A client (I’ll call her Susie) just called me in total and complete freak-out mode. She told me she could not handle the overwhelming demands that her life and business creates this time of year.
She still had year-end goals to meet in her business, children to shop for, meals to prepare, a house to clean, relatives to visit and on and on the list went. My entire body pulsated with compassion and understanding for this beautiful soul.
Because I’ve been there!
In fact this is the first year I’ve not been there. I figured some stuff out these last few years about overcoming overwhelm. The steps required are pretty drastic and not for everyone but if you are ready to embrace a holiday season filled with more joy and less stress follow these steps immediately!
Step 1. Acceptance
You must acknowledge you are not superwoman. If you continue in denial of this fact I simply can’t help you. But if you embrace your humanity it gets sooooo much better.
Step 2. List Management
You must apply some hard-core management to THE list. I’m not talking your email list or that list your kids made for Santa. I’m talking about the massive TO DO list you created for yourself.
Take 15 minutes right now to get that list down on paper and cross out everything that doesn’t absolutely have to get done. For every item you cross out, you put 5 ounces of joy and sanity into your life. If you do only this you will instantly infuse your life and body with oodles and oodles of peace, love and joy.
Step 3. Outsource
Now that you have your trimmed down list decide who can take some of the remaining items off your plate. This will require giving up control, which I know is a struggle for you, you cute little control freak. Do it anyway!
Need help (like my client) figuring out what you could possibly hand off to others?
Here are my suggestions:
- Hire people! If budget allows bring in someone to clean your house or prep your food for the holidays.
- Husbands and children are rather capable beings – use them! They can wrap presents. They can clean toilets. They can wash clothes. They can pack. The question is – will you let them? And that answer is really the key to getting out from overwhelm.
- Allow stores to shop for you. Gift shopping at this time of year is brutal (IMHO.) If you are shopping at local businesses and know what you need, call the owner and ask them if they can get your order together for pickup. If you are shopping at Target or Toys R Us order online for “store pickup”, pay online and you can make one quick dash to the customer service counter and out you go.
The list of what you could possible outsource is endless. It does require you give up your attachment to perfection and start to accept that receiving help is an important act filled with grace and love. And really, if you give yourself those two gifts this holiday season how amazing will 2015 be for you?!!!
Thanks for being here and reading my message. I want you to stay connected with me so that I can share all future communications with you.
Please enter your name and email below to join my community.
Success! Thank you for joining. You'll receive a confirmation in a while.