The most awaited time of the year is drawing near, Christmas. As usual, people tend to go shopping for the typical holiday stuff – tree, ornaments, lights, food and drinks, and of course, presents.

Steps For A Happy And Relaxing Holiday Break

The family is always important but is seemingly never more important than at this time of year. It’s so nice for the family to come together and be whole again. But, it can be overwhelming to organize so much around the holidays. Here are some tips to help you balance daily life while bringing the holidays together with a bang.

1. Separate compulsory from non-compulsory holiday activities.

On a piece of paper, note down all your upcoming activities. Then, categorize them into two – the obligatory as well as the non-obligatory. You’ll be surprised to see that the obligatory category is full of family responsibilities, and your work-related activities are last. Yet, you probably assumed work would be towards the top of the list.

2. Get suggestions from family members.

Consult each of your family members on what activities most would prefer to participate in. This will minimize the quantity of activities and emphasize the quality of time spent with your family. Does everyone really want to go ice skating, or would they rather a nice dinner at home with the family?

3. Chart those suggestions in your calendar and see if everything fits.

Once you have all of your obligations listed, organize them into your available time-slots. Nothing is ever on time, right? So pad each week with a day or two, or each day with an hour or two. If you find your time being too constrained, don’t feel bad about postponing or entirely skipping non-obligatory items.

The holidays are about quality time. Not hecticness. Take it slow and enjoy your time. Best wishes.