Have you noticed a few holiday decorations popping up in your neighborhood already? Are the sight of these festivities and the sounds that accompany them causing you to feel overwhelmed?

Perhaps what you need are some tips in holiday time management! Holidays can be the perfect breeding ground for stress. Planning for the holidays can leave us feeling impatient, agitated, and in some instances depressed.

According to Ronald Nathan, PhD, clinical professor at Albany Medical College in New York,  “when we think about the holidays, we dwell on the past and what went wrong, or we romanticize it and make it impossible to re-create.”

He counsels people to carefully examine their thoughts and expectations, and not drive themselves crazy finding “the perfect gift” or planning “the perfect party.” “Instead,” he says, “lower your expectations, and overestimate — rather than underestimate — your time.”

Often many of us take holiday stress for granted and by the time January 2^nd rolls around, we are too exhausted to even attempt to focus on beginning work on the goals we set for ourselves for the New Year.

Here are a few tips to help manage your holiday stress!

•   Create a holiday budget and stick to it! Remember it is the thought, not the price that counts!
•  Remember to do things you really enjoy doing for the holidays! It really is okay to celebrate the holiday doing something for yourself!
•  Ask for help to complete your holiday chores. Senior parents, neighbors and children are just waiting to be invited to be a part!
•  Set a schedule and follow it!  Plan for some holiday down time, this will lower stress.
•  Prioritize!! Figure out what things must be done first and what things can wait!

Recently, a few YWCA departments participated in a time management training by Fred Pryor Seminars and we learned ways to effectively prioritize. Lisa Ann Landry, the facilitator for the workshop, showed us many tools and tricks for accomplishing task in a more timely fashion. My favorite method was “The Four Quadrants of Time Management.” This method simply involves categorizing and it is very simple to understand!  Although I learned this method from a workshop related to work and have started using it, I will also use it during the holiday season to help things flow smoothly and without stress.

What strategies do YOU use to stay organized? Share your holiday time management and stress reduction tips with us! Then pass this blog along to your family and friends.