How to Avoid Holiday Stress

by: James Pendergraft

Most of the time, it is the women who experience too much stress when the holidays are approaching. This is because they are the ones who are usually responsible for shopping, decorating, cooking, planning seasonal events, getting gifts, and sending greeting cards. This happens because women tend to stretch themselves too thin and try to do everything, even if there is not enough time. The holidays could also bring on sad memories like the loss of loved ones, jobs, friends, marriages, home, and even health.

Because the holidays almost always bring on joy followed by conditions such as depression, insomnia, exhaustion, irritability, poor appetite, or overeating, it is good to maintain some steps to avoid stress.

Get Rid of Great Expectations

First of all, women need to rid themselves of unrealistic expectations during the holidays. These are usually those that other people expect of them and those that they impose upon themselves. Because women focus on cooking, buying gifts, and attending parties, they end up being stressed over empty wallets and filled-up schedules.

As such, it is very important to keep expectations at a minimum or to do away with them altogether. If women have lesser or no expectations about the holidays, the chances of enjoying simpler and more meaningful happiness are increased.

Here is a guide on how to avoid holiday stress:

* Start planning ten weeks before the holidays. If you have a timetable that you stick to, there is less rushed feeling of accommodating things at the very last minute.

* Define your plans for the holidays by asking people some questions. You would know what and what not to do if you will ask people questions like what they liked best about the previous preparations. Also ask yourself what events or preparations proved more stressful so you can avoid them. It is best if you think back on what made your holidays special minus the stress so these can be recreated.

* Designate roles during the holidays. There is no reason why you have to do everything during the holidays. There are also people in your home that could be asked to do things. Designate roles and functions so that you will have less worries.

* Set your limits accordingly. If you think that limitations should be implemented on the gifts that you should buy or the foods that you should prepare, then you have to set these and tell the people around you about them. If you go by these limitations, there will be less pressure for you to meet everyone’s expectations about the food and the gifts.

There are also other ways to avoid holiday stress. These include limiting the number of people that you should invite to your parties, restricting the frequency of attending holiday events, organizing your gift list, and eliminating long distance visits that may have been stressful for you in the past. Doing so may enable you to enjoy your holidays more with your family and friends.