How to Take Things Off our Plates During Holidays Months
November is the month of thankfulness, lots of entertaining, cooking, and … piling too much on our plates.
I’m raising my hand in the air! Me, Me!
I think learning about balance during the holiday season is so important, and something that took me years to learn.
This would be a good week to sit down with a journal and write out your goals for the next 2 months.
What are the essentials? The things you really have to do, that you can’t get out of.
What are the non-essentials this time of year? For me, they are parties and activities that I really don’t have to attend or be a part of.
How to avoid being over-commited
1. Keep a journal of your hopes, dreams, and desires for you and your family for the holidays.
2. Separate out the pages according to Family, Must-Dos, Dreams, Invitations.
3. Prioritize the essentials and non-essentials in to each category.
4. Family: be willing to ask your family their opinion regarding whether they want to keep traditions going, or it’s time to make a change.
5. Must-Dos: consider stopping, or changing the way, you’ve always done things in the past. Is there a better way? What would happen if you “stopped?”
6. Dream: it’s beautiful to dream and come up with new ideas. Write these down and try something new!
7. Invitations: don’t say yes to any invitation until you’ve really counted the cost.
Everyone has their own convictions regarding what is important to them. But it’s true, sometimes we do over-commit.
We all know what is essential, and learning to take off our list the events that really “don’t need to happen” is key!
The key to being sane.
And happy.
By the end of the day we need to learn to be at peace with how we have used our time.
Do you struggle with piling too much on your plate during November and December?
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I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
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Love this post – it’s so important to know what you want to get out of the season. We really can’t do it all. And, if we try, we will be so stressed and overwhelmed that we won’t be able to enjoy the things that matter the most to us.
We have a list that hangs on the inside of our front door. It’s a running list of things we want to do, e.g. museums, new restaurants to try, new recipes to try (the teenager likes to cook), etc.
I think perhaps we should make a Holiday List to help us keep focused on the things that we value most.
Blessings,
~ Dana
Cooking at Cafe D
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Sandy, this is so timely! I need to watch as we approach the holidays–I tend to over commit and get very overwhelmed. Loved the part about writing down your dreams too!
Christmas seems to be the one time of year I over commit myself. I blame it on living so far away from our families {12+ hours to each family…who don’t live near each other}. We stay in Atlanta, and I am always so determined to keep it fun even though it is just the four of us that I commit us to every holiday activity in the city it seems.
This year I am picking just 3. We need to take a step back. Christmas is my husband’s busiest time of year {he manages the photo portion of Santa’s Wonderland for all 57 Bass Pro Shop stores}. This year I am determined to relax and let my kids have fun just coloring pictures, baking cookies, and staying up a little too late.
Yes I do struggle with this! Thank you for setting me straight and reminding me that I can say no and need to say no. And it’s okay to say no. xoxo
I needed this more than ever today! I have already started piling on for the holiday season and definitely need to take it a bit more slowly. Great post, my friend!
I struggle with this all the time so I’m so happy to read these suggestions. I’m going to really take them to heart, especially that last one about not saying yes until I’ve counted the cost.
Oh yes, a constant struggle. Thanks so much for the encouragement and reminder Sandy!
This post could not have come at a more perfect time for me, Sandy! I love it! I do struggle with too much on my plate in November and December, but this year I am going to try calm it down a notch!
I agree with Liz – I want the holidays to be something that my children just cannot wait to participate in, and that means I have to lead by example and make sure that we can enjoy ourselves. We have such a huge tendency to over-commit as a family, and I think this year (more than ever) we need to step back and consider what we really want to make the holidays about!
Love this – especially the one about recreating traditions. The older generation is getting less and less excited about the holidays each year which is a fun time for the younger crowd to change things up. :)