Do you get stressed out during the holidays [or any other time of year]? These tips will help you relax and actually enjoy the holidays and enjoy life.
![Do you get stressed out during the holidays [or any other time of year]? These tips will help you relax and actually enjoy the holidays and enjoy life. Pin it now to have on hand for later. Click through and begin to destress and relax. @jillconyers](https://jillconyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/TitleImage-735x1100_WEB.jpg "Do you get stressed out during the holidays [or any other time of year]? These tips will help you relax and actually enjoy the holidays and enjoy life. Pin it now to have on hand for later. Click through and begin to destress and relax. @jillconyers")
Life happens. Life gets busy, especially during the holiday season. Ideally, the best answer to stress during the holidays is to prevent it, but the unexpected is going to come up. And most certainly I will overestimate time again.
Then what? Well, it just so happens I know of 7 ways to help de-stress your holidays [and any other time of year]:
Pay It Forward and Spread the Joy!
For the holidays join a local charity and help with serving dinners, dropping off presents and giving hugs. Every time we do a random act of kindness we help others while helping ourselves. Random acts of kindness give a boost of happiness that lasts for hours.
Attitude of Gratitude
Take a few minutes each day to write a gratitude list. The holidays are really about spending quality time with your friends and family. It’s not about the presents, or the food, or the parties. We should feel grateful and happy for our health and for being surrounded by loved ones.
Plan Early
One of the best ways to avoid holiday stress is to start planning early! This means making to-do lists, grocery lists, getting a head start on your gift shopping and more. When you wait until the last minute to do these things, that’s when the stress really gets to you.
Be Mindful
Holiday shopping and thinking about a business meeting? Or visiting with family and thinking about your to-do list? You will be more productive AND enjoy doing these a whole lot more if you’re not trying to multi-task. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Mindfulness is defined as “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis; also: such a state of awareness.” Being mindful is being present and not letting your mind go to the next activity. Completely focus on the here and now.
Be a Minimalist
Remember what is important. Holidays (and life) can bring on all kinds of obligations like cooking meals, attending parties, buying gifts and sending cards. Don’t try to take on more than you can handle, and don’t spend more money than you can afford. Friends and colleagues will understand and too often the unnecessary high demands we feel we place on ourselves.
Workout.
Don’t forget to make time to exercise. Raising your heartbeat and taking time to zone out with exercise helps relieve stress, anxiety, and tension that can be so prevalent around the holidays.
Have a Personal Space
Being in the same house for days with more people than typical can be stressful especially if you feel like you have nowhere to go for personal space. Carve out one place where you can go to be alone, even if you have to drive to get there.
What’s your Plan B? How do you make time for yourself during the holidays?
Come back Friday for a delicious healthified holiday treat. It will make you wonder why we don’t eat it year around!
be the best version of YOU
Thanks a lot for your tips ,Jill. I follow a useful rule: Combining the right diet and workout will always help me feel good!
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Great tips! Workouts are always my de-stressor and “me” time!
Me too! If you were here I would high 5 you or something 🙂
Great tips! I make time for myself by not getting weighed down by the things that I “should” be doing. I feel like I SHOULD be baking cookies and decorating the house and sending out holiday cards, but if I don’t end up having time, so what. Life will go on 🙂
You’re right Whitney. I thought Christmas would cease to exist when I stopped making my own Christmas cards haha! Guess what. Christmas came again the following year 🙂
I don’t have children and we pull names out of a hat, with my sisters, and you buy that person a present. I only have a niece and nephew so it is easy to buy something for them. The holidays are never stressful for me.
Your holiday sounds stress free but leave it to me to make it busy and full of stuff. Not this year. Minimal is my goal.
Great tips– “Plan Early” is a big one for me– if I have it all organized then not only am I less stressed, but I am more apt to eat healthier and not miss my workouts.
Me too Lisa! Knowing ahead of time when I’m going to get in a workout makes it much less likely I’m going to have to skip it, especially if it’s other than my typical early morning.
Fantastic tips! I stick with my workouts but often find myself juggling WAY too much this time of year. 2 of my 3 daughters have birthdays in November and December. That adds to the stress and time crunch. But I stay focussed and know that life should settle down in January 🙂
Great perspective Jennifer. The craziness is temporary and for the most part so much fun!
I have 2 birthdays in Dec. As if I needed to add to the craziness ha!
Great list! I needed this. I especially love the gratitude one. Thanks!
