Managing stress and your time during the holidays

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” -William James

Holidays are great stress busters but at times they can prove to be highly stressful time for many families. Whether you are hosting a holiday party at your home, organizing travel with children, and/or trying to balance your everyday routine with additional holiday activities, it’s always helpful to prioritize your time, commitments and family activities to help contribute to stress reduction.

Here are some tips for managing your holiday time for better stress management:

• Make a list of the things that causes the most stress.

Think of the things that causes you the most stress during the holidays. Write them down, along with the level of stress they cause and how they affect you.

• Take control.

You must decide which things on your holiday list you can do something about but at the same time you must also remember that you might not be able to control everything on your list. For instance, your children’s school schedule or traffic jams are trying parts of life. Even though you can’t control these events, you can at least devise ways to control your reaction to them.