| |
| |
|
holidaysareforever.org
|
|
|
|
10 Tips for More Meaningful Holidays
No matter how many lists you make, cards you send, gifts you buy, or packages you wrap, there will be things you intended to do this holiday season that won't get done. If you do manage to get everything done, but you're too tired to enjoy the season, everyone suffers. Consider these tips to minimize your stress and maximize the meaning this holiday season: 1. Tamper with tradition. Dragging yourself through "we've always done it" rituals when they've lost their meaning, and you've lost your energy, does not contribute to holiday joy. 2. Begin the season by making a list - but don't stop there. Pick out the most important item, the second, and on down the list. Remember, a creative mind always has more ideas than the body can accomplish! 3. Use your calendar - not just for appointments with other people, but with yourself as well. If you plan to send cards, estimate how much time it will take to write and address them, and block out that time on your calendar. 4. Ask your family what's important. Prepared foods instead of home-cooked means more time for sharing new sports equipment and relaxing with friends. 5. Avoid perfectionism in gift-giving. It's the thought that counts. Choose one or two gifts that can be used for several people. A relaxed parent or hostess is a greater gift than anything money can buy. 6. Focus your energy. If your family isn't as excited as you are about decorating the whole house, invest your efforts on what means the most to you. 7. If the holidays bring pain because of death, divorce, or family far away, be gentle with yourself. Recognize that grief is a healthy and that next year will be better, even if you can't believe it today. Concentrate on making other people's holiday more joyful. 8. Take time out from total togetherness. Let your child call a friend and take a nap. Give your siblings the car keys and a map. The idea is for everyone to enjoy the occasion. 9. Be clear about expectations. If you never tell your family what you want them to do, it's unfair to expect them to know. 10. Look over your list, leave off what you can live without, and enjoy the real reason for the season. © Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Consider the Egg The glorious egg, with its deep links to Creation mythology, is one of the oldest symbols of life and rebirth known to us. Many gods, demons and heroes have sprung from eggs. What Is The Easter In Your Business? Easter 2005 is coming, Sunday March 27, and Christians worldwide are warming up to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, a great sacrifice for humanity.What about you and your business? Is there anything the market can celebrate about any great sacrifice you have made for your employees, customers, partners, colleagues, friends, regulators and other stakeholders? Or are you in business waiting for others to make sacrifices, and then you storm as an opportunist and reap from the pains of others?Many of us are like that. Virtual Assistants... Even Santa Needs One! Trying to fit all the planning and preparing and celebrating of the holiday season into an already busy schedule can bring a lot of stress to a time of year that's supposed to be full of peace. These days, even Santa needs help making his list and checking it twice!Fortunately, help is available. Spice Up Your Life with an Adventure Holiday! Are you bored with the routine of city life? Do you yearn for a getaway from the hustle and bustle and put some excitement into your life? Do you hope to visit the places that have been aired over National Geographic Explorer and experience it for yourself? If your answer is yes to these questions, then adventure travel is just the thing for you!Defining an Adventure HolidayOk, so you've decided that you want an adventure holiday. This leads you to the next question - what type of adventure holiday do you want? There is just so much variety and different perceptions of the word "Adventure" that people have come up with all sorts of activities to define this word. Dont Want Another Carpet Sweeper This Year For Christmas? Unique "Drop-A-Hint" Plan Sends Your Gift Wishes Via E-mailSure, they love you and each year they try their best to find you the perfect gift. But let's be honest, sometimes they need a little help. Samanthas Bay Leaf Ritual for the New Year HI would like to share with you a ritual I do every New Year's that is quite involved and requires a lot of thought and meditation time. It is derived from an ancient Greek ritual for prosperity and fertility. Traditional Anniversary Gifts Year by Year, the Twentieth - One Hundred Years Twentieth through the twenty-fourth anniversaries traditional gift is china. Vintage china tea cups, bone china ornaments or a replacement piece for your own china are presents to consider along with a table for two at a Chinese restaurant or a trip to China. Animatronic Halloween Props - Cardboard Carpentry One of the most inexpensive ways to create stonewalls in your home/haunt is by using good-'ol cardboard boxes. Boxes laid flat and painted to the desired effect are relatively easy and cheap methods of creating stonewall effects. The Cheapest Christmas Ever! Have you ever said "I wish we didn't have to spend so much money on Christmas?" or "I wish we could have Christmas without going into debt!" Well here is your answer - tell your family that next Christmas no one is allowed to buy a new, expensive gift for anyone! Yes, I really said that. Tell them that all presents must be from garage sales, tag sales, yard sales, auctions, handmade or made over. 5 Most Popular Styles of Christmas Ornaments Traditionally Christmas ornaments were bulbs of all the same color which were placed randomly throughout your Christmas tree. Over the past few decades, Christmas ornaments have developed into elaborate pieces of art which are delicately planned out and placed throughout the Christmas tree. Find New And Exciting Halloween Masks For Your Next Costume Party! For most people that don't enjoy wearing messy makeup, Halloween masks are the next best option to complement your Halloween costumes this Halloween season.There is a Halloween mask existing in all-imaginable characters, and this year some brand new products are available online. Colored Contacts For Halloween - Make Sure YOU Dont Go Bump In The Night! Ok, the end of October is approaching, and you desperately want some colored contacts for Halloween. Why? Well, possibly because no one else will have any, maybe because you like to go that extra yard when you dress up, or maybe you want to get your own back on one of the neighbours kids for frightening your cat. Make it an Unforgettable Birthday! The first known birthday celebrations began among the Egyptians with parades, circuses, and gladiatorial events - all complete with feasts that sometimes lasted for days. Romans celebrated the birthdays of their gods with parades and chariot races. FIREWORKS--OR, OOH, AAH, How Do They Do That? One of my earliest memories involves a Fourth of July spent at Annandale, Minnesota, sitting on a hill and watching fireworks. Our family had a cabin on Cedar Lake, a mile and a half away, and we had come to the display with a recently emptied ice cream tub filled with popcorn and a thermos of raspberry Kool-Aid. Gift Shopping Tips for Tight Budgets Have you seen the prices of greeting cards lately? It is hideous! Once you purchase the card and gift-wrap, your overall cost can easily increase by $10 to$15. If you are on a tight budget, this can be difficult as you spend more on the fluff and less on the actual gift. The History And Origin Of Valentines Day The oldest Valentine card still in existence was sent in 1415 by Charles Duke of Orleans, at the time a prisoner in the Tower of London, to his wife. The Duke's Valentine's card is now preserved and displayed in the British Museum. Christmas Lights Add Sparkle To The Holidays Electric Christmas lights have been around since the 1880's. It is no wonder they are still around and being enjoyed by so many. Eggs-travagant Eggs Wonderfully simple to do and oh so impressive!You don't need a $40 Easter egg decorating kit with pages of instructions to impress your family and guests this Easter - achieve sophisticated elegance with colors taken directly from nature. Simply decorated from a myriad of plants and flowers, you can create a beautiful range of natural colors and textures. The Gingerbread Nightmare Do you ever see those beautiful gingerbread houses during the holiday seasons that are so beautiful? They look so simple, and look like such a fun project to do with the kids making gifts for grandma and grandpa. I could just feel it. Celebrating the ME in MumME Another Mother's Day is upon us. A day in which our loved ones bestow us with handmade gifts, breakfast in bed, supper out and sometimes even jewelry!!! It is a day for our family to show how much they appreciate the job we do.
|
|
Powered By: Free Work At Home Business Opportunity! |
| © 2006 |
![[أربيك]](http://www.holidaysareforever.org/websitetranslator/images/flag_ar.gif){kind=small}
