Self-Care Corner: Handling End-of-Year Stress

November 27th 2018

With a little over a month left of 2018, it is sort of easy to feel overwhelmed~

This is one of my favorite times of the year, but also one of the most overwhelming. I find that the end of the year, despite being filled with tons of holiday fun and excitement, often feels incredibly rushed and hectic. There are gifts to buy, decorating to do, people to see, meals to cook, places to visit, on top of all of the usual work and life things that happen all year round! It is easy for someone to let their mental health slip through the cracks with so much going on.

When I am combating end of year stress, I usually start off by doing one thing, breathing. I try to sit back and a take a deep breath. I remind myself that the holiday season is supposed to be a fun time filled with friends and not filled with self-imposed stress and deadlines. Next, I practice self-care. A few things I like to do to unwind from holiday stress are:

• Watch a holiday movie
• Declutter my space
• Read a book
• Go to a coffee shop to get away from the stress of home
• Listen to music
• Do some yoga
• Meditate
• Write out my feelings in a blog post or journal
• Bake cookies

I find that any small activity that requires you to step out of your regular routine to do something self-serving is great for combating stress. Another great thing you can do for end of year stress is realize that there is still a new year on its way! The world doesn’t end after 2018 (hopefully) and if it does then you wouldn’t be needing to worry about this stuff anyway because the world would be over! What I am getting at is that you have time to get your shit together and not everything needs to be crammed into December.

A lot of stress comes from lack of organization. I often try to clean and tidy my space when I am feeling overwhelmed because I let mess build up when I am running around like a crazy person. And as mess builds, stress builds, and as stress builds, mess builds…and the cycle continues on and on until I either put a stop to it or drown in my mess.

Cleaning up your mess can also translate to your schedule. Keep a planner. I have preached calendars and planners for quite some time on my blog and I have to say, that my phone calendar and I are BFF’s. Every little dinner plan, shopping date, and appointment is logged in my calendar so I have a full view of the month ahead. No double booking, confused scheduling, blindsides in my future!

Most of all, you can combat end of year stress by realizing that everyone is going through the same stress as you are. Everyone handles holiday stress differently but we all experience it in one way or another. So reach or to a friend and handle stress together.

The holidays are a time to be together, don’t go through stress alone~

Jess~