A few days more and it’s Christmas. It’s been an odd year but people still haven’t lost the festive holiday spirit. Just now, I saw some holiday decor up at my favorite coffee shop. Everything looks normal, right?

A Healthline survey in 2015 reports that 44% of people say that they are stressed during the holidays, with approximately 18% of those respondents reporting that they’re “very stressed.” While the holidays should be a time of joy, it can also be a time of stress. Respondents of that survey cite finances as the main reason for being stressed followed by being overscheduled. 

If you are working up until the last minute, the holidays can be even more stressful. Employees have a hard time staying productive in mid-December, because they have the holidays at the back of their mind. Working professionals tend to fall into one of these categories:

• They completely disengage after finishing the last work-related task and start engaging in not very meaningful activities like binge-watching.
• They keep working straight through the holidays and use work to get out of personal commitments.
• They do the opposite and cram as many holiday activities as they can into their schedules.

The problem here is obvious. None of these categories have a healthy work-life balance in them. To be more productive, you need to have a healthy balance of work and personal time.

How To Spend Your Holidays Intentionally

1. Set healthy holiday goals – set goals around what is important to you like how much sleep you want to get, how much exercise you want to do, etc. Stick to these goals. Remember that you’re trying to keep a healthy balance so don’t set a holiday goal to “do more work”. Instead, a healthy goal would be setting how much time will you allow yourself to work over the holidays.
2. Create and uphold holiday traditions – Family dinner on Christmas is a good tradition to uphold. Social distancing might prevent you from organizing a sit-down dinner with the whole family, but you can do it via video conferencing apps. Exchanging Christmas gifts is another tradition to uphold that almost everyone can look forward to.
3. Set goals for next year – take advantage of the holidays by setting goals for the year ahead. Making sure you have something to look forward to and something to work on will ensure that you keep a healthy, balanced, and productive mindset.
4. Prioritize downtime – find a quiet place to reflect. You can also write in a journal or have a meaningful conversation about how your year went with a loved one. This helps you take stock of the year that was and helps you process everything that happened. It’s like clearing your mental inbox so that you are ready for new experiences.

What are your tips on how to come back from the holidays feeling more productive? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp