As exciting as Christmas can be, it’s important to be mindful of your stress levels. Be aware of your mindset over the holidays and take all the necessary steps to avoid burnout.
Managing your career responsibilities alongside membership association duties can quite often lead to you falling into an “always-on” mentality, especially over Christmas when you should be spending time with your family. Recognise the signs off stress and learn how to switch off!
Recognise Stress
To improve mental wellbeing, learn to recognise stress before you become overwhelmed. It’s not always easy to cut yourself off from work, and even if you successfully do so, there’s no off switch for your subconscious which may be ticking away.
Ignoring the signs of stress can have a huge impact on health. Familiarise yourself with the symptoms so that they can be identified and addressed at the earliest stage before they become a problem.
Be Flexible
Flexibility and healthy working habits come hand-in-hand. In order to maintain this equilibrium, especially over Christmas, it’s important to set yourself rules. Boundaries should be set when working from home to help recognise where your time is being spent and just how much you’re doing.
Create strict policies with yourself and follow them. The Christmas break will be over, and it’ll be time to get stuck into the new year before you know it.
Plan
Don’t work, plan. If you find yourself caught up over Christmas, instead of mindlessly working away, plan for the new year. Examine your to-do list and calendar to make sure that January will be manageable.
Although you may feel like you’re being productive by tackling tasks, you’re likely not in the right mind frame to work to the best of your ability. If the stress of work is really getting to you, talk to your family and friends over Christmas, don’t keep things to yourself.
Automate
January might be an easier month than you expect. A lot of big new year tasks, such as membership renewals, can easily be automated. When you’re back in the office, take time to look into software that can help you and your association. There’s an enormous number of options available for free that can help you plan, track, and automate your work.
Relax
Reflect on your successes. Reward yourself over Christmas and take a break from thinking about what’s to come. Spend time with your loved ones and catch up on some much-deserved rest.
Let us know what you’re doing this week in the comments!
