Create Peace This Holiday Season.
While the youngsters are feeling the magic of the season, those with the magic-producing responsibilities may start to feel overwhelmed. This year, get ahead of the chaos by entering the season peacefully through structure and intention. Here are a few tips and free planning templates to help you prepare before it’s too late.
5 Tips to keep the peace this season:
Create a “Reason for the Season”. What are you celebrating this year? Are you recognizing the birth of a King, the rededication of a temple through 8 nights of lights, or simply a time of gratitude and giving with loved ones? The “reason for the season” is the most important part of the holiday and it is important to write it down as an anchor to rate all decisions and priorities against. It will be the center to which you and those in your household find peace.
Blueprint now…and each week to come. We discuss blueprinting as getting everything in your mind down on paper in an unorganized manor. Then, using my free templates below or your own notebooks and planners, organize all of your thoughts, to-dos, and schedules. When you practice blueprinting regularly, it is easier to push emotions of anxiety, stress, and overwhelm to the side to follow your season plans.
Prioritize your holiday events. December is the month of parties, new recipes, community events, happy hours, sugary treats, travel, performances, exams, shopping, and expectations of magic and joy. You can easily overbook your calendar with back-to-back events. Doing this will lead to burnout by mid-December. To avoid this, prioritize events most important to you and cut out the extras that are low on the priority scale. This allows you to schedule margins for rest avoiding holiday burnout. You will be surprised how a restful evening of hot chocolate, holiday music, and a little fire at home can be just as rewarding as another holiday soirée or Santa sighting. Think quality over quantity and measure all priorities to your “reason for the season” mantra.
Communicating the holiday schedule. With so many events and traditions that are not on the usual agenda, it helps for even the smallest member in the house to be apprised of the schedule. When expectations are clear and communicated, children are more likely to get ready on time, whine less, and transition with ease. Partners also benefit with clear communication of holiday plans so that their own expectations and schedules are in sync. By communicating the schedule, everyone in a household has an opportunity to regulate their own overwhelm and stress. Make copies of your holiday plans and post them where everyone can regularly check the schedule and to-dos. Host a family meeting to walk through the holiday schedule with everyone. Use our free templates below.
Ask for feedback. Create checkpoints with those in your house so that you can get feedback on how everyone is feeling. Remind them of the “Reason for the Season”, and ask how they are feeling (joyful, inspired, tired, overwhelmed, etc.) How are you feeling. Write it down and the next time you blueprint, take the household feelings into consideration. If someone is feeling exhausted, edit your schedule to include more rest. If someone is feeling inspired, have them help with holiday to-dos. Checkpoints and feedback is a great way to keep a clear line of communication and peace throughout the holiday and avoid chaos.
