6 Tips to Manage Holiday Stress and Anxiety

Tips to Manage Stress and Anxiety this Holiday Season
With Christmas and New Years a mere two weeks away - the holiday season is in full swing.  From now until Christmas Day, there will be a flurry of office parties, reunions, family gatherings and meet-ups with friends that you would also want to participate in.  After Christmas comes the New Year celebration. 

Even if you are not the assigned host of a holiday dinner party, you would feel the stress of the occasion not just because of going through one event after another, but also because of the freezing temperature.

These are precisely the reasons why, amidst all the busyness of the holiday celebrations, you should take time to give yourself a massage.  

Strategies to Reduce Christmas Stress

• 1. Make a List - It works for Santa and it will work for you.  Checking items off a list as they're accomplished is satisfying in itself..
  
  
• 2. Pick and Choose Your Christmas Activities - Many of us do what we do during the holiday season just because we always have, turning the entire month of December into a mad whirl of non-stop Christmas preparations and activities. If the things on your list that you have to do outnumber the things that you want to do, it's time to make your list more manageable by eliminating some of these holiday activities. 
  
  
• 3. Take the time you have created and do something you enjoy - Such as just sitting down by a cozy fire enjoying some Christmas music or touring the Christmas lights in your neighborhood. Or Getting a Massage. 
  
  
• 4. Simplify -   Think about how much your time (and sanity) is worth, and contract out accordingly. Use the gift wrapping services, order food, assign some tasks to other family members. Lighten your workload and your mood.
  
  
• 5. Shop Online  -This is a no brainer, many are already doing. It goes against the "shop local" idea, but if that is what you prefer, select a neighborhood, rather than driving all over creation chasing sales.
  
  
• 6. Self Care - Make time for self care.  Book a massage, take hot baths, Exercise or do yoga. Clear your mind and relax your body
  
  Get the Christmas Sparkle Back
  The holiday season should be a joy, not an ordeal. Applying some time management skills during the holiday season can help.