We are now at the time of the year where holidays are approaching, and anxiety could be kicking up a notch. Not only are we worrying about our normal everyday work stressors such as “Did I reply to that email?” or “Did I remember to mail that form?”. We are now tackling the hectic schedule of the holidays. Now, due to COVID-19, some of your family gatherings may be with less people or even over zoom. Either way, a hectic schedule is coming, and below are some tips on how to keep everything in line.

My first tip is to make a flowchart (see reference image above). I started making these types of charts in college to help me stay organized since I was juggling a lot at the time. I was a full-time student, worked 15-20 hours a week, was an active member in my university’s American Marketing Association, and an active family member and girlfriend. Needless to say, life was crazy and since then while I have fewer daily tasks to do on a daily basis, there is still a lot going on. Therefore, the flowchart has stayed a consistent part of my life because it is adaptable to whatever tasks I need to accomplish, and I am able to see everything I have on my plate. Whether I am at home and curious about what I have going on for work, or if I am about to leave work and need to see what I need to do when I get home.

Another thing to remember when we are talking about stress is that sometimes we misread it. An example would be that you are feeling stressed at work, but the actual stressors are the bills that you must pay when you get home. Our body will carry stress everywhere we go until it is resolved. Therefore, it is important to make sure that we are stressing about certain things when we need to rather than stressing about them all the time. A flow chart will help with identifying what your true stressors are and will help you tackle them one by one.