Tag: holiday tips

4 Basic Tips for Fighting Holiday Overwhelm

I love the holidays, but they can be overwhelming.  We’re busy enough on a regular day, but when we add the joy and pressure of the holidays, many of us leap straight to overwhelmed!  And I say “We”, because I’m there sometimes, too!

Sure, this time of year, even the mundane and day-to-day business of life can be elevated to something more meaningful if we put some thought into it.  On the other hand, completing big and impressive holiday prep tasks feels great, but not when we neglect ourselves and our lives to complete them.  “Hey kids, I finished your Christmas shopping on-line today, but I was so busy doing that, we have nothing to eat for dinner.”

So when we are feeling overwhelmed, at the holidays and any other time of year, we can benefit from taking a deep breath and returning to the basics.

Take Care of Yourself

Maintaining routines and taking care of our health is important any time of year.  But it becomes both more vital and more difficult around the holidays.  It’s more vital because more is asked of us, and who wants to get sick for Christmas?  It’s more difficult because there are so many conflicting demands on our time and efforts.

We traveled for Thanksgiving, and had a lovely time with family out-of-state.  And even though I know better than to neglect my routines, I….. over-ate, under-slept, didn’t exercise, and forgot to take my vitamins.  Not surprisingly, I hit the proverbial wall some time Saturday night, feeling blah but overwhelmed.

Today was a return to routines, with regular bedtimes, mealtimes and schedules, and I feel better already.  I also spent some time in the kitchen, making healthy meals and snacks for the next couple of days.

Make time for the daily habits that will maintain your health and wellness.

Take Care of Each Other.  We can get so caught up in the stress of the holidays that we lash out at the people who we are celebrating for, like our friends and family.  Remember Why we celebrate this time of year.

Take Care of your Home:

Even in the face of the busy holidays, we still have to do things like get dressed and go to work and take care of our families.  Just because I spent 2 hours on-line purchasing Christmas gifts last night instead of doing laundry doesn’t make the laundry any less important.  It just means I have more folding to do this morning, to make sure we have clothes for the week, uniforms for the high-schoolers, work clothes for me, etc. We still need to wash dishes, take out the garbage, sweep the floors, etc.  These few simple maintenance steps become even more important during this hectic time of year.

Take Care of your Business:

A radio commercial this morning called December a “wasted month”, professionally speaking.  Yikes!  Most of us can’t “phone it in” for an entire month, so remember to maintain your professional efforts this month, even though it’s so tempting to cut back and goof off, when all the world is a distraction.  My 11 years owning my own business have taught me is that my marketing efforts this month directly influence my success next month.  Stay the course this month, finish this year strong and start 2015 ahead of the game!

Even Rock Stars have To-Do lists

In December 2011, when this article was originally published, one of John Lennon’s To-Do lists went up for auction.  To paraphrase, it listed “buy different marmalade”, “talk to [famous person] regarding a certain book”, “talk to the cable guy”, etc. 

I liked thinking about the universality of To-Do lists.  We all have stuff to do, even when we’re rich and famous.  Of course, John Lennon’s list was given to his assistant to complete, but I still like thinking about it. 

     My regular To-Do list is lengthy, but add in Christmas tasks and my head reels!  So, use these tips to make progress this busy week, short of hiring an assistant! 

