Holiday stress expert: My top 3 tips to stay ahead of the game—'Tis the season to be jolly!

The next six weeks are likely to be busy for you, with your work and social commitments during the holiday season.

Planning and attending celebrations can be exhausting, especially when you have big work deadlines to manage before the end of the year.

Gloria Chan Packer, a workplace mental wellness expert and founder of Recalibrate, remarks, "This time of year is so chaotic."

She offers her top advice for managing holiday stress.

1. Start every week by reviewing your workload

Saying yes to every event, meeting, and project during this busy season is effortless, but it can lead to overloading yourself.

Packer advises beginning each week by assessing your upcoming commitments, deadlines, and deliverables for the next seven days. Afterward, evaluate your ability to fulfill them all.

If your workload is overwhelming, consider reprioritizing tasks that can be postponed. While you may not be able to reschedule a major project deadline, a coffee meeting with a client might be able to be pushed back until January.

Instead of assuming that everything being asked of you is high priority, ask the requester how urgent it really is and when exactly they need something from you.

To manage holiday party invitations, Packer suggests establishing a weekly limit for the number of events you commit to, so you can pre-determine which invitations to accept or decline.

2. Schedule weekly downtime now

Not enough individuals utilize their calendar to schedule time for relaxation and rejuvenation, according to Packer.

Schedule a few hours of uninterrupted focus time each week, perhaps on Friday mornings, to catch up on tasks that were overlooked during the week, advises Packer.

Do it now before you forget or more events land on your calendar.

Remember to schedule in time for your own personal breaks, too. For those who have a hard time doing so, Packer recommends tying breaks into things you do every day. Try blocking off five extra minutes while you make your morning coffee to not look at your phone or computer; instead, take some deep breaths or move around and stretch.

Whatever you do, don't delete your protected time block altogether, Packer advises. If something comes up, it's okay to move it.

She adds that you can't run in the red or operate at a loss forever.

3. Prepare your 'no thank you' response

To avoid saying yes to too many things, Packer suggests creating a brief response to decline invitations or other demands.

She suggests that you show your appreciation and be concise when expressing your boundary. If you're open to it, you can propose reopening the conversation at a later time when your schedule is more flexible.

I appreciate being invited, but I'm unable to attend as I have prior obligations. I hope everyone enjoys themselves and we can catch up in the upcoming year.

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