Beating the Christmas and New Year Blues
Posted by Shawn on December 8, 2008
It’s that time of year. Snow. Sleigh bells. Holiday shopping. Time off from work for some; the busiest time of the year for others.
Our schedule changes from focusing on work or school to getting ready for the holidays. Although we each have our own traditions, it seems that December features the most annual tasks of any month, be it from putting up a Christmas tree and lights, shopping, visiting with friends and relatives, preparing food and parties, and eating, eating, and more eating. Fun for most. Sad or lonely for others.
One week after Christmas comes New Years Day, when we realize that we really didn’t accomplish those resolutions we made on December 31st of last year. What we were excited about on January 1st has been completely forgotten about, and we are no better off, or even worse off than last year. Do we make the same resolution again and vow to try harder? Or decide to do something completely different?
Here are some tricks to keep you motivated so you can both have an enjoyable holiday season and hit the new year feeling grand:
1. Have a realistic plan for what you want to accomplish.
Too often we have a massive list of everything we want to do during our vacation time at the end of the year, from movies we want to see, places to visit, home projects we want to tackle, and people with whom to get together. The first few days we just want to relax, and before you know it, we have used up all our time off and it is back to work.
2. List the events that you believe you will get most stressed about, and next to each item the worst thing that can happen.
Is it a relative you cannot stand, or a company function where attendance is mandatory and you dread attending? Or are you expected to provide the perfect gift to “just surprise me”, and know you have a 99% chance of getting it wrong? Write it down, read it, and realize the worst thing that can happen. Once your mind is prepared for this you will realize most of it is not really a big deal, and your stress level will decrease.
3. Relax.
Have entire days planned when you can just relax, or get a few things done in the morning and enjoy the remainder of the day. Enjoy a great dinner. Attend a church service. Watch an entire day of football. Play cards. Go for a country drive. Surf the Internet. Play touch-football. Master that video game. Go skiing (location and snow dependent). You need to have your realistic plan and the days you want to accomplish each item done in advance so you will know you have a day set aside for non-stressing relaxing.
4. Plan the next year.
Rather than creating New Year’s resolutions like getting fit, losing weight, and making more money try a different approach. Decide your end state for December 31st of the next year and write it down. On December 31st how much will you weigh? How many books will you have read? How much money will you have made? If you want to lose 10 pounds next year you will have the entire year to do it, but commit to it. Some will accomplish it in the first month; others will wait until December 1st or later. If you want to read 20 books you can accomplish it early or pace yourself. With this approach you can accomplish some of your goals prior to the end of the year (read 20 books) and measure others (your weight) on the last day of the year. Too many people abandon their resolutions within the first few weeks; with this approach you cannot abandon it; you either make if or do not make it at the end of the year.
5. Give.
Not just presents to friends and families, but to people you probably do not know. Donate to the food shelves; not just a can of corn or beans from your cupboard but enough food to help several families out. Drop off toys for any of the local programs, or adopt a family and buy the presents for them. Donate money to any of the programs that support our troops serving in the Armed Forces, or write letters or send care packages to our troops. There is always somebody worse off then you and it feels good to give, and you will realize that many of the events you stress about are trivial.
So enjoy the rest of the year, and do things that will make it end as a great year.