  1. Write everything down.  Don’t assume you will remember later. 
    • If I am really busy, nothing derails me faster than my own brain.  If I waste time on indecision or whirling thoughts, or I fear I forgot something, I am not acting on those necessary To-Dos. 
    • I use technology, but sometimes I still like to write things down on paper.  As I go through my morning routine, get the kids ready or do the dishes, I jot literally every thought that occurs to me down.  This morning’s list reads 1. Tina, 2. Bob, 3. Jenny, 4. Joe Re: his mom, 5. re-print music list for mass, and 6. peanut butter cups.
    • The first 4 are emails I need to send, the 5th is a quick task, and the 6th is something that I need to put on my grocery list.   I write thoughts down so I can continue what I am doing without distraction.  Then when I am ready to get to real business, I use my list to see what I need to do.
  2. Break big tasks into little steps:
    • Every task represents an action or a list of actions.  For example, “Bake cookies” really means find recipes, check cabinets, make grocery list, go shopping, clean off kitchen counter and then bake cookies. 
    • Some of those smaller steps can be done between bigger ones, like clean off the counter when you do the dishes in the morning, check recipes while the kids do their homework, check cabinets while making dinner, make grocery list on the train to work, etc. 
  3. Maintain focus:
    • Once you have determined a reasonable list for the day, stick with it.  For example, “inventory baking supplies and add needed things to grocery list” can end up as “spend 7 hours emptying all the cabinets, make a really big mess, get overwhelmed and either throw away too much or stuff it all back in the cabinets”.  Oh, and never making the grocery list.
    • So refer back to the list regularly to make sure you’re on track.  Applaud yourself for small victories, and move on to the next task.
    • Try setting a timer and powering through as many of the little tasks as possible in say, 20 minutes.
  4. Make a January list:
    • While putting away laundry the other day, I was frustrated at the state of my tween’s t-shirt drawer.  I need to go through the shirts, and purge a bunch.  BUT NOT TODAY!
    • So that’s on the January list, along with “purge and pack the decorations” “tidy up the crawl space” and “organize the furnace room”.  All are important, but none are vitally important today or even this month, so they don’t deserve my attention right now.
  5. Take care of yourself.  Eat to fuel your body and mind before action.  Try to get enough rest (though speaking with a friend last week about our To Do lists, we both said “Sleep is overrated!!).  Seriously though, you can’t do anything if you get too tired or run-down. 
  6. Keep it fun:  stop for a pumpkin spice latte, sing along loudly to Christmas carols in the car, ride the grocery cart back to your car.  These are the holidays, after all!  Enjoy!

Want to see John Lennon’s list?  Click here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/nov/28/john-lennon-to-do-list

Also of note, during the same NPR broadcast where I heard about John Lennon’s To-Do list, Johnny Cash’s To-Do list: was also mentioned:  http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/lists-of-note

How Can You NOT Menu Plan?

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A woman next to me at the grocery last week admired my organized list.  I mentioned how we always post a list on the refrigerator so we can note when we run out of something, and how the list is handy when it comes to menu planning.  Which naturally led to “Menu planning?  What is that?”  I’ve menu planned for so long, I honestly don’t recall how Not to menu plan.  It is so easy, essential and helpful, I don’t know folks survive without it, especially during this busy time of year!

So, make a calendar of this week and note any special events or scheduling issues.  Then think about what food you have on hand and what you want for dinner this week.   For example,

  • Sunday:  Dinner with friends, take a side dish
  • Monday: home day, Make Soup
  • Tuesday: volleyball game, left-overs
  • Wednesday: Taco!
  • Thursday: Home early, grill chicken
  • Friday: tournament / scouts, Pizza?
  • Saturday: Party

Why should you menu plan this time of year?

Save money and make space.  Menu planning helps you use what you have and make room in the cabinets or freezer for baking or party food.  Make space, buy less, waste less!  Once you make your plan, you may find you don’t need to go shopping!

    1. Plan your leftovers.  I’m home today and have time to make soup, so I am turning a frozen turkey carcass into turkey noodle soup by dinner (hmmmm, I think I can say I have never used the word “carcass” in a blog before!).
    2. Sunday I’ll make a ham, then dice the leftovers for chef salad and a carbonara pasta sauce next week.  I also made extra cheese sauce the other day, to be used on pasta one day next week when we are really busy!

Save time.

    1. Don’t go to the grocery unless you have to!
    2. I can put a roast, soup or stew in the crock pot at 7 am, ignore it all day, and still have dinner ready at 5 pm.  I typically have more food prep time in the morning than I do after school, so this works out well for us.  But making dinner at 7 am requires a plan!
    3. Plan your prep:  I have a great tray that makes it easy to bring veggies and dip to holiday parties.   I peel and cut lots of veggies all at once, then use them for 3 or 4 parties, plus in recipes at home.  And now my sons are old enough to help with the washing and peeling!

Provide good nutrition and peace of mind.

    1. When the weather turns colder and the schedules heat up, we all tend to catch colds.  Good nutrition helps us stay well and keep our energy up for holiday fun and activities.  We eat better and better-for-us food with menu planning.
    2. My oldest son thanked me recently for NOT relying on fast food to feed him and his brothers, even when we’re busy (I was floored, right?!).  He and I agree that fast food is convenient, but we are not used to the grease and carbs and don’t particularly like the taste.

So, as I finished this, I got up and put the diced-last-week carrots, celery and onions in my soup pot. Now I’ll edit it, send it for publication, and get cracking on cleaning out my fridge and freezer and putting together the rest of my menu plan.  Give yourself the gift of time and menu and a little sanity, and give menu planning a try this week!