Dealing with Holiday Stress

It’s that time of year when we have 5 million celebratory events to go to, presents to buy, trains to catch and friends and family to meet up with. Of course, this is often a festive and happy time of year, but sometimes it can get quite stressful. Have you bought everyone’s presents? Can you afford these presents? Will the train home be delayed or cancelled? Do you have time to pack? Will everyone in my family ask me why I’m single? Will I be able to cook a whole dinner for the whole family? and so on… Overall, the happiness of Christmas can often bring some stress and not much time to deal with it. Here’s some tips to prevent and help stress:

Get Organised

Creating to-do lists and organising things well will alleviate symptoms of stress. Making lists and checking them off will make sure you know what’s been done and what hasn’t. This will also stop you panicking if you can’t remember what you have left to do.

Budget

One of the biggest stress causers is the excess spend of the holidays. Before you go crazy buying everyone presents, make a list of who you need to buy for, and set yourself a set budget to buy all of them. Also, use the internet to find cheaper prices to fit into your budget.

Moderation is Key

Although everyone loves to stuff themselves over Christmas, remember to still aim for a healthy balanced diet. Eating those chocolates in moderation will help you not feel so sluggish on the 27th. Also, eating healthy leading up to after Christmas will mean you won’t feel as guilty after eating too much on Christmas day.

Get Enough Sleep

The multiple late nights due to meeting up with friends, family and co-workers, not to mention the sleepless night of Christmas Eve can increase your stress levels. Increased stress levels can also disrupt the sleep you do get which leads you into a cycle of being tired. Try to relax as much as possible before bed, and stay away from technology to try and get the best sleep possible when you’re not having late nights.

Learn to Say No

Prioritising your tasks running up to the holidays is important. Saying no and delegating to others is an important part to help you prevent stress. You can’t take on everything this Christmas, so if you have all your family round, ask them to bring some food so you’re not panicking while trying to cook everything.

Keep Active

Keeping active over the winter break is important. Even though it’s much colder and you’ve been overindulging in food, getting your heart rate up is important to keep healthy and reduce stress hormones.