Family Stress Strategies

7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Home

GILL MATHIAS

Gold Coach: www.goldcoachuk.com Email: info@goldcoachuk.com 0044 1827 839433

Does this picture describe your happy home? The baby's crying while you hurriedly put the fast food

on the table, the dog is throwing up on the floor, the hubby's got the TV on full-blast, and your

teenager just angrily slammed the door on his way out.

Unfortunately, it's a typical scene for many of us. However, the good news is that it doesn't have to

be this way. There are, in fact, things you can do to ease this stress and create a more harmonious

environment so that you and your family can look forward to coming home!

Although some degree of stress is inherent as you deal with the varying phases of your family

members, if you strive to uphold a core set of values and go with the flow, you can maintain a happy

and healthy home.

Here are some specific ways you can reduce the stress at home:

1. Get organized. Life can quickly become chaotic when you don't maintain organization. An

organized home runs smoothly, while an unorganized home leads to stress and lost time.

* A good tip is to start small with your organization efforts. Start with one room or even a portion of

a room. The idea is to think of it as a series of small projects instead of one overwhelmingly huge

one.

2. Communicate. Your family will certainly benefit from actively working on communication skills.

When you fail to communicate effectively, you may not get what you want and can even cause

upsetting misunderstandings. Working on communication will allow all family members to feel loved

and appreciated and help the household run efficiently.

3. Eat dinner together. Everyone in your family likely has a busy life of their own. It's easy to suddenly realize that you have no idea what's going on with your spouse or child. When you make it a point to eat dinner together every night, you make time to connect with your family. You'll learn how to work as one even with busy lifestyles.

4. Have fun together. It's important to schedule time to have fun together as a family, even if these times can't be as often as you'd like. Schedule family nights in advance and allow each family member a chance to pick that evening's activity.

5. Show unconditional love. Be sure to practice the art of unconditional love with your family. This leads to secure attachments and will ultimately keep everyone in your family happy and stress-free.

* Children and parents alike need to know that, when they make mistakes, they have a loving family that will back them up and forgive them.

6. Give support. Go out of your way for your family members. It might not be an ideal Friday night to go to your daughter's art show, but just think of how they'll feel when they see that they have your love and support. Actively express your support by really being there for your family - no matter what. Just thinking about how much you love them is not enough!

7. Family rules. Having a set of family rules will help with organization and allow everyone to know what's expected of them.

* Schedule a family meeting to establish the house rules. Make sure everyone has a chance to participate and share his or her concerns. You'll likely find a compromise that allows everyone to be happy.

A happy and stress free home is one built on love. Don't be too hard on yourself and others, and

you'll have the basis for creating an excellent home life.

9 Ways to Enjoy the Holidays without Stress

While the holidays have the power to bring some of the most joyful times in your life, they can also

be the cause of a great deal of stress. The stress can stem from many different situations such as

family disagreements, scheduling conflicts, and money issues.

No matter what situation your stress is coming from, it's important to take a step back from the

stress to hold onto your sanity.

Try following some or all of the following tips:

1. Get Your Shopping Done Early. When you get your shopping out of the way early, you can save

yourself stress on a number of levels. You won't be battling other shoppers during peak shopping

times. You won't have to worry about making split second decisions on gifts. You'll also have the

time to craft a budget to help make your money stretch to the best of your ability.

2. Take Time to Yourself. We often take the time to think of others during the holidays. While that's

very important to maintain, you can't forget about yourself in the process. Remember to schedule

"me" time and concentrate on winding down. In order to take good care of others, you first have to

take care of your own health and well being.

3. Keep a Cool Head. While it may not be a problem with every family, sometimes the togetherness

causes conflicts and clashing. Before you enter a family holiday event, tell yourself that you'll take

the high road. You don't want an argument to ruin your chance at fun during the holidays.

4. Keep Up Your Exercise Routine. Sometimes the thrill of the holiday season can disrupt your daily

routines. While a little break from exercise might not make a big difference in your physique, it

might make a difference when it comes to your stress level. Try to keep up some form of exercise, as

it will provide you with a release from stress.

5. Watch your Diet. It's not fair to yourself to completely avoid indulging around the holidays, but at

the same time you should always remain in control. Watch what you're putting into your body,

because large amounts of certain foods can definitely affect how you feel. The two big ones to watch

are caffeine and sweets.

6. Buy Yourself a Present. While you've been budgeting money for everyone else, there's no reason why you can't buy yourself a little something. After all, you're sure to be getting something that you want. You can even schedule yourself a massage, which is an excellent way to maintain a healthy stress level.

