Stress Free Holiday Planning

With the winter holidays rapidly approaching, stress goes hand in hand with every aspect of them. The anxiety of planning, getting the house and travel arrangements ready, seeing sometimes challenging family members, and the financial pressure of gift shopping can take a lot out of most anyone. But fortunately, it doesn’t have to be.

For older adults, stress can be more detrimental to their bodies, harder to manage, and therefore important to avoid. For your physical and emotional well-being, and for that of any elderly loved ones you may be responsible for, consider these tips to minimize the stress felt over this typically difficult season.

Trying to make plans at the last minute, change or create new travel plans in an already impacted system, or a constantly increasing to-do list are all huge stressors. Try to get ahead of the holidays as much as possible, deciding now if you’re going to be staying in town, traveling to visit someone, or hosting guests. Make sure everyone has a travel plan they can stick to, so there’s no last minute surprises.

As for the to-do list, creating a paper list helps organize all the tasks and lets you get a better handle on what needs to get done. Experts suggest tackling the most complicated jobs on the list first, and take a moment to celebrate your progress as you tick things off.

Routines make us feel safe and comfortable, so any disruption in our routine is going to be a huge source of stress. Try to stick to your routine as much as possible, adding in self-care when necessary.