Have you been wondering how to avoid holiday overwhelm this year?

Well, I’ve wrapped up October’s “energy experiment” and have been working on my November focus: relationships and connection. I’ll post separately about November’s focus, but I wanted to share my takeaways from October since my learnings could be really helpful during the upcoming holiday season!

I went into October thinking: Yep, energy is simple – sleep, water, workouts, protein. Boom.

Don’t get me wrong, those things definitely matter, but what surprised me was the non-physical things I noticed that sucked my energy. The timing of this honestly couldn’t be better, because we’re headed into the holiday season, which are like the Olympics of managing energy and mental load. I’m going to dive into how you can stay grounded during the next couple of months so you don’t end up having to do so much to get back on track in January. That, by itself, takes up a ton of mental and emotional load. The January version of you will thank November/December you for thinking ahead!

So, without further ado, here are 5 of my energy takeaways from October:

Energy isn’t just physical – it’s emotional and mental too

I talk a lot about the 3 pillars of wellness – body, mind, and spirit. And obviously the body pillar (moving your body, eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep, and drinking water) is important when it comes to our energy levels. Throughout the month, there were times when I felt like I had the body pillar really dialed in, but I still felt drained and exhausted and I wasn’t sure why.

When I took a closer look, I noticed when I made a point to be present with myself in the moment – to pay attention on purpose – I felt lighter and my mind felt more open and positive.

In practicing more self-awareness, I noticed that when my mindset was sort of crappy, I felt dull and burned out. If I had a lot of spinning thoughts or unanswered questions, I felt drained. My environment made a difference too. I noticed physical clutter around my house contributed to mental load, and I felt so much more energized when I took a few minutes to pick things up around the house. We’ll go deeper into that in a bit.

Kindness to myself helped me have more energy

I shared about this in Episode #133 of the Real, Brave, & Unstoppable podcast: The Hidden Energy Leak No One Talks About . I noticed that being judgmental of myself was a huge, sneaky energy drain.

It’s sneaky because I think we tend to think we’re being effective when we’re critical of ourselves. It’s that whole “if I’m nice to myself, I won’t be motivated to do better” syndrome. Funny thing is that research actually shows that being self-compassionate is way more effective when it comes to this kind of stuff.

When I was kinder to myself, I felt lighter. Self-judgment bogged me down and made me feel stuck and inadequate. This makes sense if you consider that thoughts create feelings and feelings can influence behavior. When my thoughts are self-deprecating, I might feel inadequate or ashamed. If my thoughts are kind and encouraging, I might feel inspired or curious or motivated to try again. Very different actions come from those different emotions.

In other words, less pressure leads to more positivity and more positivity leads to more energy.

Structure helps, but it needs to be flexible

Routines save me, but at the same time I don’t love rigid schedules. Things like having planned workouts and meals are helpful and a morning routine is grounding.

I’m really intentional about my workouts, and do them pretty consistently throughout the week. However, during October, there were a couple of days when I felt exhausted and the thought of working out did not energize me. I decided to let this be a little flexible by asking myself what was truly important in my moment of struggle. Some days I swapped out the time with something else I had planned, and there were a couple of days when I thought, ya know, I think my body just really needs some rest. I took the rest I needed and I can’t even begin to tell you what a difference that made for me. But it’s key to remember that I wasn’t judgmental of myself for missing the workout day.

I experienced a similar flexibility move when it came to my meal plans. I’m pretty good about planning meals for the week, but I also give myself a little flexibility within that. For lunches, I had a few options I could choose between in case I wasn’t in the mood for my planned option. I also tried being flexible with what meals I was making on which nights for dinners.

For example, the dish I had planned on a Monday was a little more involved than I felt like making time for since I was fried after my work day. I swapped it with the simpler recipe I had planned for Tuesday. This just worked better with the energy capacity I had on that day.

Flexibility can be a huge energy saver.

Tiny tasks mattered more than I expected

The One-Minute Rule? Game changer.

I learned about the One-Minute Rule in Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Happiness Project. I decided to give it a try.

If a task will take one minute or less, the idea is to do it now. No procrastinating, just do the thing instead of letting it follow me around mentally all day.

This was such a relief.

It might sound funny, but I actually felt proud of myself for putting things away as I went. One of my favorite phrases of the past is I’ll do that later, and doing it in the moment made me feel really good, as well as saved me time later!

Using my time intentionally gave me energy

I don’t thrive in rigidity. But a little planning? A little rhythm to the week? It’s necessary for me and helps life feel easier.

Most nights, I spent a few minutes looking ahead to the next day. Where did I have appointments? Where was I scheduling in workouts? What were my meal plans? Where were my breaks?

I’m someone who can very easily get distracted and piddle away time without much to show for it. Incidentally, this is also an area where I happen to get very critical of myself. But one thing I started doing was, in my break time, or down time, I scheduled one or two things that I was going to get done during that block. I was able to enter into my break time with intention and I didn’t waste as much time on things that weren’t really important to me.

