8 Ways to Survive the Holiday Season as a Highly Sensitive Person

Highly sensitive people and the holiday season are not necessarily the ideal combination. Here are eight survival tips to get you through to January in one piece.

Why Highly Sensitives Find the Festive Season Overwhelming

The best thing about being highly sensitive during the holiday season is beautifully summarised in this post. There really are lots of positives. I LOVE Christmas carols and cosy Christmas stories in front of the fire.

For highly sensitive people the holidays are about being together and sharing moments.

However, the downside is that the holiday season is a LOT. It’s a lot for most people, but especially so if you are a highly sensitive person.

If you’re a parent there’s the planning just for starters. The presents, the food, the gatherings, the everything!

There’s the ‘helping your kids to empty their own buckets‘, which is even more important with all the extra activities going on at this time of the year. There are school plays and Christmas dinners, visits and photos with Santa and music and lights everywhere you go.

There’s the usual battle with winter time bugs (if you’re in my part of the world in any case) and probably feeling physically under par yourself.

There are lots more social gatherings and events and activities that you are compelled/invited to take part in. The days at the end of December are just busy. Festive and fun, but busy. Oh so busy.

1 Don’t Over Schedule Your Days

The same rule applies for highly sensitive people during the holiday season as it does during the rest of the year: don’t cram your agenda full of activities.

Don’t run from one appointment to the next.

Be picky about the invitations you choose to accept. You cannot do it all. Don’t try.

2 Say No

This is related to the tip above. If you don’t say no to stuff you will end up with over-scheduled days. It’s that simple. Only it’s not that simple because highly sensitive people find it hard to say no, being the people pleasers that they are. Saying no requires some serious discipline.

Practice saying no until you master it.

3 Be Realistic

What can you handle? How many times can you leave the house between for example, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day and stay sane? Be realistic about what you and your children are able to take on without meltdowns and tears.

If you know that a day with the in-laws fills your bucket up quicker than a heavy metal concert then plan in advance (see number 4). Or say no (see number 2).

4 Be True to Yourself

If an invitation causes you more stress than joy then it probably isn’t one you should accept. I know sometimes it is hard to turn an invite down, or say no to a social gathering. Getting understanding from friends and family is not always a given, but think of yourself and your family first.

If catering for twenty people at your home on Christmas Day causes you weeks of stress and sleepless nights then it’s not worth it. Ask for help. Make alternative suggestions about how you can be together over Christmas without it being a drain on your emotional reserves.

Self care. Mental health. Important things to consider as a highly sensitive person during the festive season.

5 Build in Quiet Time

Highly sensitive people need quiet time. And that is not just during the festive season.

If you know in advance that a day is going to be full on then build in quiet time the day before. It’s not just good for you, but for your children too.

Charge your battery up as much as you can. Go out in nature. Take it easy. Make your day all about self-care. Prepare yourself physically and mentally for a busy day.

And don’t forget to plan a quiet day the day after too!

Quiet time around the busy days is probably the key to surviving the holiday season.

6 Keep It Small

Christmas Day growing up was always about my immediate family; my mother, father, brother and I celebrated Christmas together. No extended families or other gatherings. Just the four of us. My mother still does this – just her and her husband on the 25th December.

And it’s a take away I have carried through to adulthood. The five of us on Christmas Day and the extended family thereafter. It’s how we cope best because the pressure is off.

7 Take Time Out in the Midst of Busyness

Breathe. Retreat to a quiet space. Step outside.

Tune in to how you are truly feeling and accept those feelings. When Uncle Fred has been spouting about Brexit for half an hour (or Trump if you are in the USA), your mother is fussing about goodness only knows what and the kids are running around pumped up on sugar it’s time to take time out.

Act on what you are feeling. For your own sake, and the sake of your family later, acknowledge how you feel (both physically and emotionally) and do something to change that.

Even if that means leaving the room for fifteen minutes every hour.

8 Think Comfort

Think twice before insisting on ‘smart’ before comfort. My kids live in soft sports trousers and any other trousers for too long leads to uncomfortable kids who are not fun to be around. Find a happy medium.

It’s the same for you. High heels that kill your feet after an hour at the Christmas party? Don’t do it.

Just as number 7 looks after your mental and emotional comfort, you also need to think about your physical comfort. Too warm, too cold, hungry, thirsty; your bucket fills quicker if you are uncomfortable.

Over to You

What are your top survival tips as a highly sensitive person during the holiday season?

You might also enjoy reading: 5 ways to reduce the festive period stress for a highly sensitive child.