Surviving the holidays in one piece

The holiday season is one of the most stressful times in the year for women. From family expectations to work obligations and the few hundred weddings and Christmas parties you’ve been invited to, you could get to the New Year feeling even more frazzled than rested. How then do you tackle the holiday madness without completely burning yourself out?

Say NO

Make friends with the word no. It’s unrealistic to imagine that you can make time for every social event on your calendar and still have time to take care of yourself and your family. When you find that saying yes to an event takes away from the time you’d be spending with your family or resting, carefully evaluate whether it will be a life or death situation if you do not show up.

Then gracefully decline the invitation and promise to make up for it another time which would work for both parties. For once in a lifetime events like weddings block out an hour to attend the ceremony, you do not have to be there for the entire event.

Plan ahead

If you’re incorporating travel unto your plans, ensure you plan ahead to avoid the last minute rush with late bookings and travel arrangements. This is one way that is surely guaranteed to leave you stressed. Also ensure you plan in the work front, who takes over from you when you’re away, or if you will be unreachable who are the other two people that can be contacted. Incorporate these into your emails to avoid frustration when people are trying to reach you.

Get rest

We have a tendency to look forward to the holidays only to run ourselves rugged, indulge excessively and never get more than a few hours of sleep a night. Then we get back to work even more tired than when we left. Strive to go to bed at a reasonable hour, eat healthy and be aware that you’ll likely need to build in time for unexpected occurrences such as traffic when travelling.