The holiday season can be a nightmare at the best of times. Top this busy time of year with a mental illness (or two) and you might be struggling just to survive.
Wondering what that means?
If you are struggling or overwhelmed right now, due to the holiday season, then this post is for you.
3 Ways to Cope with the Holiday Season:
1. Enlist help – although this may seem like an obvious first step, not everyone is willing/able to ask for help. If you can get help, however, it’s definitely a good first step. Try to delegate the tasks that don’t require your personal attention.
2. If you can’t enlist the help of others or even if there is simply too much to be done and it is overwhelming even with help, prioritize the tasks that must happen and ignore the rest (within reason). Sure, your house might be a mess and you have people coming over, but if they are going to judge the condition of your house are they really people you want to be around? If a task doesn’t absolutely have to happen right now, then it can probably be postponed or ignored.
3. Take a break – does that seem absolutely insane? Are you looking at your to-do list that is a mile long and telling me you can’t possibly take a break with so much left to do? Then you are precisely the one who needs a break. It doesn’t have to be long – even five to ten minutes of a relaxing, non-essential activity can help you decompress and even function more efficiently when you get back to your to-do list. We weren’t designed to go-go-go!
Although the three tips above may seem obvious, sometimes we need a reminder that it’s okay to stop and breathe, or even delegate. We don’t have to do it all, no matter how pressing those tasks may seem – and it’s even okay if we don’t (do it all, that is)!
Additional Help for the Overwhelmed:
Are you looking for more help managing the stress and overwhelm of the holidays? Overwhelmed? Has 4 steps for managing stress in general, applicable to any time of year.
Inquiring Minds Want to Know:
Thanksgiving has passed, but Christmas is nearly upon us. Yet, even after Christmas, we still have New Year’s Eve and day, and Valentine’s day isn’t far behind. This is a season of go-go-go. What do you do to cope with this season of busy? How do you take the time to decompress?
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
[…] Looking for more tips? See Three Ways to Cope with the Holiday Season. […]