5 Ways to Find Time To Relax After the Holidays
The winter holidays slowly sweep you up over a few weeks, and then all of a sudden they’re over. For some, this is a blessing, but for others, it can be incredibly difficult to relax after a busy and stressful holiday season. Your legs think you should be moving and your brain thinks you’re out of time! If this is how you function in the post-holiday calm, don’t worry; we’ve got 5 tips to help you relax this January.
Make Time for Exercise
Let off all that extra steam by hitting the treadmill or the elliptical a few times a week. You can even schedule in social exercising like hiking, golfing, and group running. Take a little time away from your house and go break a sweat. You’ll feel great afterwards and sleep like a baby that night!
Take Time Off
If you’ve got the vacation time, a day off of work is a blessing, but this can also just mean a weekend without cooking a single meal, or an afternoon playing golf or getting a facial. With a full day off from errands and activities, think of how much more time you’ll have to read a great book or catch up on sleep! Alone time is very important as you transition away from the busy holidays into a productive and successful New Year.
Unplug From Electronics
One of the best ways to relax is to completely unplug from the rest of the world and your own electronics. Pack up the kids and head to a park or go on a hike and leave all the devices at home (pack a cell phone for emergencies). You can unplug completely from the media, from your work email, and from Facebook. A fun way to accomplish this is to have “blackout night” at your house! If you have a fireplace, light a fire and set up a few candles, then disconnect (or flip the breaker switch) from the majority of your electricity! (You should keep the fridge and central heating on). Have everyone turn off their laptops and cell phones and have a family game night by the light of the candles. You can even avoid cooking and order something fun instead, or pretend the fireplace is a campfire and make s’mores and grill hotdogs and sausages on sticks!
Hire a Babysitter
Yes, a babysitter; preferably one that can take your kids to their house for the night. Send them off to Aunt Kim’s or grandma and grandpa’s place so mom and dad can have a little alone time in the house. This might just mean you’ll do laundry and clean the house, but think of how much more relaxing and therapeutic these tasks are without the kids running around. With the kids away having a great time, you can focus on whatever it is at home that helps you relax. Maybe you get a massage, or just drink a glass of wine while watching a movie. Either way, you can eat what you want, go to bed whenever you want, and just relax a little bit in your own home.
Write a Private Journal
When you’ve got busy-busy-busy thoughts running through your head, a great way to calm your brain is to write them down. Spouse stressing you out? Write about it. Got too many ideas for work? Doodle them. Just grab a nice Moleskine or other fun notepad and a few fancy pens, then doodle, write, draw, and scribble whenever the thoughts in your head become overwhelming. Be completely honest and write for yourself, not for someone else’s eyes. If you don’t want other people to ever read it, rip out the pages and shred them once you’ve gotten everything off your chest.
