Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
Right about now, if you are like most people, you are wondering how you will survive December and get everything you need. The list seems endless: Parties, gifts, people, food, traveling, more food, TV specials, plays, and recitals. The list is endless. People are coming and going. In college, you have finals on top of everything else. This is on top of what you usually do in life.
We know this isn’t how we should live, and it feels wrong at Christmas. But, stopping to catch our breath seems silly. Impossible. UnAmerican.
It isn’t, and deep down, you also know that.
Here are seven ways to catch your breath this month so that you head into the new year not exhausted, but refreshed and ready to tackle the New Year:
Schedule some downtime. If you’ve read my blog for any length, you know I believe that if something is not scheduled, it does not happen. We do things out of habit and planning, including wasting time watching TV or surfing the internet. Put into your calendar days and nights when nothing is happening. If you don’t, you will run from one thing to the next and not enjoy it.
Say no to something. If you schedule downtime into your schedule, chances are you will have to say no to something. This is hard to do. We like to say yes as much as possible, not miss anything and be at all the parties and get-togethers, but we can’t and shouldn’t. If we say yes to everything, we will miss the important things. We will miss moments with our kids and friends we care about and miss out on memories.
Have a food plan and stick to it. One of the areas that causes a lot of frustration for people come January 1st is how much they eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t simply show up at the party and eat. Have a plan. Here are a couple of ways: Take something healthy to the party. There won’t be a lot of healthy options, so bring one and eat it (think of the memory each year now when you and your friends laugh about the fact that you are the one who brings hummus to the holiday party). Another one? Don’t stand by the food. If you are away from the food, it makes it harder to overeat. The hardest one? Limit how much dessert you eat when you are at parties. And finally: get rid of leftovers as quickly as possible, even if you have to throw them out.
Go to bed at 10 pm as often as possible. Sleep is one of the most overlooked but essential areas of our lives. You think you can survive on 4 hours a night, and a Coffee IV drip plugged into your arm, but you can’t. You will crash. And, that crash will happen sometime soon and ruin your holidays or at least make a dent in January when you need to get going for the new year. Get to bed. Don’t watch as much TV and if presents aren’t wrapped, put them in a bag and call it a win.
Don’t wait till January 1st to exercise. In January, health clubs everywhere will be packed. New Years’ Resolutions will be made to lose that holiday weight you put on. What if you didn’t wait until January to get into shape? Put it into your schedule now. If you work out regularly now, don’t quit over the holidays.
Plan fun memory moments. Christmas is a great time to make memories. The tree, decorations, TV specials, buying and wrapping gifts, plays, the food, the songs. It creates moments with family and friends in ways other times of the year do not. Don’t miss this because you are busy doing other stuff. Spend time reading to your kids, TiVo the Christmas specials and watch them, listen to Christmas music all month, and take some special daddy (or mommy) dates with your kids. Make this time memorable and pack in the memories.
Make your goals for the New Year. Don’t wait till January 1st to make your goals for the New Year. Notice I didn’t say resolutions. Here is a simple process I use to help you set goals you will reach. Don’t make ten goals this year; make one. What is the one thing that, if you accomplished, would make the most significant impact on your life and family? Do that.
