Avoid Holiday Burnout: 6 SIMPLE HACKS for a STRESS FREE SEASON 🍗🎁🪩

Nov 6

In today’s post we’ll chat thru…

① A couple announcements to kick off the month!
② The STRESS CYCLE and how we can move thru it for a STRESS FREE HOLIDAY.
③ 6 SIMPLE HACKS I’m using this season to AVOID STRESS + BURNOUT

LET’S DIVE IN. 🖤

Hello hello friends! Happy November (if you’re catching this in real time!!!!). I’m super pumped to chat with ya’ll today about all things stress, holidays, and some of the things I’m doing this season to make sure I steer clear of stress this season, but before that I want to kick off with a few announcements. Three things, and I promise to be really quick:

I have a goal to end 2024 and our 100th episode by getting 100 5 star reviews on apple podcasts. If you haven’t left a review and 5 stars over there, it would mean the world to me if you paused this episode, scrolled down, and left a 5 star review. this is how we spread the word about self care and self improvement and I can’t hit this goal without you. So yes…you…if you are listening and you’ve never left a review. this is your moment!
THE SISTERHOOD RETREAT IS COMING BACK THIS FEBRUARY 2025!!! 👯‍♀️🖤 So many of you reached out that you simply couldn’t make our September retreat work for you but that you HAD TO GET YOUR BOOTY TO THE NEXT ONE. Well rubber meet road bc it’s here! 😜 Seriously though. The power and magic and transformation that happened in the September Retreat was EVERYTHING and I just want MORE WOMEN to experience this. The ladies who came had doubts - probably just like you - they were nervous, they had thoughts like “what if I don’t get along with anyone,” “what if I wasted my money on this,” “what am I doing…I should be home taking care of my family”…and every concern in-between. And they all walked out saying some version “EVERY WOMAN NEEDS THIS.” And I believe that. If you are tired of playing small, if you want to be a better mom, wife, coworker, friend, insert the role you play. If you want to set some goals and really get clear about where you want life to move in 2025. If you’re burnt out and need to navigate next steps - this is for you. Head to www.inspirebeautybritt.com/retreat for all the details.
Winter 2025 in The Sisterhood Membership opens in a few weeks on November 25th and I know you’re gonna love the topic of this season - NEW YEAR | BEST YOU - How to (actually) Set and Achieve Your Goals. We’ll be talking about all things goal setting, habit and change, why resolutions typically don’t work, how to make a vision board for the year, and how to fall in love with the PROCESS of moving towards your goals in 2025. It’s gonna be so so good. We’ve got workshops, sweat meet ups, monthly reflection + prep sessions, monthly meet ups, book club, AND members get $500 OFF of The Sisterhood Retreat ticket, so win win if you had a nudge a second ago when I was walking about the retreat. All the info for that is in the show notes below or you can head to www.inspirebeautybritt.com/jointhesisterhood to get your name on the VIP waitlist. I email waitlisters the moment enrollment opens so you’ll be first in the loop to snag your spot.

Alright. That’s it for announcements. 5 Stars and Reviews. The Retreat is coming in February and what a GIFT you could give yourself and your loved ones to take this intentional pause. And The Membership opens soon for enrollment. Now let me transition back into today’s topic: AVOID HOLIDAY BURNOUT: 6 SIMPLE HACKS FOR A STRESS FREE SEASON.

LET’S DIVE IN. 🖤

FIRST LET’S DEFINE “STRESS FREE”

No holiday is going to be “stress free.” No DAY is going to be “stress free.” So the first place we have to start with is our expectations of what a stress free holiday looks like.

Holidays that are stressful feel rushed. They feel anxious. They feel like conflict and drama. They feel like arguments and not being able to find a parking spot at the mall. They feel like dropping the ball and having such a full calendar I feel like I can’t come up for air. They feel the opposite of every Christmas song I sang in church - All is NOT calm. All is NOT bright.

So the opposite feelings must be true if I know what I don’t want. If I don’t want rush - I must want slow and savory. If I don’t want anxious - I must want methodical and meaningful moments. If I don’t want conflict and drama, I’m seeking connection and love. If I’m trying for the opposite of arguments and traffic then that might look like a boundaries and a better strategy. If I feel like I’m dropping the ball and my calendar is so full I can’t breathe, then maybe space and margin and a clear vision/focus is what I’m saying ‘YES’ to.

What do the holidays tend to feel like for you when you’re stressed out?

