3 Strategies for Stress-Free Holidays

Written By Annie Belott, M.Ed
 
 

As the sleigh bells begin to jing-jingle, family and friend gatherings begin to be planned and Mariah Carey’s holiday soundtrack can be heard everywhere you go - are you also beginning to experience undercurrents of joy AND stress at the same time?

Does it feel like your inner thoughts are tumbling into a stressed-filled snowball which seems unbreakable, and unmeltable?

Avoiding every stress-triggered holiday occurrence seems unrealistic, and stressful in itself! Instead, a better solution is to immediately address the automatic, possibly negative, thought that comes to mind in those stressful situations, then work to challenge those thoughts to determine a more grounded, alternate response. 

  • It’s all about the mindset!

    • Our perception of stress matters a great deal in the way circumstances are handled

    • As we better understand our own thought processes, and catch those automatic responses from taking control, we can change our perception of stress and in turn, the way we deal with stress.

  • Take conscious control of your responses

    • Identifying the negative thought as soon as it occurs gives you the capability to acknowledge, challenge, and then shift to a response that will serve you better in the long run

      • Example:

        • Automatic/Negative Thought: "My sister-in-law said my cake was dry and I’m just a home baker and tried my best."

        • Shifted Thought/Response: "Just because someone says something unkind, doesn’t mean it’s true."

  • Don’t avoid, adapt!

    • Learning to deal with stress in an adaptive way proves more effective than avoiding conflicting and stressful situations

    • Our minds are a powerful tool - take stock of how your own mind works and recognize the capability you have to consciously shift your mindset!

The holiday season has a way of heightening the range of our emotions, and there are numerous events and actions that are out of our control during this time of the year. 

BUT if we can acknowledge and identify that our thoughts play a direct role in our perception of stress, we will always have the final sleigh - no snowmageddon stress spirals this holiday season!

Annie Belott, M.Ed

With over nine years of experience working in academia, including university settings, Annie has worked with various student populations including individuals with disabilities, first-generation students, and student-athletes. She focuses on strategies to improve upon time management, procrastination, test anxiety, self-testing, learning styles, etc.

From 2016 to 2020, Annie worked as a Learning Skills Specialist at Georgetown University. Here she oversaw the implementation of academic support services to all students on campus, specifically individual consultations with students seeking assistance with their study habits, tutoring for foreign languages, and study skills workshops/webinars.

Annie has worked for Life Solved since the Fall of 2017 and recently transitioned to a full-time position with the company. She continues to work with students from middle school through the collegiate level to improve upon their organizational systems, test-taking and self-testing strategies, and help students create effective study schedules to make workloads manageable.

Annie has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Salisbury University and a Master’s degree in Multicultural Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin.

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