It’s kind of amazing how much of a difference an attitude of gratitude can make. Thanks Emily!
Yes to every one of these! Especially minimalist!!
Minimal is my goal this year Steph. I tend to get carried away unnecessarily during the holidays so wish me luck 🙂
These are all great! I know I am one to stress out way too much around the holidays, and it is something I am working on this year. I especially love the “Be Mindfull.” Being present in the here and now is so crucial to feeling happy and fulfilled. We only get these moments once, and then they are gone. Thanks for the great tips!
Stress free holidays for both of us Amber 🙂 I know there have been time when I was so carried away in the “stuff” that I missed out on the meaningful moments. Not often but even one time is too many.
This Christmas I am going home to NJ for a week and I want to take that week to REST…I am going to try to not workout, but rather heal and nourish my body, so that I can come back stronger, rested, and ready to tackle the New Year. I need to do this. Now that it is out there, I’ve got to stick with it. 🙂
That is such a wonderful idea. Taking care of yourself is all about giving your body what it needs even if it means rest. Imagine how refreshed and rejuvenated you’re going to feel going into the new year.
These are great tips Jill. I’ve started planning for the holidays and just volunteered with my college Alumni Association come December.
Thanks Jennifer. I love this time of year and volunteering is part of it!
I’ve already signed up for a post Thanksgiving day workout!
I always plan a pre Thanksgiving run but having a post-plan is a great idea!
I love this list! I’ve been trying to be more Being Mindful because I don’t want to miss out on the present while focusing too much on what’s next but that gets harder to do during these busy holiday times. These are all great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Happy to share Diane. If it helps even one person have a less stressful holiday, score!
These are ALL great! I particularly love the “being mindful” post. Holiday shopping is so fun for me and I want to enjoy every moment of it. Same goes for visiting with friends and family. No need to multi-task or think of anything else. Thanks for posting!
I agree Bri! My goal is to keep it simple this year so that I don’t miss out on a single moment.
Great tips – this year I’m hoping that as a family we can really embrace the minimal attitude and do something for someone else instead of lots of gifts for each other – I know that will make us all feel good!!!
Minimal is my goal this year. I have a tendency to get caught up in the holidays and get carried away unnecessarily. Not this year and I’m guessing I will be the only one that notices a difference.
I came over to say hello and I wasn’t going to link up because didn’t have a recipe but I definitely have something helpful for the stressful holidays. After reading this wonderful post I decided to link up after all!
Thanks for these helpful tips- they can certainly go a long way. I especially like being mindful and gratitude!
I’m so glad you stopped by Tricia and even more so that you decided to link up with the #fitfam!
The weekly topics are optional so you’re welcome to link up any of your fitness related posts. BTW, loved your post 🙂
Be a minimalist for sure! That takes so much stress and pressure off. I want to really ENJOY my holidays and the only way to do that is to downsize and be honest about what I really can do. Love it!
Minimal is my goal this year Allie. I tend to get carried away unnecessarily so wish me luck 🙂
Taking time to give thanks each day is not only great for destressing but also helps in reminding us of what the holidays are all about. Great tip!
Thanks Kathryn.
I am going to focus on being a minimalist. Somehow I got enlisted for Thanksgiving dinner but I am gonna need folks to bring sides b/c I am not even taking any days off this year from work due to some high-profile system implementations. Wooosaaahhhh.
I enjoy hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. The trick for me is to not get so carried away and trying to do too much. You will make an excellent hostess for Thanksgiving dinner.
Hey Jill! Great post. I love that you decided to take the mental health approach to this post. The last one especially resonates with me: Have personal space. So much so that I have a post coming out on this very topic 🙂 It is so important especially during the holidays when we are bombarded with family and friends.
I already have my space staked out! I’m looking forward to reading your post.
These are great tips!!! I try to get my exercise in early especially around the holidays. More than that I try to wake up about 10 min early so that I have that time just me and my thoughts…collecting myself to start the day. I love sitting with the Christmas tree lit and just being!!
Me too Nancy! I plug in the Christmas lights first thing when I wake up. Exercise is a must for my sanity!
I definitely think you have to have a place to escape to that is all your own. We all need to catch our breath every now and then!
Agreed. I’ve already staked out a spot 🙂
I always try and get everybody to play a game. People roll their eyes and don’t want to do it and then they all end up getting so into it and it’s a blast. It’s almost like you have to be a kid again about the holidays to really be able and enjoy it!
