‘Tis the season to…
Put ourselves at the bottom of our to-do lists.
It’s that time of year. Our to-do list just went up by ten fold! Don’t get me wrong, I love the Christmas season, but I have found that having extra things to get done can leave me feeling blah when it comes to my mental health, physical health, and well-being. Snapping at the kids or my husband because oops, I’m so busy trying to get EVERYTHING done I forgot to put MYSELF on my to-do list. All the healthy habits I worked so hard on before the Holiday’s slowly start to disappear.
True Story:
Around this time last year, I was starting to lose my cool while we were decorating our Christmas tree. We were “supposed” to be putting ornaments on the tree but the kids thought that a popcorn fight was a better idea. I had the picture perfect Hallmark movie playing in my head of how things were “supposed” to be. Everything organized, the kids drinking hot chocolate, singing Christmas songs, we are all saying how much we love each other...haha! You get the gist. My husband and kids could sense I was annoyed and not enjoying the moment. You know what they said to me? “Maybe you should go take a bath.” The guilt started in right away.
Instead of feeling bad that I wasn’t finishing the memory of decorating the tree, you know what? I listened this time. I went up and took a break from all of the “to-do’s”. I came back down 30 minutes later refreshed, energized, and it prevented a full- blown meltdown in front of my family, which is not the memory or experience I wanted to create this year. Especially during the time of year where we are spreading KINDNESS, LOVE and JOY.
The old me wouldn’t have listened to my family. The old me would have just kept trucking along with a run-down, tired attitude and none of us would end up having fun. Instead, 30 minutes of “Me time” made for a great afternoon.
What if YOU put 30 minutes aside in your day to prevent a meltdown?
What if you “penciled” yourself into your calendar and made it a SACRED appointment? An appointment that you could not cancel. Gifting yourself TIME. You wouldn’t cancel your kids important dentist or doctor appointment would you? Maybe look at it as not canceling on your HEALTH. Let’s put our oxygen masks on first, friends. All the people around you benefit from getting the best version of you when you make time to take care of yourself first.
Christmas is about spreading our LOVE and JOY. Let's think of putting time aside for YOU as preventive health. Preventing the mental health meltdowns/resentment and preventing feeling like crap or being sick with another cold.
I could give you tons of research and statistics, which honestly I love, but let's keep it simple.
Here are 3 helpful tips/healthy habits to put yourself first and prevent meltdowns so that you don’t lose your cool this Holiday season…
1. SELF-CARE
Pencil in or google calendar yourself 30 minutes of just YOU time. This could be quiet time to read, 30 minutes of movement/exercise, a bubble bath, taking a walk, making yourself a healthy meal, etc. It’s not selfish….who knows, you may end up getting more things done after you take some time for YOU. Don’t sell yourself short this Christmas season. You deserve to gift yourself some TIME.
2. LEARN TO SAY NO
While you can’t control many of the outside stressors of life, you can take steps to eliminate additional (and unnecessary) stress. Start by saying NO to obligations that will cause additional stress, and be selective about what you say yes to. Don’t take on more than you can handle, and agree to more things that fill you life with joy.
3. SINGLE TASK
Focus on one task at a time. We live in a culture of multi- tasking but what if we focused on just ONE thing at a time? It helps eliminate stress. When we multitask, we tend to do a mediocre job of everything. Study after study has shown that while multitasking can be stimulating, and may even make us feel more productive, it invariably makes us less productive.
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Sometimes we get stuck in our routine. We may feel like it’s hard to create healthy habits on our own. I love helping stressed out women who are experiencing low energy due to the number on the scale and allow it to dictate how they feel. I help women create new healthier habits, gain more energy and remove the power of the scale so that they can be the best version of themselves for their families.
Do you know anyone who is stressed out and has low energy and could use some extra SUPPORT and ACCOUNTABILITY?