7. Get Enough Rest. The excitement definitely kicks in during the holidays. Sometimes you'll lose sleep because of stress, and sometimes you'll lose sleep because of excitement. Either way, you'll be doing yourself a favor by concentrating on relaxation and getting to bed at a good hour. If you start a pattern of getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night, you could be setting yourself up for stress without even really knowing it.

8. Learn to Delegate. If you come to the realization that you've been put in charge of too many things, don't pile on the stress - instead, delegate the tasks. Be wise enough to know when you need some help and ask for it. You can even get the kids involved with certain preparations.

9. Be Flexible. Of course you have an image in your head of how you'd like certain holiday events to play out. You also know that things don't always go according to plan. Realize that certain things will not be perfect, and you won't feel so much stress if things do go wrong. Go with the flow and have back up plans if necessary.

Battling and Overcoming Stress During the

Holidays

Battling and overcoming stress during the holidays can be a challenge to anyone. There are a

number of things that can lead to this type of stress:

* Family gatherings

* Coping with loss

* Busy stores

* Long lines

* Projects

* Gift buying

* Conflicts

* And more

You may also have high expectations that add to the stress of your holiday season. Long gone are the

days in which the season was highly anticipated and there was a sense of magic in the air. As an

adult, you may find the season to be more stressful than joyous.

* Unfortunately, these days, you may even consider holiday stress as a necessary holiday tradition!

Here are some methods you can use to battle and overcome stress during the holidays:

1. Are you overcommitted? The holidays normally come with many social gatherings that most

of us feel we must attend. The fact is that you don't have to go to every event you're invited to.

* Saying "no thank you" to some of the invitations will free up more time for yourself!

It's important to remember and enjoy the spirit of the holidays. If it takes saying "no" to preserve

some of your sanity, go for it! Others will be more understanding than you give them credit for.

* Don't become so burdened that you secretly wish for the season to pass quickly. Take time to be

by yourself. Whether you take a yoga class or a bubble bath, allow yourself to do something

enjoyable without worrying about the holiday stress.

2. Carrying on traditions. Growing up, we may have seen our mothers cook a full course

Christmas dinner. Perhaps it was routine to host a lavish holiday party. Maybe your family baked

hundreds of Christmas cookies to give to friends and relatives.

* Tradition is good but don't allow yourself to become so wrapped up in tradition that it consumes

you.

If you find that the routine you normally follow for the pure and simple sake of tradition is weighing

on you and resulting in more stress than you can deal with, break away from it! You will be happier

when you're free from this stress.

* Rather than living up to the expectations of years past, start your own, easy-going traditions.

Instead of throwing a lavish party, have fewer friends over for tea and cookies. Allow other family

members to bring side dishes to the holiday meal rather than cooking it all yourself.

3. Finding the perfect gift. There's so much pressure to purchase the perfect gift for each

person that it takes all the fun out of shopping. Remember, people are generally appreciative for

whatever gift they receive. They don't expect you to go to every corner of the Earth to find them a

spectacular gift.

* Save time and money by skipping the wrapping! Creativity is the main focus. You can even give

gifts that can be used throughout the year. For example, you may give a coupon in a card for a free

night of babysitting, one day of yard work, or other special things.

* Shopping online has made searching for gifts much easier. It might also be more cost effective to

buy online because many stores offer special sales or free shipping near the holidays.

As you can see, there are several effective ways to battle and overcome stress during the holidays.

The key is to determine what's causing your stress so you can eliminate it. In the end, you'll see that

most of the stress you experience is a result of the expectations you pose on yourself.

Overcoming Family Stress: Make Your Home a

Peaceful Place Again

Everyone deals with family stress from time to time. The biggest problem with this type of stress is

that it stays in your home, where you want to spend your time relaxing.

Stress in the home is detrimental to your health and can cause sleeping problems, feelings of

exhaustion, and other negative effects for everyone in your family!

Even though you may be experiencing a lot of family stress right now, there are things you can do to

bring about peace and harmony in your home.

Here are some tips to help you reduce your family's stress:

1. Get rid of unrealistic expectations. Don't fool yourself into thinking that your home will always be

stress-free. We all know this never occurs. Even though you really love those in your family,

sometimes life at home can be stressful.

* It's also important for you to avoid the expectation that your family is perfect or that your children

will always behave. Everyone is human; everyone makes mistakes. Be prepared for this, and you'll

get rid of much of the stress in your home.

2. Admit your mistakes. When you don't admit your mistakes, you cause resentment among your

family members and more stress. Do the right thing; admit and apologize for your mistakes. This

reduces stress and teaches your children a valuable life lesson.

3. Spend more time with the family. Spending more time with the family is a great way to alleviate

family stress. The family that plays together stays together!