When I wasn’t procrastinating or over committing, I felt more free and mentally spacious. Knowing when I had down time in my day and planning ahead how I was going to use it felt super empowering and productive. I felt proud of myself, which might sound weird, but it was a really motivating feeling.

What does this mean for avoiding holiday overwhelm?

During the holidays, I think most of us would agree there’s a sense of pressure to do more and be more.

I should make the season magical. I should show up to everything. I should stay joyful and grateful and energized.

Meanwhile, I’m holding space for people all day — supporting their emotions, their stresses, their wellbeing. And I love that work. It’s a privilege to be able to do it. But when life outside of work ramps up? My energy doesn’t magically increase to match the pace.

That’s when overwhelm hits. And the first thing to slip is usually the care I give to myself. This can lead to burnout and exhaustion.

This year, I’d like to rewrite that story to work better for me – to work with my intention of feeling happier, more free and alive. Less shoulds. More boundaries. More recovery. More protecting the energy that lets me show up as my best self. I love this season and for a long time I didn’t enjoy it. It’s important for me to enjoy the season and be in the magic of it.

So my October learnings come at a really great time, and we can use these ideas to stay grounded through the holidays so we don’t hit January feeling like we’re starting over from zero.

Healthy routines tend to fall apart during holiday overwhelm

During the holidays, we tend to get overloaded and overwhelmed and routines can easily fall apart because:

• there are more social events, which can mean disrupted sleep and food patterns
• our schedules are busier, which makes it hard to maintain workout time and self-care time
• there’s more alcohol, sugar, and heavy food, which can lead to unhealthy eating and energy crashes
• there’s more emotional labor (defined as the mental activity required to manage or perform the routine tasks necessary for maintaining relationships and ensuring smooth running of a household or process) which leads to high stress and burnout
• we have more decisions to make and budgets to adhere to, which can create cognitive fatigue and add to stress and burnout
• there are more people around (holiday parties, work events, family gatherings), so we have less alone time to recharge. For introverts, this can be really tough!

It’s like all the dials get turned up at once.

So, instead of waiting until January to recover, we can stay grounded in the midst of the chaos. (yes, it is possible).

A checklist for avoiding holiday overload and overwhelm

I like lists and checklists, so I created a checklist for myself to make staying grounded during the holidays simple. (Because it really can be simple).

(You can grab a free printable version of this HERE)

1 – Do a daily check-in

This starts with a quick scan and a few questions. How do I feel? What’s going on today? What do I need today to feel like myself? A nap? Some fruit and veggies? A nice walk in the fresh air instead of a treadmill workout at the gym? A chat with a friend? Hydration? Kind words to myself?

Small needs count. Pick something to give yourself today.

2 – Pick one non-negotiable. Protect just ONE habit.

It can be the same thing every day, or something different. Here are some ideas:

• Hydrate!
• Get some movement, even if it’s just 10 minutes.
• Get to bed on time.
• Eat a real meal with protein, veggies and whole grains.
• Go to your coaching or therapy session (ironically, this is one thing many people could really benefit from that they cancel first when they’re busy.
• Try the One-Minute Rule.
• Journal your thoughts and feelings. Challenge your negative thinking.
• Tidy up, declutter. Even if it’s just 10 minutes.
• “Close the kitchen” after dinner (clean up and no more snacking after it’s “closed”)
• Create a meal plan for the week or meal prep (even if it’s just one meal or healthy snacks)

Pick one and keep it!

3 – Plan some joy

Joy might not happen by accident this month. You have to pay attention on purpose to create joy and this can sometimes feel tough when we’re overloaded and overwhelmed. You need to choose joy and make it happen.

Hot cocoa walk? A nighttime drive to view holiday lights? Holiday movie night?

Be creative and put these things on the calendar.

4 – Flexible Structure

This one is so important! The best laid plans don’t always pan out.

Plans can shift and you’re allowed to rest. When we give ourselves this grace, life just feels … lighter.

5 – Drop the invisible pressure

If it doesn’t feel like love or doesn’t align with what matters to you, it’s just obligation. You get to choose what holiday energy you carry.

A few other checks and balances to avoid holiday overwhelm

One. Sleep comes first.
If I have to choose, sleep wins. Every. Single. Time

One nourishing meal every day
Doesn’t have to abe perfect… just do your best

Movement as a mood tool – not a calorie strategy
Walks. Quick strength sessions. Stretch. Dance. Keep the body online.

The “yes or no” test
If it’s not a “hell yeah”, it’s probably a no.

A quiet moment every day
Even if it’s 5 minutes. Stillness is energy.

Compassion over perfection
Holiday burnout is optional. Joy is not.

Reflection and Takeaways on Holiday Overwhelm

So here’s the question I want to leave you with today:

What’s one grounding practice you can commit to this holiday season? Just one. Small and sustainable.

Write it down. Tell a friend. Protect it like your energy depends on it – because it does!

We can make this holiday season feel different. Less pressure, more presence, more connection and more you feeling alive and energized in your own life!

Resources:

Holiday Grounding Checklist

Real, Brave, & Unstoppable Podcast

What’s Your Habit Hangup – free quiz

How to Create the Life you Want – free ebook

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