8 ways to have a stress-free holiday season
By Christenna Day, LSW, SKLD New Lebanon
It’s holiday season! Time off work. Gifts to give and receive. Eating and drinking as much as you like. Seeing friends, family, loved ones. (well not so much these days) and goodwill and cheer. What’s not to like?
Many people have good reason to dislike Christmas, be it estrangement or loss of their own family or friends of past trauma during the festive period (with all the season’s context cues that can trigger unpleasant memories).
Considering the modern manifestation of Christmas, it’s no surprise that a number of elements can and do lead to an increase in stress.
Here are a few ways to have a stress-free Christmas
1. Make a Christmas budget. A budget is creating boundaries for your wallet (or bank account). And budgeting helps reduce stress because it gives you a plan for your expenses.
2. Set boundaries for your schedule and spending. Over the holidays, you get to decide where you go, how long you stay there, who you invite into your home and how much you spend.
3. Protect your downtime. This is a season of giving, but don’t give so much of yourself away that you have nothing left to give. Keep your peace and quiet, and you’ll keep your sanity.
4. Dealing with canceled plans. This year has been one of canceled plans. We’ve had canceled vacations, canceled family gatherings and birthday parties, canceled paychecks and even canceled church.
5. Limit your time on social media. There’s an overwhelming amount of information, nonsense and news in our country right now. Not only do we see it on our TVs, but now we’re seeing it through our social media feeds. Give yourself a break when you need one. Plus, those perfect Instagram and Pinterest feeds won’t do anything but cause you to compare your holiday plans to others.
6. Make connection your number one priority. Relationships are your emergency fund for life—so I invite you to think of this season as a chance to stockpile those funds. Make people your top priority.
7. Picture the Christmas you want to have. Set expectations for yourself and others by painting a picture of what you want your Christmas to look like. Share your picture with your loved ones so they can understand where you’re coming from. Ask them to paint a picture of what they want, too, so you can choose to honor them. Dr. John Delony from Ramsey Solutions has a great video on how to communicate with pictures.
8. Get plenty of sleep and stay healthy. Anxiety affects at least 40 million people in the U.S. And one of the most powerful tools you have to reduce anxiety is sleep. When you’re not sleeping, your brain’s emotional centers become overactive which increases anxiety levels.