Part 5: Managing Holiday Time
Running here and there; checking things off the list, then adding more to it; dealing with the noise and hustle and bustle – at home as well as at the mall. Sometimes it’s just too much to handle. This leads us to today’s question.
There’s just not enough time to get things done, with shopping, parties, cooking, planning for family gatherings. How can I deal with the pressures of time?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things that have to be done. Any time you’re overwhelmed, it’s usually because there are so many things floating out there, it feels like you’ll never get them done. They just seem like one huge weight on your mind, impossible to fathom. Instead of digging in, you procrastinate – making the tasks feel even less do-able.
Any time you’re overwhelmed, the key is planning, breaking the larger tasks down into smaller, more “tackle-able” ones. Block out a few minutes to list the major categories of “projects,” e.g., shopping, party. Then create smaller sections – e.g., shopping for John, food for the party. Then list even smaller tasks within those sub-categories, e.g., talk to John’s wife to learn his sizes, call Beth for her spinach salad recipe. When you taken the time to do this and you have 15 minutes, you can select something to do. (Something besides obsessing and stressing about how much you have to do.) You can choose to focus during this morning hour only on getting the grocery list created for the party. You can set aside an afternoon for shopping, a task made more efficient by your list.
While you might get even more overwhelmed when you see a 4-page list, this actually gives you a greater sense of control. It might be a long list, but at least it’s on paper; you can see it. It’s not a nebulous monster threatening your waking moments and dreams.
Step by step, you can get it done. The key is – schedule the time, and focus on one thing at that time.
Another area that most of us struggle with during the holidays is maintaining a healthy weight. Not only are all the goodies tempting, but in the busy-ness we just discussed, it’s easy to neglect exercises. We’ll talk about those challenges in our next edition of Holiday FAQ’s.
****************************************************************************
Do you have other questions I haven’t included? You can ask them and I’ll answer on the Shrink Rap suggestions for staying sane during the holidays. While you’re at the Shrink Rap Blog, sign up to be notified of new posts at the top right of the page.
Questions and comments may also be shared at the social networking sites, Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter. I’d love to be connected with you there. Just click those buttons on the home page of my website and request a connection and I’ll be glad to say “Yes!”
Want to reprint this? The answer is “yes” if you include the following attribution: Dr. Bev Smallwood is a psychologist, speaker, Show Host at The Women’s Information Network (thewinonline.com), and author of “This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen to Me.” Visit her website, www.DrBevSmallwood.com, or contact her directly at 601-264-0890.
