With two major holidays occurring a week apart, it’s good to be prepared. While Christmas is a time for family and giving, New Years is a time for new beginnings and celebrating the year that has past. However, both of these are not the best holidays for introverts, as they normally come with la lot of parties with friends, family and random strangers. Even if you are an extrovert, it’s still a lot of parties and a lot of other things going on all at the same time, so this is a point in the year that requires a lot of planning to survive and have the best time possible.
Make sure to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the time ahead. With family gatherings come a lot of questions about college, academics, extracurricular activities and your plans about the future. Even if you have no clue where your life is going, as most of us probably don’t at this point, figure something out ahead of time and stick to it. Find some aspect of your life to talk about with your relatives, even if you really don’t have a lot going for you right now. Also, focus on the positives because no one wants to hear about that class that you failed, and it will depress you to talk about it over and over again. More than anything, just enjoy your time with your relatives because Christmas is a time for family, and this might be your only opportunity to see them all year.
This is also a great time to improve your planning and organizational skills. Whether it be planning time in your schedule to get Christmas shopping done -- usually the last three days before Christmas -- or planning what to get everyone, and then having to find new stuff since you waited until the last possible moment to go shopping, there is so much to be done around the holiday season. Whether you do realize this or not, your day is pretty much been scheduled and detailed to the hour, so you might as well embrace it and start scheduling yourself. Even though your mom may make great itineraries, you’re an adult now and there are some things you need to do for yourself. In the midst of Christmas joy and excitement, don’t forget to sleep. Think back to finals week when you barely saw your room, let alone your bed, and realize that winter break is a time for catching up on sleep. It’s really easy to allow yourself to spend six hours in a coffee shop with your friends, and you should take that time for yourself, but also remember that sleep is pretty important to function.
Planning is also really important for New Year’s Eve. Try to know what you’re going to be doing ahead of time. The last thing you want is to be stuck in the car looking for parking when the clock strikes midnight. Give yourself adequate time to get to where you want to go. If your life is usually an adventure and always spontaneous, this may be one time you should plan it all out. Overall, have fun, but have safe fun. Christmas and New Years are holidays, and therefore times of celebration and fun. Don’t spend too much time stressing out, and enjoy yourself this holiday season.