Is it you trying to make sure everyone else is happy, but your happiness is never considered? How can that shift?
Or is it you doing all the things and living by the seat of your pants, making everything matter at a level 10? How can we hone in on what matters to you?
Or maybe you stopped taking care of yourself and fell into the autopilot of scrolling and disconnect. How can we bring back focus, connection, and intention?

Stress free doesn’t mean you will be free from stress. Life life’s. Ya know what I mean? But you CAN decide what type of season you want to have and live in such a way that aligns your mind, body, and spirit (and probably calendar) to that way of living.

When we talk about stress I always want you to remember that stress is a normal, natural thing our body does to keep us safe. Stress isn’t just an emotion, that we feel. There’s a LOT going on physically in our bodies when we under go a stressful moment, season, or environment. When you get stressed out, on a small scale…or a larger scale, it triggers a series of responses in our bodies. A few years ago I was facing some SERIOUS burnout and I grabbed a book by twin authors, Emily and Amelia Nagoski that I’ve reference here on the podcast before, called “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.” This book radically transformed the way I viewed stress AND my responsibility to release it from my life. Something I hope today’s episode is going to show you -

A stress free holiday is not something you stumble upon or cross your fingers and wish for, but rather a responsibility you get to take ownership of.

In the book they talk about this thing called The Stress Cycle and this is important to lay the ground work for today. Basically it’s our bodies natural and automatic way of handling stress. It should only last for a short period before you recover and continue with business as usual…BUT…when stress is constant…or you never give yourself time to recover, the cycle can persist…never closing out.

The stress cycle has a beginning, middle and an end.

The beginning ➡ perceiving the threat.
The middle ➡ our body responding to the threat / stressor. This is when cortisol begins to pump through our bodies and we get ready to fight or take flight.
The end ➡ the completion of the cycle through releasing the stress from our bodies.

Back in the day, the stressors that used to activate our stress cycle were threats to our physical survival, like being eaten by lions. This would be the beginning of the cycle…knowing there is a threat out there. Our ancestors bodies would respond by either fighting the lion, hiding in a bush, or running back to the village. This is the middle part of the cycle where the cortisol is pumping and fight or flight kicks in. And they’d complete the stress cycle by celebrating that they got away and hugging family…telling their bodies that they’re now safe. The end. Loop closed. I’ve even seen this play out with my dog Grace. She loves her brother Frankie but Frankie is the Alpha and he will always at the end of the day, put her in her place if he feels like he needs to. Nothing tragic or harmful, but he’ll snap at her. This is the perceived threat and in her stress loop, her body shakes and her little lips quiver. It’s so sad, ya’ll. She typically comes running to me and in that moment I pick her up and hold her tight to my chest, neck, and face and we breathe until her little lips stop shaking. What I just went thru with her is the whole cycle. After she’s gotten the shaking out I set her down and she plays and runs like nothing happened. It’s wild how animals just KNOW how to move thru this cycle.

Unfortunately, for us, we don’t. We stuff our stress down and there’s a disconnect between the things that cause our stress response to start and the completion of the cycle to let our bodies know we’re safe.

During the holidays, the stress cycle activation can come from not knowing how you’re going to pay for all the gifts you buy so you end up racking up more credit card debt, or a deadline at work that comes right before a holiday so even though you aren’t at work you’re not actually present in the moments + memories, or even the example I gave before of not being able to find a parking spot at the mall. The kicker…and what I want you to understand… is that our bodies respond in the SAME WAY as if we were being attacked by lions. Even if it’s “just traffic.”

We feel under threat and our stress response activates. The cycle starts.

In most cases, we can’t just run away from our modern stressors in the same way we were able to run away from lions. We feel pulled to buy the gifts, we have to meet that work deadline to keep the job to buy the gifts, and you can’t control the parking situation at a mall. In other words, the stress is there and we more often than not, we don’t actually complete the stress cycle.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!

Even when the stressor goes away, the stress in our body doesn’t. We just keep piling it up. And chronic unresolved stress leads to burnout.

It’s NO WONDER the holidays stress us out and we get to the end of each year feeling burnt out. There’s this additional load of stress we add to the already enormous pile we’ve been carrying. The reality is…and what I want to keep driving home…is that we can’t REMOVE stressors from life. It’s just not realistic. But. Remember in this community I love to talk about CONTROLLING WHAT WE CAN CONTROL. And we MOST DEFINITELY can control the COMPLETION of our stress cycle everyday. Especially during the holiday season.

