For many people, Christmas stress is right up there with major life events like moving house or changing jobs. The endless planning, shopping and cooking can be tiring and stressful to an already overloaded household.
If you’re an already stressed working mum or mumpreneur, Christmas can often be the last straw, making you feel like you are being pushed over the edge and into full-scale meltdown. But it doesn’t have to get that bad – Christmas is about enjoyment, after all. Take action now so you don’t reach the point of no return – you just need to set up strategies well in advance of the festive season that will enable you to cope.
Plan for a stress-free Christmas, but be flexible, too!
First and most important thing is to plan for everything while remaining flexible with your arrangements. This may sound contradictory but it really helps to have put some structures in place – e.g. Christmas presents buying lists, food shopping lists and a rough timetable of when things need to be done, so you have something to work to. Where being open to flexibility helps is when things happen that you cannot control – e.g. the snow affecting your deliveries, or not enabling you to go to the shops etc.
Keeping a flexible mindset reduces Christmas stress and anxiety and encourages you to let things flow over you rather than fighting inevitable obstacles and changes to plans.
Be realistic to avoid stress
This ties up neatly with my other top Christmas stress-busting tip, which is to keep your expectations at a realistic level. All too often, we expect everything to be perfect at Christmas time. Why? Because the media bombards us with images telling us that is how it is meant to be. The trouble is that nothing is ever perfect and that is where problems arise. We place too much of a burden of expectation on ourselves and, when we fail to match up to those expectations, we become stressed.
You can only control your behaviour, so don’t let others stress you out
Tell yourself firmly that all you can do is your best. The other key point is to understand that we can only control our own behaviour and not that of other people. While you can try your utmost, those around you might not be so accommodating. Being around family squabbles, aggravating relatives and in-laws and friends can ruin Christmas if you let it. By adopting the right attitude, however, you can ensure that none of these situations stress you out.
Try to distance yourself from people who cause you stress
The best way to do this is to remain detached from other people’s efforts to be disruptive. Again, simply let things flow over you and refuse to react. By not reacting you are showing the other person that their behaviour does not have the desired impact on you, and hopefully they’ll either get bored or realise that they are fighting a losing battle. Keep telling yourself that they are the one with the problem – not you – and you’ll find it much easier to stay stress free at Christmas.
Reduce Christmas stress by taking time out for yourself
Another great Christmas stress-busting tip is to make sure you take enough time out for yourself – preferably on a daily basis. This can be something as simple as soaking in a hot bath or taking a walk or you can indulge yourself with a seasonal treat such as a massage or manicure.
When it all seems too overwhelming and you feel stress symptoms coming on, then the only thing to do is to take some time out for yourself before stress kicks in. Remove yourself from the source of stress if you can – young children can be more difficult to leave, but find a way, even if it means waiting until they are asleep – and you will be able to come back refreshed and able to enjoy all the joys of the Christmas holiday season. Which, after all, is what Christmas is all about – not Christmas stress!
