What Makes a Perfect Holiday - (AKA Managing Holiday Stress)

I sit at my desk with holiday music playing in the background; I feel the tension building in my shoulders. With Thanksgiving around the corner and about a month to go until Christmas, I can only think about everything that I haven't accomplished. But before I become another verse in the 12 Pains of Christmas, There are things we can all do to make this holiday season pleasurable by setting a few boundaries and ground rules.

o You are not required to make absolutely every event that occurs during this holiday season.

Narrow your outings to just a few, make sure you attend a combination of social, family and business organizations but limit it to just a couple of each.

o Set a gift giving budget and KEEP it!

This time of year it is easy to get so wrapped up in the process of giving gifts. This year go for quality instead of quantity. Focus on one or two gifts that will have more meaning than several smaller gifts that will have little meaning. One of the most memorable Christmas gifts I received was my Great-grandmother's wooden card table. This table was a gift to my mom when she married my father, and was in his house for years. My grandmother made arrangements to pick it up and give it to me. Where this gift barely cost her anything, to me it has great sentimental value.

o Just because someone gives you a gift does not mean they need to be added to your main gift list.

If you are good a craft making, or cooking then put together a few simple projects keep them on hand for those last minute gifts. Spend the time with the kids. Make a big batch of coco mix, or try pulling out that fudge recipe of your grandmother's that has been sitting in the back of your cookbook for the last decade. Wrap them up in pretty holiday saran wrap and have them ready to hand out at a moments notice. This time of year my kids and I go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of the cheapest holiday mugs we can find, then they make Spiced tea and each mug gets a bag full. We give this to teachers, the mail-man, and anyone else that shows up at the last minute, I can make a huge gallon jug of the spiced tea for under $5.00 then we find coffee mugs that are under $1.00. Using this method, I can get gifts for twenty people for under $25.00 total. The girls have a blast making the tea together, and look forward to it every year.

o Set your business hours and KEEP THEM!

You are not the only one feeling the stress of the season, your clients are also stressing over year end projects. If there is a project you can not fit in, and then be honest with your client. Work something out where you can either subcontract that project out, or create a priority list with your clients, to see if you can postpone anything until after the first of the year.

o Respect that not everyone celebrates the same holiday.

With us working in a virtual environment, you can have clients that from parts of the world that celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanza, or even Ramadan, some religions do not have any celebration this time of year. With this in mind, be cautious in sending out Christmas cards. Your client may become insulted and feel that you are not respecting there beliefs. Instead of a "Christmas" card then maybe right after Christmas, send a winter card wishing them a prosperous and healthy New Year. Even if they celebrate the Chinese New Year, this thoughtful gesture is less likely to offend.

o Remember this is the time for family!

Most importantly, this is the time of year to make memories with your family. As business owners, it is so easy to become obsessed with making your business a success that the family becomes neglected. Set aside a couple of days during this season when your computer and phones are not on. Finally, set your answering machine or voice mail with a response letting callers know when you will be back in the office, then turn the volume off so you cannot hear your clients begging you to pick up. On those days place holiday ribbon across your office door (or across your workspace) along with a sign that states "Closed for the Holidays." Set up your auto responders with email so your clients know that you will not be available on certain days, then spend that time with your family, relax and try to remember what this season used to be like with them.

o Stop aiming for perfection.

People are human and yes, this includes you. Stop trying to plan for the "perfect" holiday event and just work on making sure that you have the necessities. Kids are going to fight, dogs LOVE turkeys. Aunt Freda is going to burn the jello, henceforth setting off every smoke detector in the building, Grandpa Jones is going to tell that old war story for the millionth time and Uncle Rich is going to going to get sauced on the rum pudding before dinner is served. It is these events that people are going to remember back on fondly and in most cases even laugh about. Next year everyone will be sitting around the table passing the butter for the rolls reminiscing about the time Cousin Kinsey stuck the metal bowl in the microwave, and when Aunt Jill leaned over too far, she will leave her twin imprints in the cream pie.