Dealing With Holiday Stress
November 6, 2008 by Cherie Burbach
Filed under Parenting
There’s a wonderful article about holiday stress in regards to work over at U.S. News and World Report. In it they list five potentially sticky points with regard to schedules, depression, and bonuses and what you can do to combat them.
For example, if you’re one of the folks that has a job that gets more demanding around the holidays, they say you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for a more flexible schedule or telecommuting arrangement. Just be sure to make the case from a business, rather than personal, perspective.
The article quotes Ellen Galinsky, president and cofounder of the Families and Work Institute, “Some employers believe that giving employees flexibility is a “no brainer” when morale is low and payrolls are lean.” She also recommends that “workers limit their expectations for the holidays and choose to do the things that are most important to them.”
The article also talks about the “stress” of the holiday party getting canceled, which actually made me laugh. Does anyone really care about the holiday party? We always hated going to ours.
I used to work in retail, and I think that is one of the most stressful jobs to have during the holidays! Even though the store was crazy, I would try to take the time to be friendly with the customers, ask them how the shopping was going, etc. Also if I knew that my family had a family party I would schedule in advance to get that night off. For me my work schedule was crazy so I did a lot of my shopping online, it was wonderful not having to worry about lines or parking!
Right on! Working in retail is really hard around the holidays. I have a couple friends who do that and by the time Christmas rolls around they are burned out. It’s a shame. But it sounds like you’ve done a good job keeping sane.