Top Tips for Surviving the Holidays
You’ve just left your favorite Hair Cuttery location inside of your local mall, and you look like a superstar! As you walk towards the exit to the parking lot, the lure of a holiday sale draws you into one of your favorite clothing stores. The next thing you know, you’ve spent the whole day shopping until you literally drop on a mall bench. The next thing you know, you wake up two hours later, sprawled out on the bench and wondering where the time went and how your hairdo went from “superstar” to bed-head.
What’s the moral of this story? You need more sleep! The holiday season is a stressful time with its holiday events, shop until you drop sessions, school commitments and holiday cooking. Here are some tips for getting enough sleep and making sure the sleep you get is more restful than the kind you can catch on a mall bench!
Don’t try to do everything at once
Be careful not to plan to do ALL of your shopping, ALL of your cooking or ALL of your gift wrapping on one day. Instead, take a realistic look at your calendar and your financial forecast and plan out holiday activity in sizeable chunks. When you do this, you will find that you will get a lot more accomplished, and the activity will leave you a lot less stressed and cranky!
Prepare your mind for sleep
Find out what kinds of pre-bed activities make you most prepared before going to sleep, and employ a few of them so that your mind and body believe that sleep will follow. First, make yourself let go of the stress, cares and concerns of today. Just as the sun will rise in the a.m., concerns like not blowing your Christmas budget, or not remembering to get your child’s special snack for the Christmas party, will be there tomorrow. Key reminders into your smart phone and GO TO BED! But before you do, take a few moments to completely empty your mind of all of the concerns of the day so that you can relax.
Plan your bedtime AFTER the kids’ bedtimes
Just as your children need time to wind down, so do you. Be diligent about putting them down for bed pretty much at the same time each and every night, so that you can schedule your own bedtime – and stick to it! Just as their bedtime will signal their bodies for sleep, your scheduled bedtime will signal yours. And let nothing and no one come between you and your bedtime – not even the Dali Lama!
Prepare your body and your bedroom for sleep
Your routine may involve stretching, showering with a relaxing shower gel that contains the calming effects of lavender or taking a hot bath with your favorite bath crystals. You may even decide to sip some chamomile tea, or listen to soft music before drifting off to sleep. And be sure to leave your television outside of the bedroom, or have the discipline to turn it off by a certain time. Although it may feel like watching that holiday episode of Grey’s Anatomy is an emergency now, it really isn’t. (And those “doctors” on Grey’s won’t be there treat you for exhaustion tomorrow when you are falling asleep at Tommy’s Christmas Play). DVR the episode, record it, or catch it in re-runs.
The three essentials – Nap, Exercise, Eat Right
Just as you have scheduled your bedtime, nap during the day if at all possible. If you cannot nap midday due to work commitments, nap on weekends. Fit it in wherever you can – for you, perhaps the only nap you can expect to get is while under the hair dryer when you visit the stylist. If you absolutely cannot nap, then definitely exercise and eat right. A quick walk during lunch or floor exercises after work will not only help you keep your figure during the holiday season, but also help you feel rejuvenated from day to day. And if you absolutely cannot nap or exercise, be sure to eat right. Sugar can weigh you down and make you feel tired! Pass up all of the popcorn balls, candy canes and Christmas cakes offered to you during the 12 days of Christmas and promise yourself that you will be able to indulge in a little bit of your favorite snack on a day you designate for yourself. Keeping a healthy diet full of energy-producing foods like fresh fruits, vegetables and an adequate water intake will help you sleep better AND keep you from crashing and burning.
As you take time out for yourself during this holiday season, you will find that you will be able to “run” the distance, and keep exhaustion and sleep deprivation from getting you down. And that can only lead to a very happy Holiday Season!
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