Budget Your Time Through The Holidays

Honouring yourself and your time during the busy holiday season can be incredibly challenging. Our thoughts are filled with buying the perfect gifts for the ones we love, buying the $20 gifts for a gift exchange, preparing the perfect meal or finding just the right dress for a work party. Life can get incredibly hectic, and not just on the day, but in the months leading up to Christmas. We put our health and well being on hold so that we can get all of this done while trying to survive the season. We do it year after year, but this year I’m asking myself, what if I put myself first this time?

I had to let a client go the other day, something no one in business wants to do, but I felt I had to because he just wasn’t respecting my time. I realised that in order to stay focused and achieve the goals I have for my life I need to respect my time first.  If I let this one client “get away with it,” then how many others will follow suit? As a Reconnective Healing practitioner, my life is dedicated to serving others by helping them connect to their own greatest potential for health and well being. However, if I don’t stay healthy and protect my time, I won’t be able to reach as many people.

In my Healing practice, I find that so many clients experience massive amounts of stress at this time of year. They let the emotions of the season overtake the experience of the season. During their sessions they are able to lie down, relax and just let go. This is such a powerful tool for coming back into balance so that decisions can be made with a clear mind and a balanced perspective.

There is a reason why the safety videos on airplanes recommend putting the oxygen mask on yourself first before your children. If we don’t take care of our mental, physical and emotional needs first, we won’t have the capacity to help others around us. So think of the holiday season in this way.  What do you want to get out of the next two months? How do you want to spend your time? You must understand that first, and then prioritize your life accordingly.

I’m a huge fan of lists and use them in my daily life. Lists help me manage my time efficiently and effectively and I am able to get the most done in the least amount of time. I suggest you try doing the same, as the power of the list can be used to survive and protect yourself throughout the holidays. Here’s what I suggest:

Start first by creating a two-month plan. Write down all of the things you need to do:

• Gifts to purchase

• Events to attend

• Friends to visit

• Decorating the home

• Meals that need to be planned

• Etc.

Write down everything you can possibly think of that you will need to do or delegate.

Then, get out the calendar (personally, I love to hand write my activities into a calendar and then enter them into my computer after). Plot the activities described on your list into the calendar on days that you can either take off from work or have available. Try to keep your scheduled balanced and not heavily weighted on the week before Christmas. Get whatever you can get done early, done early!

Now that you have a two-month plan, break that plan out into smaller, more manageable chunks. Have a list for each day or week with 3-5 main items per day. The enormity that is your two-month list starts to look and feel safely within grasp.

Your time is now yours. With a plan of attack leading up to the holiday season, and just a few items to accomplish each week, you are in control again. Don’t let what’s going on around you dictate how you enjoy the season. Slow down and allow yourself to enjoy this precious time with friends and family. And of course, if you do find yourself lost in the chaos, consider these ideas to bring you back into balance:

• Practice balanced breathing, 3 seconds in, 3 seconds out. Doing this for a few minutes can calm the nervous system and settle the mind.

• See your local Reconnective Healer or have a distance Healing session. It’s amazing the clarity that can be experienced through this healing modality.

• Give yourself a day off!  In the midst of it all, there’s no rule in the guidebook of life that says you can’t just take a break from it all. Take the time to enjoy yourself.

The holiday season comes around once a year, wouldn’t it be nice if this year were a little simpler and more organized?  Be in control of your personal power and give yourself the gift of time so that you can stay healthy and empowered this holiday season.