How to Reduce Holiday Stress

The holidays typically bring excitement, anticipation and fun. It also brings, to a certain extent, an amount of stress. Understanding what causes holiday stress is the first step to overcome it. To ensure a stress-free holiday, follow these simple steps.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Get enough sleep. You may wonder how this fits especially when you have a long list of things to do for the holidays. However, this truly is a key step to a stress-free holiday. Lack of sleep leads to fatigue, which in turn reduces your ability to cope with the holiday demands. If this goes on, eventually you will attain the stress that you so want to avoid.

2. Find time to exercise, even if it's only for a few minutes. Exercise helps to increase your energy level and reduce stress.

3. Nourish yourself. In other words, take time to eat properly. In the rush to accomplish all the things planned for the holidays, you may tend to skip meals in order to get more done. You need fuel to perform.

4. Plan ahead so that you are prepared for what's coming up. The last thing you need is unscheduled interruptions to your busy day. If something unplanned comes up that can wait until later, do not be ashamed to politely refuse or reschedule.

5. Set and stick to a holiday budget for things that are on your lists to do and buy. It's easy to overspend over the holidays which can lead to stress. Once you set your budget, your decision making will be easy and less stressful when it comes time to make your holiday purchases.

6. Shop early to avoid the holiday crowd. Try shopping over the Internet and skip the hassle of crowded shopping malls, parking and the frustration of standing in line.

7. Prioritize what you want to accomplish over the holidays. Stick with the most important first and you'll get the things that are most important to you done.

8. Simplify your life. If you can make things easier for yourself, do so. It saves you from stress and it works. A lot of things don't have to be elaborate, especially with decorations and food preparation.

9. Reduce your expectations. High expectations usually equate to higher probability of stress when things don't work out. Don't try to do too many things or expect too much from others; take the holiday time to relax.

10. Delegate some holiday responsibilities to family members or friends who may help. This helps to improve relationships and bring the holiday spirit in.

11. Plan to give service and think of someone's needs instead of your own. This charitable spirit will help you be more appreciative of what you already have and remember what the holiday is really about.