The Holidays present a time challenge to everyone, especially parents; not only must we continue to provide and arrange — juggling jobs which often have increased end-of-year deadlines with all the standard routines of running a home, our personal lives, and our children’s lives — but we have the added responsibility to create holiday magic for our kids.
It’s all too easy to lose sight of ourselves and our own needs amidst the mountain of to-dos. The catch-22, of course, is that it’s when we have the least amount of time for self care that we require it most. To keep yourself operating at peak capacity this holiday season, check out these quick S.E.L.F. care tips:
SLEEP
He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake; he knows when you are out of whack, so take a nap for goodness’ sake. So many of us worry that if we take a break, we might crash — permanently — and the turkey will never make it onto the table, the presents will never get wrapped, and the holidays will be ruined. But science says that’s not the case. Research shows that a 20 minutes nap is the ideal length to leave you feeling refreshed, without waking up groggy and disoriented.
Don’t have a place to put your head down? Try drinking a cold glass of water, do some jumping jacks, or check out some of my favorite active rest techniques. Like rest stops on the highway, these techniques provide us with the opportunity to pull over and recharge before we reach that crashing point.
EXERCISE
Getting in shape is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Yet, most resolutions don’t last past the first month of the year. That’s because we have a tendency to be over-ambitious with our resolutions, or adopt resolutions that are incompatible with our lifestyles. This year, get a head start on your 2020 fitness routine and save on the expensive gym membership by trading duration for intensity.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) provides the biggest ROI, getting the blood flowing, muscles pumping, and calories burning in the shortest amount of time. The key is to alternate intervals of high and low intensity exercise — such as walking for three minutes and jogging for one minute, repeating the cycle over 15-30 minutes. Doctors say that completing these exercises just 3 - 4 times per week (that’s just an hour or two per week!) is all you need to achieve your fitness goals.
LOVE
Squeezing love into 20 minutes or less may sound like your idea of a bad date. But by love, I simply mean adult-to-adult relationships — whether with your partner, friends, family, or your community. Close adult relationships sustain us. And it’s amazing how much you can accomplish in 20 minutes by simply being present together.
Have breakfast with your partner, grab a coffee with a close colleague, chat with a long distance friend on your commute, wrap gifts with a neighborhood pal, or meet up with a fellow parent 15 minutes early for pick up just to vent about your day or how the perfect present for your mother-in-law is already on backorder. Make it a New Year’s habit to take planning out of the equation by making these short meet-ups a regular weekly or monthly occurrence.
FUN
To me, fun is any activity that relaxes, transports, fulfills, or restores us physically, emotionally, or psychologically. It may seem like fun should come naturally during the holidays. But the problem is, all the pressure to have the perfect, fun, relaxing holiday can be, well… stressful!
The good news is, almost any hobby can be enjoyed in 20 minutes or less — read a book, play an instrument, write or journal, get artistic or knit a scarf. Depending on the hobby, you might even be able to have your children join you — offering an opportunity for the kids to create home-made presents for friends and family or for you to send a cute family video in lieu of the holiday cards you may just now be realizing that you forgot to order in time.
I also recommend getting creative about how you spend your time. Instead of stewing in traffic on your third trip to the grocery store for a forgotten can of cranberry sauce that your Uncle Bill just can’t live without, savor the opportunity to listen to your favorite podcast or an audiobook and immerse yourself in the story. Trust me, your kids and your cortisol levels will thank you.