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Strategies to Prevent Holiday Season Stress
Figure out which traditions you truly love participating in — and ditch the rest
Laura Vanderkam, the time management expert who wrote Off the Clock and Juliet’s School of Possibilities, is here to answer your scheduling questions. Check back every week for more advice, and send your own productivity problems to asklaura@medium.com. (Your name will not be used.)
Dear Laura: I know the holiday season is supposed to be fun, with all the parties, gifts, and festivities. But I’m exhausted even thinking about it. End-of-the-year deadlines are piling up and I don’t know how to get through it, let alone give my family the love and warmth they deserve. Any advice?
One way or another, people often have strong feelings about the holiday season. Personally, I love the added bustle of holiday parties, school concerts, and family activities. But if this brand of festivity is not your thing, or if December coincides with your busy season at work, it can be easy to feel resentful of the added obligations.
The first thing to remember is that while you can’t add more hours to the day, you can manage your energy. Don’t skimp on sleep or exercise. Give yourself a bedtime and do your best to stick to it, even if that means leaving parties early after making an appearance. If you can’t make it to the gym, you can still walk outside for 15 or 20 minutes during the workday.
Second, make a plan for dealing with your work deadlines. Anxiety often stems from not knowing exactly what needs to be done. So get out your calendar and plot out everything that has to happen before the end of the year. How much time will each of these tasks take? When can you do them? You may need to put in some extra time to accomplish everything, such as a Saturday morning work session, or clocking an hour after your kids go to bed. But if you’ll be taking time off over the holidays, this will probably balance out over the course of the month.
Have honest conversations with your family members about what they care about and what they don’t.
Also, feel free to cut anything that’s not truly urgent. Many people work a little less in…
