
Now that we’re in January, that holiday you were dreaming of back in December may no longer feel like such a holiday. The bank statement is in and it’s not pretty, your New Year’s resolution failed to launch, and the thought of returning to work is already giving you nightmares.
We ask three experts how to deal with these top stresses in January.
1. The financial hangover
There’s more than one way to binge over the holiday season. Gift buying, pre- and post-Christmas sales, Christmas dinners, New Year parties and holiday expenses can all leave you with a financial hangover in January.
Financial planner Naomi Rosenthal offers three tips for recovering from a holiday money binge.
2. Maintaining New Year’s resolutions
Each January the pressure is on to quit, do or improve something about our lives. Personal coach Kirri White believes we need to stop setting New Year’s resolutions and focus instead on developing better habits.
“Consistent baby steps are going to take you a lot further than a short term flurry of activity that relies on willpower, which is a limited and fluctuating resource,” says Kirri.
Instead of resolving to eat more healthily, begin a habit of adding one green juice or smoothie to your diet every day. Rather than resolving to lose weight, begin a habit of moving your body in whatever way feels good for 10 minutes every day.
Kirri recommends you commit to a few simple things and add more as you become comfortable with each new change. “Make it so simple that it is impossible for you not to succeed.”
3. Back-to-Work Blues
Even those of us who like our job may dread the holidays ending and having to return to the daily grind.
Caroline De Kimpe, a career coach, consultant and speaker at New Horizon Coaching Australia, has some creative suggestions on how to prepare for that first day back in the office.
Here are some more tips on how to beat back-to-work stress.
What stresses you out in January? Tell us in the comments below.
Feeling stressed in the new year? Take the Blackmores Stress Quiz and compare yourself to the rest of Australia.