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Welcome to the holiday season! It’s that moment filled with endless parties, gift-giving, shopping, cooking, and activities galore that start immediately after Halloween, hypes to thanksgiving, and continues through the end of the year.

Not feeling cheery this time of the year? Don’t worry. You are not alone. So many activities take place, and they tend to bring unwanted stress and depression at a time meant for happiness.

But with some practical tips, you can minimize the stress that accompanies the holidays. These tips may even help you enjoy the holidays more than expected.

Mindful Tips to Manage Holiday Stress

• Plan Ahead

Holiday commitments are inevitable. Planning with co-workers, friends, and family is essential to ensure you attend to your obligations and enjoy your holiday.

Creating a menu helps you stay organized by knowing specific days for work, shopping, traveling, connecting with friends, and other important activities.

• Plan Spending

The holiday involves a lot of spending. Spending money on your loved ones is important, but a lack of a plan will leave you paying off debts for the rest of the year.

Before your holiday, do your budget and ensure you stick to it. Decide how much money you can afford, and don’t try to buy happiness with gifts and a lifestyle you can’t sustain.

• Set your Priorities

As the holiday involvement gets hectic, everyday bills and responsibilities must still be paid. Don’t lose sight of what really counts. Before you get overwhelmed by celebration activities, deciding the key responsibilities and bills is essential and ensuring they are paid.

 Don’t allow activities to leave you exhausted by January. For example, you can start by clearing school fees, house rent, electricity, and water bills before engaging in less demanding activities like sending gifts and partying with friends.

• Be Realistic

The holiday season is usually long and full of activities. It doesn’t have to be perfect or like that of other people. There are many expectations from yourself and others. Get comfortable with the idea that you don’t have to do everything, and not everything has to be perfect.

Even though your holiday plans may look different from others, you can find different ways to celebrate. For example, if you expect to go on vacation over the holiday, and the budget is no longer favorable, it is ok to adjust and spend quality time with your family at home.

• Learn to Say No

With overwhelming holiday commitments, saying no to some involvements is OK. If you cannot participate in certain activities, be clear and let your friends and colleagues know you can always join them next time.

Ensure you share your to-do list with your family to avoid conflict.

• Maintain healthy habits

Don’t allow the holidays to make you a free-for-all type of person. Maintaining healthy habits during the holiday season is one of the best defenses against stress. Try these suggestions:

• Stay physically active by routinely engaging in a short workout
• Eat healthy meals
• Get plenty of sleep
• Avoid excessive alcohol, tobacco, and drug use

Don’t let the holidays drain you mentally. Take steps to manage the stress and pressure that come with holiday commitments. Understand the holiday pressures like financial constraints or personal demands and combat them before they break you down. These tips can help you find peace and enjoy your holiday season.

You may consult Dr. Jason Jones at our Chiropractic office in Elizabeth City, NC, to learn more about managing holiday stress.