Tick tock, tick tock … it’s only 43 days ‘til Christmas – the time for being together with our families and close ones.  It is said to be the period of peace and happiness, and only if you manage to get through the couple of weeks preceding them. Just look around you: minutes from meetings at work are getting longer; deadlines tighter; the number of people in the shops multiplies and the level of stress rises faster than property prices in London.

For many this is the most stressful part of the year so in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we will provide you with some tips for taming the stress. Our tips include the so called ‘4 A’s Strategy’; Avoid – Alter – Adapt – Accept.

There are many stressful situations you have to face, but you may be surprised that many of them can be avoided to make your life calmer. There are several ways to do this:

• Take control of your surroundings. Do you suffer in crowded shops? Then do all your shopping online! Does the evening news make you anxious? Turn the TV off! Hate queuing for lunch in your canteen? Prepare your lunch at home and eat it at the desk!
• Learn to say no. Do your colleagues or close friends ask you to do them a favour which means an additional burden for you, and less time and energy to help them? It is important to know your limits. Politely rejecting the demand will help you to avoid a new stressor in your life and enable you to focus your efforts on the things more important for you.
• Reduce your to-do list. Divide your tasks according to importance, and put them into categories: A, B and C. On hectic days, scratch C’s from your list.
• Avoid people who stress you. Each of us knows someone that brings additional stress to our lives. If you can’t end the relationship entirely, try to limit the time you spend with that person.
• Avoid hot-button issues. Do you have strong opinions on something that can start heated discussions? Or do you know the hot-buttons of others around you? Try to avoid pushing them if possible.

We’ll have a look at the situations that you cannot avoid next time.