Ten Tips for Coping with Christmas/Festive Season

Christmas can be a wonderful relaxing, enjoyable time – spending time with family and friends, choosing and wrapping presents then ‘the Santa run’ to deliver them, eating lots of yummy food that we don’t tend to eat at any other time of year(!), honouring any religious/spiritual beliefs you have around this time……OR all of these could turn into your worst nightmare!

Hopefully the following tips will help keep your Christmas special.

1. If you haven’t even started yet, with a few days to go there is still plenty of time to get organised.  If you are feeling overwhelmed make a list of all the people you must buy presents for and think about what your family/friends would really like. 
   
2. Who can help you with the shopping, wrapping and delivering? Don’t be afraid to ask for help J
   
3. How about simplifying your gift giving by setting a theme? For example, make this a book year where you buy everyone a book they would enjoy. You can do all your shopping in one shop (or online if you’re quick!). Take a look at the Appearing Day Amazon store for inspirational ideas....
   
4. Rather than buying gifts for friends, suggest that you spend time with each other instead. Go to the pictures, for a walk or share a meal. You’ll save hours of trying to decide what they want, shopping, wrapping, etc.
   
5. Set a budget buying yours presents,  decorating and entertaining and stick with it! In January you’ll be glad you did.
   
6. If family gatherings are something you look forward to, wonderful!! However, if they tend to be a challenge, prepare emotionally ahead of time. Visualize yourself staying calm and everyone getting along. Remember its only one or two days of the year and so Don’t Take It Personally, let any comments that would normally aggravate you simply wash over you.
   
7. Plan ahead. Make a list of priorities and stay focused on them. Spend a few minutes at night deciding what’s most important to get done the next day. Be reasonable in your expectations! Set boundaries for yourself. It’s OK to say no to something you don’t want to do. Respect your own need for time.
   
8. During the holidays the average person gains five pounds and then has to do a New Year’s Resolution to lose them! Set an intention to maintain your weight. Plan lower calorie options or eat less the day before you are going to a party or big meal. Do simple things to move more, like dancing to your favourite songs or getting out in the fresh air for a walk (even if it’s only once or twice around the block).
   
9. If you are feeling stressed find a quiet place and spend a few minutes breathing deeply – you don’t need anything special to do this – you don’t even need to sit down!  Just stand still and quiet, take a deep breath in and as you slowly breathe it out feel the tension leaking out into the floor and picture roots growing out from the soles of your feet and anchoring you to the earth.  Let all the tension go. Keep repeating the deep breaths until you feel more relaxed, just breathe  J
   
10. Remember that letting someone know you care is the greatest gift of all. This season, say I love you as much as possible to family and friends. Let people know why they are special to you. Then remember to love and appreciate yourself.
    
11. (OK, one extra free tip!). The break from work is a great time to spend reflecting on 2009, what were your hopes and dreams? Successes and failuers? What have you learnt from them? What do you want to achieve in 2010? This is a great time of year to set new goals and remember to dream BIG!

 

Sign up for Email Newsletters

Email: