about wrapping, decorating, cooking and throwing the perfect party can get out of hand this time of year. The point is to enjoy your time with friends and family, not to impress them. Nobody really cares if that bow is perfectly tied on their gift, or that there were more blue sprinkles than red on that great cookie they just scarfed down. What they will remember is the laughter and joy they shared with you. Now that's perfect.
3. Give memories instead of gifts: The memories of a family trip to a museum, concert, or theme park last a lifetime, and acquiring those tickets or passes will surely take less time and wrapping paper than all those big boxes you might otherwise need for presents. "One of the greatest gifts I received was a plane ticket to visit my friend who wintered in Florida," said Jennie, a 55 year-old paralegal from Buffalo. "It was a great respite from the harsh winter weather here, and the fun we had and pictures we took there are lasting memories."
4. Choose traditions with wisdom as well as heart: Your childhood tradition may have been to cut your own Christmas tree but that just may not be important the rest of the family. If getting everyone together and bundled up and not fighting over which tree and who wields the axe is more trouble that it's worth in terms of stress on you and your family, choose something else and make your own traditions, or make changes to the old ones. "We used to always set aside an evening to make cookies with all the women in the family," said Annie, a CPA in Pennsylvania. "I treasured that time because they were teaching us and we were having fun at the same time. Well, now we use store bought cookie dough and Teflon pans so we don't have to spend that much time cleaning, but we still get the cookies and the fun."
5. Ask the family what is important to them. You may feel that the house simply must be lit up as bright as Times Square, or the Gingerbread house has to be a four story Victorian, but others may have simpler ideas about what would make them happy. You won't know if you are going to more trouble than you need to unless you ask.
6. Quit searching for the perfect gift: Some surveys report that finding the perfect gift for loved ones is the most stressful part of the holidays. Shop on line as much as possible to compare prices and check availability. Or, default to a gift card a store where you know the person shops and give them the freedom to pick whatever they want. "At some point people are pretty set in their ways anyway," said Maggie, a therapist from Chicago. "You may think they would love that sweater but they'll never wear it. Letting them pick out there own at least assures you that they will make use of your gift and not feel guilty about hating what you spent so much time selecting for them."
7. Regifting items you haven't used is perfectly legit: Unless of course it is a 10 year old coffee maker in an aged yellow box with so much dust on it that it even makes the dog sneeze. On the other hand, if someone gave you a bottle of wine and you don't imbibe, or you got fancy chocolates from someone who didn't know you were diabetic, there is no shame in passing such things on to someone who would appreciate them.
8. Consider a "family" gift: Maybe your best friend has a lot of kids but you are cash-strapped or don't have time to shop for everyone individually. Discuss exchanging one gift the whole family will enjoy (this could be where the amusement park passes come in). Put it in a big box if you want to make an impression, but at least it's only one box.
9. Lighten up on the wrapping: Even people who revel in the wrapping run out of steam towards the end of the season. And remember losing the name tag on gifts and forgetting who gets which box? Now you have much easier options. Gift bags come in all shapes and sizes nowadays, and you can always peek inside to make sure you are giving the right thing to the right person.
10. Keep the parties simple: In these days of tight budgets and cut-backs, a lot of people can't afford to go out and buy a fancy new outfit for holiday parties. A casual get together with a potluck, pizza, or Chinese food meal around a game table can be just as entertaining, if not more, than a formal cocktail party. And, using paper plates that nobody will risk breaking, and plastic forks that you just throw away makes clean up and the whole thing way less stressful on the hostess.
Follow these tips and not only will Santa keep smiling throughout the season, you just might too. 10 Ways To Learn French On Line Easier 10 Ways To Help You Relax 10 Ways To Dress It Up For Halloween 10 Useful Travel Advise! 10 Unusual Items Kept In The Museum Of London 10 Unusual Items Kept In The Museum Of London 10 Unique Christmas Gifts for Fathers 10 Top Christmas Gift Ideas 10 Top Christmas Gift Ideas 10 Tips for a Unique Fraser Island Tour 10 Tips To Score a Cheap Honeymoon Vacation by:Chris Horton 10 Tips On How To Book A Perfect All Inclusive Family Holiday 10 Tips On Finding The Best Sri Lanka Travel Packages