The holidays are approaching and for many that means stress is approaching on the coattails. Here are 10 ways to cut down on the stress and enjoy your holiday.
1. Exercise: Exercise is one of the best ways to remove stress from your life. Endorphins are released when you exercise, which are your body's natural opiates—making you feel happier and healthier (both of which go hand in hand).
2. Cut Down On The Junk Food: Just like above, the healthier you are the happier you tend to be. With all of the rich foods, desserts and beverages offered around the holidays, it will help you feel happier and healthier by eating better. Cut down on junk foods and eat more greens, fruits and fish—lighter meals.
3. Find A Sanctuary: With all of the various stresses coming at you it will help if you have a place you can retire to and escape, temporarily, from the rigors of the holidays. Whether it's a study, a bookstore, coffee shop or even your car, find a place where you can sever the outside stresses and relax.
4. Set Aside Time For Yourself: What good is having a sanctuary if you never spend time there? Schedule time for yourself to enjoy your sanctuary; scheduling your personal time will also help you relax while you're there.
5. Make A Budget: Costs go up over the holidays, what with all the gifts, food and travel. Setting a holiday budget can make you better prepared to handle the financial stresses the season brings.
6. Set Goals: Christmas shopping, hanging Christmas lights, decorating the house, winterizing the house…the holidays are full of tasks, setting goals will help you manage the tasks.
7. Organization: Good organization has been found to help almost everyone remove at least a modicum of stress from their lives. Organizing, especially in conjunction with setting a goal, will help you alleviate stress by keeping things clear and streamlined; it will also help with holiday parties and divvying up family tasks and events.
8. Clean Your House: Though it may sound like more work, having and keeping a clean house—especially with some scented candles or air fresheners—will help you relax and unwind. Clutter is stressful and you can easily turn your house into a sanctuary simply by keeping it clean and clear.
9. Reward Yourself: The holidays are a universally appropriate time to deliver gifts to loved ones—why should a gift for you be any different? While you may want to rethink big items or things most likely on your Christmas list, small rewards after you've reached your goals will give you more determination and give you some peace of mind as the holidays progress.
10. Shop Early: Shopping is easily considered one of the biggest stressors of the holiday season. Don't wait until the last minute when everything else is piling up to do your shopping. You may even want to set shopping early as one of your goals, that way you can give yourself a nice little reward (on top of eliminating the stress factor) once you've finished!
Holidays can be messy and provoke the most virtuous person's anxiety, but with these steps you should be able to navigate the holiday season in a stress-free fashion, giving you more time to enjoy the holidays—which is what they're supposed to be for, right?
Robert Mansions writes for Apartments Management Group. Aside from constantly reviewing Chicago Apartment Rentals here, he spends his down time reading books and enjoying quiet time alone.
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