* Eat dinner together regularly. Taking the time to eat together and share the meal can be a great

way to talk, laugh, and get rid of some of the stress in your home.

Many families eat dinner separately, or in shifts between activities. If you eat dinner this way, you

can be easily disconnected from what's happening in your family's lives.

4. Lower your expectations of yourself. Remember, you're not a super hero. Even though you may want to get everything done, it's not always going to work out. Making the effort to be there for everyone all the time is important, but you can't be perfect.

Putting huge expectations on yourself is likely to cause you to live a stressful life full of

disappointment. Allow yourself to be a person rather than a super hero, and you'll find the time to

relax and enjoy life again.

5. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Treat your family with respect, serve your family, and shower them with kindness. This will start a trend in the family of treating others in the way you want to be treated.

* When you start incorporating kindness into your family life, your family's moods will lift, you'll enjoy your time together, and the stress within your home will evaporate.

The actions you take to overcome your family stress may take a little practice to become second

nature, but soon you and your family will enjoy being around each other like never before. Peace

will reign supreme, and your home will become the relaxing place you always wished for.

Top 5 Family Stress Relief Strategies

Stress comes in all forms and from all directions, especially for families in these super busy,

technologically advanced, yet tough economic times. However, even with the technology we've available to us, one of the biggest causes of stress in a family is lack of communication.

The unfortunate reality is that kids communicate with seemingly everyone but their family through texting, email, Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter. Nowadays it can be tough to get through to your kids, which makes it a challenge to strengthen your family's bond.

Getting Involved with Your Kids

One way to get more involved with your kids is to start communicating in a way that they'll actually listen.

This may mean that you need to learn how to text, email and get on the social networks your kids are on. The idea is to be a source of support for your child, and that means you need to be an active player in their life, even if they push you away.

Even if you get active in your child's life online, the best way to communicate with your kids is while they're at home. Talk to them face to face and don't be afraid to ask questions. You might be surprised at how they respond. At first it may seem awkward, but the more you do it, the easier communication becomes.

Communication with Your Spouse

If you're lacking an open line of communication with your spouse, one reason may be that you're not speaking each other's love language or understanding their relating style. This means that you need to discover what your spouse responds to the best. Is it touch, the words you say, gifts, acts of service, or spending quality time together? Once you know how to show love to your spouse, show it abundantly!

Also, listen to your spouse's feelings, as this will often give you ideas about how you can fill their love tank. If your spouse says something along the lines of "You never touch me anymore" or she wants to hold hands all the time, her love language is physical touch. If your spouse often uses the phrase "We never spend any time together," and likes to just sit and talk, their love language is quality time.

Spend Quality Time With Your Family

Another big stress on today's family is not spending enough time together. This is most likely because everyone is so busily involved in other activities that you barely have time to yourself, let alone one another.

So, how can you make time to spend with your family?

1. Set aside at least one day out of each week and deem it family day or game night. Spending quality timewith your family shows that you're interested in what they're doing and that you care about them. Oftenteens think that their parents don't care about them because they're never home, or they feel that theirparents play a passive role in their lives. And because kids and teens often don't spend quality time withtheir families, they go elsewhere to get the attention they crave. Unfortunately, elsewhere may not be agood place for your kids to be!

2. Ensure you make time for your spouse. Alone time is important for all marriages so you can continue tostrengthen your relationship and explore one another's dreams and desires for the family unit.

3. Make sure your family enjoys at least one meal together each day. Statistics show families that eat

together, stay together. Children do better in school and the overall atmosphere in the home is simplyhappier when you make eating together a priority.

The Financial Burden

Financial problems are another cause of major stress in families today. Often, when the parents aren't in control of their finances, their children suffer the same financial burdens later on in life.

As parents, you must teach your children financial responsibility from an early age. Get your little ones a piggy bank to help them learn about the importance of saving money. As they get older, include them in the budget planning and bill paying. Help them understand the concept of financial responsibility.

Children need to know that money must be earned and that your debit or credit card isn't magically filled with money all the time.

To recap, The Top 5 Family Stress Relievers are:

1. Communicate by speaking directly to your family.2. Learn what love language your children and spouse speaks.3. Spend time quality time together as a family with a family day or family game night.4. Sit down for at least one meal a day with each other.5. Openly discuss your finances and financial situation with your family.

Incorporating these strategies into your family life will help you have a more open relationship with each family member. Plus, you'll be able to relieve the stress and tension and replace it with joy, health, and happiness!

GILL MATHIAS

Gold Coach: www.goldcoachuk.com Email: info@goldcoachuk.com 0044 1827 839433