Category: Home and Family

With the busy days of summer long behind us and the fall routine well underway we enter “the holiday zone”. Queue creepy music.

The holiday season can be stressful. Summer is far behind and it’s back to our full-time jobs; hauling the children to school, sports, and all of their other extracurricular activities; preparing the home and garden for winter and getting ready for the ever lengthening holiday season. Unless you are a stress management guru this time of year will increase your stress levels.

Amazon best-selling author Paul Huljich, one of America’s leading stress management experts and author of Stress Pandemic, 9 Natural Steps to Break the Cycle of Stress & Thrive (2nd Edition; Mwella Publishing) says, “People who cope with stress in unhealthy ways end up creating significant personal health problems and more stress for themselves. My advice is to become aware of the activity that is spiking your stress levels and take steps to actively manage both your and your family’s ways to cope with the increased stress in your lives.

Don’t fall back into old, familiar patterns of stress this season — fight back!  With prevention comes the key to success against stress!  In dealing with children, you should focus most on limiting your child’s stress levels by preparing them for what’s to come. Talking with your kids and understanding what may be causing their stress is a good first step in helping them cope with stress. By helping kids work through their stress you’ll not only teach valuable stress management tips that will help them throughout their lives but also help to decrease the stress levels in your own life.

Another good approach to cope with increased stress this fall is to “un-schedule”.  For example, there are loads of fun and rewarding extracurricular activities for children, but it is just as important that kids take time to relax and have some unscheduled time at home or outdoors. Try to reserve at least one weekday after school that is a “free day,” and stick to that schedule for the school year. Both your child and you will be much more relaxed and prepared when you allow yourselves proper downtime.”

Keep in mind that this time of year you are subject to a barrage of marketing telling you that you must go out and shop the minute the turkey is consumed. The sole purpose of these commercials is to “sell more soap”. Celebrate this year with quality family time at home. Keep the decorations simple. Buy one less gift. Instead, give the gift of listening. Trade a day of shopping for a day of listening to the dreams and desires or possibly the fears of family members. When you stop buying into the commercialism the stress level comes down.

If you are ready for a reduced stress purchase or sale of real estate, give me a call.

Source: www.stresspandemic.com