The holidays can be a lot. Here’s a quick guide with three steps to stay sane.

Make a plan. Sit down and write out a schedule. Schedule everything as you would like it to go if it all went perfectly smoothly. I want you to even schedule in time for planning—i.e. 30 minutes for looking up recipes and making a list the day before you are scheduled to do the grocery shopping. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t!) rigidly hold yourself to this schedule, but it’s good to have a basic sense that everything you need to do CAN get done, and there’s space for everything. And if you need to cut some things out, you can tell Aunt Sally you can only bring one pie instead of three politely and in a timely fashion, rather than frantically calling her day of, or just showing up without the pie. This will help other people plan and be more relaxed too!
Do one thing, mindfully, in the moment. Basically—one thing at a time! Multitasking isn’t real—when you’re doing one thing and planning another, you’re not really doing either thing well. When you’re supposed to be shopping, shop. When you’re supposed to be at a party, enjoy the party! When you’re supposed to be sleeping, sleep. Stick to the task at hand, and know that you have time for everything, because you scheduled it!
Put your worries in a container. Imagine a structure that’s so strong and secure it can hold all your worries, and only let them out when you’re ready to look at them. Really imagine this container—what does yours look like? Where is it? What kind of lock does it have and where do you keep the key or combination? Now, any time you’re struggling with staying in the moment, remember your container, and put that worry in there for later. Remember that you have time scheduled for all the planning, so when you’re at a party, you don’t need to be thinking about your grocery list!

Are holidays for you more stressful or more fun? What do you do to stay balanced when there are so many demands on you? I’d love to hear from you!