How to Manage Holiday Stress

The big holidays have come and gone, yet they are right around the corner. While they can be the most amazing time of the year, full of memories and celebrations, they can also cause stress and nightmares. Managing holiday stress can make the holidays magical again. While this guide is not easy, it is worth it to try. I promise.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Patience
• Family
• Holidays

1. * Set realistic expectations.
   Unrealistic expectations will ruin your holidays. They will make you try too hard, do too much, and feel failure. Ask yourself what is the most important part of the holiday for you? If family is most important, spend a day sledding with your children, and less time shopping for their gifts. If you are planning to serve a meal to family and friends, why not say yes when others ask if they can bring something?
2. * Prioritize.
   Make a list of all the things you need to do (not want to do), and decide which ones are the most important. Do the important things, and get to the rest if you have time. You may not be able to get to everything on the list, but if you get the important things out of the way, the rest probably won't matter.
3. * Just say "no."
   If you have a tendency to take on too much, say no when people ask you to do that one more thing. Find a few shortcuts if you can't resist saying yes. For example, you don't have to make all the cookies for the office party from scratch -- buy the cookie dough that comes in the tubes and bake it. Nobody will even notice.
4. *Set a budget and stick to it.
   Know how much you can spend before you go shopping or before you decide how many people to invite for a holiday meal. This will keep you from spending more than you should. If you have a child who wants an expensive toy, it's OK to tell him that everyone has financial limitations. Save your money and use it to get a head start on planning for the following year.
5. * Get plenty of rest and exercise.
   Don't forget to take care of yourself while you are caring for everyone else. Keeping to your regular sleeping and exercise routines will give you the energy you need to do everything and it will keep some normalcy in your life.
6. * Empathize.
   Other people are also dealing with the stress and pressures of holidays. If you are in a long line at the store, you're one of many people trying to get everything done to make their celebrations run as smoothly as possible. Don't take someones preoccupation personally, you are doing it too.
7. * Remember that families come in all shapes and sizes.
   The picture-perfect family presented in television ads, in magazines, and in stores is not a reality for many people. Yet some continue trying from year to year to capture a piece of that "perfect picture." Take a little time to write down what you appreciate about the family that you have and what your ideal family holiday gathering would be. If you have always wanted that big family but have only a few family members living nearby, give yourself permission to expand your family for the holiday to include other people who might be alone or who are separated from loved ones.