Feeling stressed? It’s the most wonderful (and stressful!) time of the year! Do you have a million things to-do? You’re running around buying ugly Christmas sweaters, decorating, shopping, wrapping, and shipping presents. The list could go on and on and on!
If you need to de-stress, here’s a two-step goal setting activity, from Marie Forelo, that you can use keep your sanity this holiday season.
How to De-Stress When You Have No Time
This goal-setting activity is called the purge and prune, I know, it doesn’t sound appealing, but the process is genius, and it will help you focus on what is really important.
The first step is to purge.
Grab a notepad and pen to write down all your errands, to-do’s, and events that you have floating around in your head.
The purpose of the purge is to get everything on paper.
Otherwise your errands will always be weighing you down and that’s when you can feel overwhelmed.
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When going through the purge process, don’t second think, or question yourself, of “how in the world will I get everything done?!”
Write down all your holiday party invites, all the people you’d like to give gifts to, Christmas events in your city like parades or Christmas tree lightings.
Write down anything and everything that you’d like to do this holiday season.
Then ya gotta prune.
If you know about gardening, then you know that the secret to keeping your plants healthy is to prune them. Pruning is when you go to town on cutting and trimming down a plant.
It seems counterintuitive to cut a plant but pruning makes the plant super healthy and strong.
Cutting down encourages growth.
Now that you’ve purged and have all your thoughts on paper, you can prune.
Take a red pen and mark through items on your list. What are the critical few things you want to do this holiday season?
Hopefully, the top priority is remembering what Christmas is really about.
Less is more. Instead of trying to do a million things half-hearted, exhausted, and burnt-out, pick what is most important to you and save your energy to enjoy a handful of Christmas events.
P.S. Want to purge and prune in your financial life? Get focused and organized with money. Give the gift of financial education to yourself with a money coaching session! Get the details here.
