Take Control of Your Time and Limit Commitments

Why does every new program or process at work have to start on January 1? With this starting date in mind, your holiday season will always be a nightmare of over-commitment. You are already rushing with the normal holiday happenings. Why roll out a new process to complicate the holiday season and raise your level of work-related stress?

You are in charge of the number of commitments you make. You don't have to hold a holiday party at your home. You can schedule a party in February instead; your friends will appreciate your timing, too.

At Techsmith Corporation, holiday party schedules kept large numbers of employees from attending the annual holiday party. So, the planners changed the concept. The annual company holiday event is now the company birthday party in February.

You don't have to attend every event just because you received an invitation, just as you don't need to answer your cell phone just because it is ringing.

Even better, add a touch of joy to the season by making too many commitments, failing to keep them, and then experiencing guilt and stress over your procrastination and failure.