STRESS IS NOT THE PROBLEM. It’s how we DEAL WITH THE STRESS. So let’s dig into 6 things I’m doing this season to close my stress loops and avoid added stress and burnout to my life.

6 THINGS I’M DOING THIS SEASON TO AVOID STRESS + BURNOUT:

Hack 1: MovE YOUR BODY TO FEEL YOUR BEST

I’m starting here bc physical activity is one of the fastest ways to close the stress cycle. Whether it’s taking a walk, dancing to holiday music while you decorate the tree, doing a quick stretch before going to sleep, moving your body releases built-up tension and helps you feel your best. I know we typically wait until the New Year to sign up for that gym membership, but what if you did it now? What if you made moving your body a priority before the ball drops? Think of how much lighter (not on the scale ya’ll, but energetically) you would feel if you moved your body regularly throughout the holiday season.

Hack 2: Set Boundaries with Your Time and Energy

Say it with me friends - BOUNDARIES PREVENT BURNOUT.

No but seriously, when we start to get stressed and worn out, the first place we need to look at is what is getting our YES. Do you have MARGIN in your calendar or is it jam packed? Here’s what I’ve learned…I’m not AT MY BEST when my calendar is packed to the brim. I’m gonna guess you’re not either. And when our calendars get full, guess what goes out the window? Typically all the healthy ways we care for ourselves - movement, sleep, mindfulness, nutrition. The holidays are notorious for overcommitment, but saying ‘no’ to non-essential tasks can protect your mental health and give you the space and capacity to care for YOU along the way.

Hack 3: Practice INTENTIONAL Indulgence

Let’s put “the holidays” in perspective, okay? So often we indulge excessively in sugar and processed foods for an entire quarter of the year and call it “the holidays,” but the holidays aren’t four months. They are four days. You might celebrate other holidays, but here’s what I’ve got on my list:

Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas
New Years Eve

Shoot…I’ll even add Black Friday and Christmas Eve for fun and that’s STILL less than a full week. Isn’t that wild? The thing we call an entire QUARTER of the year is truly LESS than a week.

And hear my heart. I know Black Friday isn’t a holiday but I’m counting it bc it’s a day I typically spend away from work and surrounded by family and extra foods. And I know we don’t all celebrate the same holidays nor would your list look like mine. It’s not about the actual days or what we do and do not celebrate…my heart is to show you that we’ve turned a few days into an excuse to lay down the routines, habits, and behaviors that support our highest self and I’m challenging you if that’s serving you anymore. For me…I realized I could MAINTAIN my health even in what others would consider the busiest, most stressful time of year. And I know you can, too.

Yes life picks up during that time and you might travel more…spend more time shopping or in the stores…cook bigger meals…see more people and attend more parties. I get that. But that’s where we make MEMORIES. So enjoy those moments without feeling OBLIGATED to be there. Everything you do or don’t do in the next few months is a freaking CHOICE. So own your choices.

You can be realistic vs an all or nothing mentality.
You can meal plan healthy choices between the parties vs throwing in the towel and submitting to all the latest seasonal junk food trends.
You can bring a healthy dish to a party vs using the party food as an excuse.
You can move your body in meaningful ways and place it as a priority on your calendar vs allowing everyone else to dictate your day.
You can stay hydrated by always having a bottle with you on the go vs leaving that up to chance.
You can be mindful with the foods you bring into your home and what you say yes to vs indulging at every turn.

Let’s ditch bingeing this season. And let’s ditch the guilt. And instead, let’s practice INTENTIONAL INDULGENCES, bc they are worth. There’s something comforting about your favorite foods on your favorite holiday. Enjoy them. And know that the holidays are a few days, not a few months.

Hack 4: Build in Rest and Recovery

Scheduling downtime is just as important as scheduling holiday activities. You can’t pour from an empty cup and I don’t even want you pouring from a full cup. I want your cup running over. And that starts with rest. It’s not something you can wait until January to “catch up” on. If you want the holidays to feel slow and savory, then you have to slow down and savor them, right? A few things I’m saying ‘YES’ to this season are:

My AM + PM routines - making sure I give myself a runway to land the plane + take off each day.
7 - 9 hours of sleep - I’ve learned this is my sweet spot and anything less or more is just not setting me up to be my best and kindest self.
Unplugged time off my devices - this esp is reigning true when I’m with friends and family. No phone zones bc I want to be present, not escaping in my scroll.
Changing my mind - if a party or event or something scheduled into my calendar doesn’t fit bc I am feeling myself wearing down, I will choose me and my health over any engagement.

