Feeling Overwhelmed as the Holiday Season Approaches? Here's a few ideas to turn Holiday Stress into Holiday Success...
- Kim Montoya
- Nov 5, 2024
- 6 min read
I don't think it's unusual for those of us who are the homemakers, the moms, the wives, the keepers of the home (often working outside of the home as well and trying to juggle it all), to reach a point in the year when we are feeling a bit overwhelmed. Most of us have wonderful ideas and imagry in our minds about what the Holiday Season "should" look like, and maybe it actually can look like that...but at the same time, it's not uncommon to feel a bit overwhelmed as the holiday season approaches. Now I'm not trying to exclude the men here, and I want to quickly address that...yes, men can also feel overwhelmed, and often they are the keepers of the home. I acknowledge that, and I do not have any malicious intention to omit the struggling men from this blog. I am simple writing from my personal space as a woman...a mom, a wife, and an overzealous female homemaker who juggles multiple hats this time of year and expects to be perfect.
I know exactly how I want my home to look and feel. I want anyone who steps into my home to be comfortable, to feel worm and cozy, to be surrounded by love and feel like they stepped into a botanically influenced cottage home. I want them to feel instantly transported into a countryside farmhouse of yesteryear, complete with delicious smells of baked goods and a sensory overload of holiday decorations and nostalgic memories. That's what I "WANT". I'm not sure it's what actually happens when visitors come over, but I do hope they at least feel comfortable and welcome in my home.
So when does the stress start building? As the Summer teases it's ending here in the Valley of the Sun, I start getting excited to pull out my Fall decorations and begin preparing for the cooler weather. One of the things that hang me up every year is the fact that our Summer tends to linger on and on, and my mind starts running a tally of all of the 'end of summer' things that have to be completed but can't be done yet because it's too hot. As the list gets longer, the days for completion get shorter. One day, the weather truly changes and we go from a 110F afternoon to a 70F afternoon and suddenly all the "things" need to be done all at once. The garden needs to be cleaned out and switched over for Fall planting. All of the yard responsibilities that couldn't be done in the heat of summer need to be done immediately (flowers to be planted, lawn overseeded with Winter Rye, new veggies planted, shrubs trimmed back, roses deadheaded, etc). Its time to decorate and bake, and it all happens at once. In addition, there are "life things" that happen in the mix too. This year, my Mother has to move and we have been trying to help move things into a storage unit. Then there's my own mental health, marriage trials and tribulations, job responsibilities, personal self care, menopause...and suddenly, being overwhelmed sets in and I want to escape and hide.
Ok, so I can't just run away...but I'm sure you get the picture and maybe you can relate in some way. So how can we better handle the surge of feelings and often self-deflating thoughts that come in as the holidays approach? In reality, this should be a time of year for calm reflection, winding down at the end of a busy season, and switching our focus to the enjoyment of family and friends during the holidays...but we get so caught up in our expectations that the list of 'to do's' seem insurmountable. There are lots of inspirational web pages filled with great ideas to organize your schedule and maintain your sanity, and certainly keeping a good routine, eating healthy and exercising will help, but I wanted to find 3 key ideas to share.
So, I have put together these few ideas for simplifying life this time of year and turning the holiday stress into holiday success.
Time-blocking 101 illustration 1. Make lists in a time-blocking format. I believe that time-blocking my days and physically writing down the items that need to get accomplished during those time blocks help create order during the day. A long mental list is overwhelming, and it's easy to forget things that way as well. Taking a time-blocking approach will allow you to designate say 3 hours in the morning (8am-11am) and assign tasks to be completed within those hours. By doing this, you clearly see what you've chosen to accomplish, and you have a visual reminder to stay on task. When I'm in the middle of a time-block I tell my husband not to disturb my focus. He leaves me alone (usually) because he knows that in 3 hours, he can interact with me and I will be ready for the break. Another benefit to timeblocking is getting to physiclaly cross something off the list when it's completed. This is a HUGE sense of accomplishemnt! So, you can time-block basic home responsibilities in one segment, you can time-block decorating, garden work, baking, shopping, cleaning, or whatever has to be done in the day...but by giving it a set time allowance, you in turn free up some of that overwhelming mental space.
Self Care isn't selfish! Remember that YOU are human and if you become completely run down physically, mentally, emotionally...then you cannot do any of the things you want to do OR be of help to anyone else around you. When we get run down, we tend to get stressed out, depressed, or any number of mental health issues...and then once that happens, our immune system gets affected and begins to wear down, which prevents our bodies from fighting off the seasonal colds and ailments that come this time of year. So it's super important to nurture ourselves FIRST, and this is a really hard concept for most of us to accept. I love the phrase "put on your own oxygen mask first" becaused it's a great reminder about how we must first breathe before we can help anyone else. So, a daily minimum of 15 minutes of 'self care' is crucial this time of year. Can it be longer, absolutely...but at a bare minimum, I want you to take 15 minutes out of your day and breathe. There are 1,440 minutes in every single day...you can spare 15 for yourself. What can you do for this self care 15? Go into a quiet space (sometimes I hide in the bathroom). Close your eyes and breathe...deep, slow breaths & visualise clean, pure, energizing light filling your body with every inhalation and then visualize dull, dar, low energy leaving your body with every exhale. Do this breathing 8-10 times, and you'll be amazed how calm your body is when you open your eyes. Other ideas could be lighting a candle, having a favorite snack, walking barefoot in the grass, hiding in your vehicle and watching 15 minutes of TikTok videos...anything that takes you out of your current reality and puts you in a place of calm.
3 ideas for reducing holiday stress Say NO. Did you know it is perfectly allowable for you to say NO if you don't want to do something? Huh- Such a foreign concept to so many of us. The reality is we only have so much time each day. It's really easy to become the go-to person, the one always willing to make something delicious for the party, to host the event, to run the errand, to bring the goodies...whatever the obligation may be. Often we even pride ourselves on taking charge and being the best at creating something, or organizing, and maybe we are the best, but that doesn't mean we always have to take on the responsibility. It is ok to say no sometimes. It's not a reflection on us as a human being, it's a reality of actually being a human being...we can't do it all, and if our heart isn't 100% in something, it's ok to say no. You have permission.
If you start to incorporate these 3 ideas into your daily routine, I can almost guarantee you will feel an instant sense of peace. Let your holidays be happy and jolly...enjoy spending time with friends and loved ones. We all have the power within us to create the lives we want, and chosing self-love is an important component. I truly wish each of you a wonderful holiday season and I hope your days are a little less stressful and a lot more successful!
Thank you for visiting Enchanted Botanicals
Please Like & Subscribe for New Blogs every week and follow me on my other social media platforms if you would like to see more Holistic & Botanically influenced Lifestyle guidance.
Comments