Don't Shop 'til You Drop
Here are some ideas on how to de-stress holiday shopping.
Early planning
• Shop early in the season and on weekdays. If possible, take a personal day from work and hit the mall early. You will find more merchandise, shorter lines (or none at all) and sales people who will actually enjoy waiting on you.
• Plan your shopping trips. Make a gift list then divide the shopping into manageable trips. Do the larger stores early in the season when they are apt to be less crowded, and save the smaller specialty stores for later shopping.
• Make a budget and do your best to stick to it. Most people report that, even if they go over their budget, they still feel having one reduces expenditures and stress.
• Do some of your shopping online or from catalogs. It saves time, especially if you are looking for something specific and, as an added plus, most firms will gift wrap and ship directly to your out of town recipients.
• If you have a large extended family, consider pulling names from a hat, perhaps doubling the names of the small children in the family so they'll have more than one gift to open. Remind your relatives that one or two nice gifts are better than a dozen smaller ones.
Treat holiday shopping as an athletic event
• Wear shoes with plenty of cushioning in the soles to absorb the impact of walking on hard shopping mall floors. According to recent studies, 60% of women report wearing uncomfortable shoes.
• Make sure the clothing you wear is as comfortable as possible. It's a good idea to wear layers, because you may be going from a cold environment (outdoors) to a warm environment (indoors).
• Leave your purse at home. Wear a light fanny pack or a light backpack instead. Pack only those items that are absolutely essential (driver's license, credit card, etc.).
• If you start to feel some pain, nip it in the bud. When you get home, apply an ice bag to the affected area for 20 minutes, then take it off for a couple of hours. Repeat a couple of times each day over the next day or two.
Plan Frequent breaks
• During a day of heavy shopping, most healthy people should take a break every 45 minutes. Those with less stamina may even need to take a break every 20-30 minutes. If you work in a physically demanding job where you're accustomed to being on your feet most of the day, you may be able to get away with taking less frequent breaks.
• If possible, obtain a locker at the mall and schedule trips to your locker into your breaks. Lockers can help cut down dramatically on how much you have to carry.
• If your mall or shopping center doesn't offer lockers, try to plan trips to your car. Don't carry around more than is absolutely necessary at one time.
• When taking breaks, try to eat light foods. A salad and some fruit is a much better option than a burger and fries.
• Skip the coffee break! Coffee and sodas contain caffeine and sugar, which add even more stress to your body. Pass on the designer coffee at the java stand and keep drinking water.
Shopping with children
• If at all possible, DO NOT bring a child or children along on a holiday shopping trip. Most children simply do not have the stamina for such an event, and you and your child will only become frustrated with one another. Don't add this type of stress to an already stressful situation.
• Try to split "child duty" up with a spouse or another parent. They'll watch your kids while you shop, and vice-versa.
Wrapping your gifts
• Since there is no "ideal" position for wrapping gifts, the most important thing to remember is to vary your positions. For example, try standing at a table or countertop for one package, sitting on a bed for another, sitting in a comfortable chair for another, etc.
• Do not wrap packages while sitting on a hard floor. This can wreak havoc on your posture.
• Always stretch before and after you wrap gifts.