Hack 5: MAKE IT Matter to You

When you think of the holidays, what events, traditions, and memories come to mind for you? I ask this, bc not everything may align with your values or what brings you joy. So often we get caught up in doing ALL the things, but instead of saying yes to everything for every holiday, take a step back and decide which events, traditions, and memories truly matter to you and your family. For my family here’s a run down of what we care about from October thru New Years:

Matching family costumes for Halloween.
Our Christmas tree goes up right after Halloween, but fall decor stays. I don’t decorate it beyond the lights either, but simply have it up bc I love the ambiance.
Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving
Volunteering + giving back in some capacity, whether it’s meals for Thanksgiving or a Christmas gift drive.
Christmas lights up on the house and house decorated the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Mailing end of year postcards with an annual update from our family.
We have a must watch list of Christmas movies and we go thru them every weekend, snuggled up on the couch.
Baking Chex and Cookies for our family and friends.
Getting gifts purchased and mailed out by second weekend in December. Also we wrap as we go so there isn’t a Christmas eve wrap party til 3am.
We stay home for Christmas and do our own thing with our tiny family. If we travel at all for holidays it is only Thanksgiving.
Christmas morning always looks like matching jammies, the dogs opening their things, breakfast casserole and mimosas while we fall asleep to A Christmas Story, and then we typically zoom our family later in the day to hang out.
New Years at home with a cheese board and some good wine, cocktails, + champagne.
And then lights and decorations are down, cleaned up, and put away by the second weekend of January at the latest (depending on how the days land).

I know that’s an exhaustive list, but this helps me check myself on what matters. The pumpkin patch is nice, but I prefer getting cheaper pumpkins at Trader Joe’s. Throwing a Friendsgiving is fun and all, but it’s not the priority. And wrapping presents the night before in a frantic way is just not my jam.

You have to figure out WHAT MATTERS TO YOU + YOURS THIS SEASON. Sit down with your family and make this list together. Decide what gets on the list from October thru the New Year and make it matter. And then…want the kicker? A lot of these memories, events, and traditions I shared come with specific dates. So since I know that, we can add them into our calendar and get intentional about when they happen. The trot is always Thanksgiving, so we sign up for it in September and start training in October. The Chex and cookies need to be made before we mail out our gifts so we put that on the calendar the weekend before we want to send gifts out. The cheese board always happens, so the grocery haul I do before NYE will include those on the list. Because I know what matters, I then get to put them on my calendar and plan ahead for them so the memory is what sticks, not the stress of making it look like it matters.

Hack 6: Check Your Ego – ASK: Who Is This Really For?

Which brings me to the last hack beautifully - CHECK YOUR EGO. You’ve got to ask “who am I doing this for” over and over again in seasons when it can feel like there’s a lot of “SHOULDS” floating around.

I SHOULD TAKE THE KIDS TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH.
I SHOULD HAVE MATCHING COSTUMES.
I SHOULD THROW FRIENDS-GIVING.
I SHOULD HAVE AN ELABORATE SPREAD.
I SHOULD BUY THAT PERSON A GIFT.

SHOULD. SHOULD. SHOULD.

During the holiday season, it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing things out of obligation, expectation, or the desire to keep up appearances. It could be buying the expensive gifts, attending every party you get invited to, or simply doing the things bc everyone else we know is doing it… often we say ‘YES’ to things because we think we should rather than pausing to ask, “Who is this really for?” This holiday season, take a moment before making decisions to check in with yourself and ask, “Am I doing this because it brings me joy, or because I feel like I have to?” Learning to say no to what doesn’t serve you will help you stay grounded in what truly matters.

Again. No holiday season is going to be completely stress free. No season will, either, right? And. We have the agency to make the holidays FEEL how we want them to feel. These simple hacks are what I’m doing in real time this season to help me avoid burnout and stay grounded in what matters most to me. By moving through stress instead of letting it build up, we can all enjoy a healthier, happier holiday—one that nourishes our mind, body, and spirit. And I love that for you. Check in with me on social after you’re done listening and let me know what hack is going to help you this season? What are you taking with you to help you show up and FEEL YOUR BEST this season and into a fresh year?

I love you. I’m rooting for you. And I’ll see you right here next time on The Self Care Sisterhood Podcast. 🖤🤟🏼

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