That and I still go to the gym every morning even if I have to wake up 2 hour prior to everyone else! 🙂
I stick to my regular workouts too. It’s a must for my sanity. We love board games and it’s always a blast with lots of laughing 🙂
Great reminders! I especially like #1 and #5.
Hi Megan. Minimal is my goal this year. I get so caught up in the holidays I have a tendency to get carried away. We’ll see how this year goes 🙂
Great reminders! People do get crazy this time of year and being a minimalist is so important.
Hi Renee. It won’t be easy but minimal is my goal. I have a feeling I’m the only one that will notice a difference.
I love reading your insights about this coming holidays. It’s terrific reminders for this coming holiday seasons. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Love it!
Happy to share! Thank you. BTW, love your blog.
This is all especially important right now, when it’s most likely to be neglected. My workout is my “me-time” so I cling to that.
You’re right Marcia. We get so caught up in the stuff that if we’re not careful we lose the true meaning behind the season.
Thanks for sharing this. I have never thought about the personal space part. I had a friend who uses her marathon training as a guilt free excuse to go for a long run during the holiday weekend, but she really uses it as an escape from the packed house. Clever. People always respect marathon training.
Such a useful post! Thanks Jill!
How can you not respect marathon training?!?! That’s an easy escape that is acceptable to most.
personal space…YES! A must have! I’m curious to see what this year will be like for me. It’s our first year hosting in our new house and our kitchen is right in the middle of the action so I’ll be cooking/tidying right along side all the guests. I think I’ll probably sneak onto the porch if I need a little breather 🙂
Find a space for your sanity and peace of mind! You will be a fabulous hostess.
It’s lucky number 7 today I think! For me, trying to be more minimalist is helpful this time of year. I do tend to get swept up in all the marketing and feel like I need to buy “stuff” to be festive but it’s not the case, and, frankly we just can’t afford it, which leads to stress of course! Great post!
Me too Michele. I get so caught up in the holidays I have a tendency to get carried away. Minimal this year is my plan. We’ll see how it goes. Stress free is my holiday mantra 🙂
Giiiirrrl, you are singing my song. It is so important to carve out time to give to others and yourself. It brings such harmony and balance to yourself. Great tips!
I came by to join your Fit Dish link up today. Here’s my post: http://deniseisrundmt.com/2014/11/18/random-thoughts-about-a-superfood-drive-space-coast-marathon-redemption-holiday-halfathon/
Thanks for the link Denise! I don’t want to miss a single #dishthefit post. Giving to others is so so important. We have to make sure it doesn’t get lost in holiday hustle and bustle.
I always over extend myself during the holiday season so I’m really making a conscious effort to avoid doing that this year. I’ve signed up for a few holiday volunteer opportunities that I’m excited about and really focusing on being more present. I’m really hoping it makes for a more enjoyable and less stressful holiday season!
That is awesome that you’re already signed up to volunteer. I get so caught up in the holidays I have a tendency to get carried away. Minimal this year is my plan. We’ll see how it goes. Stress free is top priority 🙂
Thankfully (maybe?) our families are really spread out, so each year we really only deal with one chunk. I’m not sure I could handle juggling them all. And Thanksgiving is about dinner with friends, so I don’t find that too stressful either.
Great tips!
Stress free is a goal this year! Wish me luck 🙂
What great reminders for the holidays. I tend to want to go all out, but sometimes it is not worth my sanity!
Me too Julie! Maybe even all out too far. I get so caught up in the holidays I have a tendency to get carried away. Minimal this year is my plan. We’ll see how it goes.
Great tips, Jill, I especially like the idea of being a minimalist. Sometimes getting caught up in so many holiday details is unnecessary.
Loving this link up! http://finefitday.com/2014/11/tips-for-planning-a-healthy-holiday.html
That is one of my big goals for this holiday season! Keep it simple. I’m probably the only one that will even notice a difference.
these are such good reminders! love the personal space one. I need to create that first. haha
I’ve already staked out my spot 🙂
Great topic and I am sure your recipe is worth waiting for! I think it will be very important to make time for myself and stick to my exercise routine. We have a blended family and the holidays are super tough for me. It is a lot of schedules to juggle, so called requirements and things I have no control over. UGG- thank goodness for wifi and running!
http://tutusandtennies.com/?p=1269
Oh I’m with you! Thank goodness for running! #holidaysurvival101