The holidays are around the corner and we are all scurrying around like crazy. Baking cookies. Wrapping gifts. Struggling to find the perfect present for great aunt Matilda. Hoping that we make our children’s holiday dreams come true.
What often gets lost in the holiday shuffle is us. We sacrifice sleep. We sacrifice our nutrition. We sacrifice our personal time. And by the time the holiday finally arrives, we are depleted and burned out. Our goals, intentions, and well-being? Lost. A couple of extra pounds? Gained.
The good news is that you can change your habits and make these last few weeks of the year calmer and happier. Here are nine tricks to holding on to your sanity, your self, and your intentions as we barrel into the holiday home stretch.
Get organized. If you haven’t already, sit down and make one master list of everything that needs to get done between now and the holidays. Gifts that need to be purchased and wrapped, cookies that need to baked and tips that need to be given. Keep it someplace you’ll be able to find it next year and you’ll be two steps ahead next November — remember, around here we play the long game.
Remember your priorities. The holidays mean different things to different people and it is a worthwhile exercise to spend ten minutes thinking about what is most important to you about the holidays. This is a really good thing to think about on a walk but here’s the key -- you have to take a few minutes to write your holiday priorities down. Make this your north star and read it every day between now and the holidays.
Prioritize your sleep. Remember, less sleep means less capacity for joy. And, at the end of the day, joy should be what the holidays are all about. Inadequate sleep can lead to health problems, weight gain, irritability, and overall crankiness. Go to bed.
Eat less sugar. Cookies, candy, and pies, oh my. The holidays are the hardest time to stick to your nutrition plan. Be discriminating, super, super discriminating. If Christmas is not Christmas without your sister Susie’s pecan loaf, enjoy it. The problem is rarely the few wonderful holiday treats that we treasure, but rather it is all of the other not-so-awesome holiday treats we eat simply because they are “there.”
Flex your “no” muscle. Whether it is your mother asking you to make the ham, your neighbor asking you to watch their dog or your daughter asking you to play tea party -- for the tenth time -- this is a really good season to remember your priorities (the ones you wrote down) and say no to requests that don’t align.
Take a walk. You knew that was coming right? But all of the things that walking does for you -- stress relief, improved focus, increased energy and so, so much more are even more important over the hectic holidays.
Eat prophylactically. Never go to a holiday party on an empty stomach. Why? Because the first thing you are likely to be offered is a cocktail and having a little food in you will help keep that one cocktail from becoming three cocktails. And eating something before the party will help you make better decisions. Consider something high in protein like a couple of hard-boiled eggs, or high in fiber like an apple. But whatever you do, don’t show up starving.
Mediate. I know, I know, you are thinking this is NOT the time to add something new to my plate. This is not the time to try to start a new practice. Or, I’ll start after the new year. But this is the perfect time to start one new habit that you can carry into the new year. Download a meditation app like Calm or Headspace, sign up for the two-week free trial and commit to meditating for 10 minutes each day between now and the holidays. You might not like it at first. It might feel stupid or annoying or frustrating. Do it anyway.
Accept that things will not be perfect and that is okay. The holidays are about making memories and making memories is sometimes messy.