The 6 or 8 week period spanning pre-Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day is arguably the most stressful time of year. On the upside, holidays can afford rich time with family and friends. On the downside, there are numerous pressures around money and time. A continuing barrage of advertising is either commercializing the season to an obnoxious level or painting an image of a holiday ideal that is impossible to live up to. A spate of parties can be fun, but they can also tempt us stray dangerously from our normal eating, drinking, exercise, and sleep habits. Plus, any fault lines we have in our lives seem to intensify – loneliness, grief, separation, family dynamics, etc. So while holidays can hold joys for many, the flip side can be pretty intense.
We’ve updated our holiday survival toolkit to help you and your staff get through the holidays. Plus, we remind our Members that your EAP is available 24-7-365 for help with any difficulties you may experience.
At the Workplace
- Tools & Tips to Help Your Organization Create a Happy, Ethical & Compliant Holiday Season
- Seven Dos and Don’ts for the Holiday Season – from employment attorney Jonathan Segal
- Top 10 Holiday Aggravations at Work – what not to do
- Tis the Season – to be extra careful about holiday legal issues
- Everything you want to know about employee holiday pay (but are afraid to ask)
- 14 Ways to Stay Focused at Work Through the Holidays
- ’tis the season of workplace holiday angst
- 6 Tips for Surviving the Office Holiday Party
- 11 Tips for Surviving the Office Holiday Party
Avoiding stress & problems
- Holiday (Travel) survival guide: Staying sane amid the stress
- Holiday Stress? Try These 5 Tips for a Heart-Healthy Holiday Season
- 16 Ways To Beat Holiday Stress
- Coping with SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Ease Holiday Stress, boost work life balance
- Holiday Health & Safety Tips – Centers for Disease Control
- Stress, depression and the holidays: Tips for coping – from the Mayo Clinic
- Holiday Stress Calls for an Attitude Adjustment
- 9 Ideas for Coping with the Holidays When You Have a Mental Illness
- Helping Someone With a Mental Illness Through the Holidays
Healthy Eating
- 8 Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating (Infographic)
- Holiday Health Eating Guide – American Heart Association (PDF)
- Healthy Eating and Holiday Meal Planning from the American Diabetes Association
- Healthy Eating Tips and Light Party Recipes for the Holidays
- 4 Ways To Navigate The Holidays When You Have An Eating Disorder
- 6 Ways To Support Someone With An Eating Disorder During The Holidays
Keeping a Sober Season
- The Holidays: Challenges and Survival Guide for Sober Alcoholics
- Al-Anon helping families through alcoholism during holidays
- 4 Health Excuses To Stay Sober At Your Holiday Party
- How to Cope with Family Holiday Events… Without Alcohol!
Family Matters
- Stress & Parenting During the Holidays
- 7 Holiday Stress Busters for Kids
- Multicultural Familia – Holidays
- Holiday Tips for Blended Families
- Seasonal Stepfamily Stress: Tips to Help All Your Family Members Enjoy the Holidays
Holidays after a divorce
- Children of Divorce List Holiday Dos and Don’ts
- Top Ten Ways to Survive the Holidays During and After Divorce
- Handling Holidays After Divorce
- Children, Divorce and the Holidays
- How divorced parents can help their children survive the holidays
- Planning for Seasonal Success: Holiday Tips for Parenting Apart
- Divorce and the Holidays — Putting Children First
Special situations
- Dealing with grief or loss over the holidays
- Helping with Holiday grief: “do” and “don’t” lists
- Tips for Reducing Holiday Stress for Families of Children with Autism (PDF)
- Holidays and Alzheimer’s Families
- Helping Children Cope with Holidays After a Disaster (PDF)
- Coping With Loneliness During the Holidays
- How to Cope with Spending the Holidays Away From Home
Keeping Safe
- 30th Annual Survey Finds Dangerous Toys on Store Shelves (2015)
- Holiday Decorating Safety Tips (PDF)
- Candle with Care this holiday season
- Food Safety
- Hosting a Holiday Party? You Might Want to Brush Up On Social Host Liability
- Have a happy New Year: Plan to party safely
Money and finance
- Holiday Budget Planner – Calculator
- 8 Smart Ways to Save When Buying Holiday Gifts for a Big Family
- Mastering Your Holiday Season Budget
- Making the holidays less materialistic for your kids – from KidsHealth
- Ways to go green during wasteful holidays
Security & Crime Prevention
- 14 Holiday Shopping Scams to Avoid This Year
- AARP: ‘Tis the Season of Scams
- 12 Scams of the Holidays
- Pass It On – FTC Info for consumers on common scams and fraud
- The FTC’s top 10 holiday shopping tips
- Simple ideas to prevent identity theft during the holidays
- Don’t Lose Money on PrePaid Debit Cards
- Top Tips for Safe Online Holiday Shopping
- Do not let thieves steal your holiday spirit
- Crime Prevention Tips for the Holiday
Guide to Meaningful & Charitable Gift-Giving