Managing Holiday Overwhelm
Around October until the beginning of January, I like to think about it as the holiday gauntlet since there’s one holiday per month back to back. Personally I think of it as a great season of things to do (I’m also a sucker for holidays), but I know it can also be overwhelming as there are many things that people feel they have to or want to do. Some people enjoy the holidays and some people don’t, but whatever you feel it can be overwhelming in some way whether it's things you want to do or things you need to do or both.
How can we try to make the overwhelming things manageable for us in the holidays? Well here’s something you can try to help organize things and tackle them in a way to make it feel less overwhelming.
What are some holiday traditions and/or plans you want to celebrate? I think it's good to start with. Are there any holiday things you want to celebrate or do? Think about any traditions, parties, get togethers, festive things you want to do for yourself so you have an idea of what you want.
What are some holiday things you feel obligated to do? Do you have any holiday obligations related to family that you feel you have to attend for family or partner. Do you have to do it and if so think about the ones you feel like are important for you to do and attend if any.
Schedule in your plans. Try to fit in your plans with your schedule and remember to know your own limits. Make sure all your plans can fit in your time reasonably and with your spoons.
Tackle things you need to do ONE AT A TIME. Remember even if you have a lot on your plate tackle things one at a time. Studies do show that multitasking may not be as effective as people believe since there is more room for error and it make you take more or same amount of time to finish doing something. If you also overload yourself you may experience burn out or being overwhelmed which was the issue you wanted to avoid in the first place. It’s ok to pick up something and do it or put it down to focus on something else and go back to it later.
Ask for help if needed or can. Think about if you have friends, family members, partner or even your therapist you can help to help you in some way. Whether it be emotional support to do tasks or physical help or even help asking someone help organize or get you to be motivated. Help can come in many forms and from other people so don’t forget to utilize that!
Be mindful of your own mental and physical capacity. Remember to know your own limits and boundaries with yourself so you know if you have to set limits and boundaries with others. Even though you may want to do or help out as much as you can remember to be mindful of your capacity. Just because you want to do everything or fix everything doesn’t mean you always can.
