Its that time of the year where everything just feels a lot busier. As I type, Christmas is looming and Black Friday (that shopping frenzy phenomenon) is just days away. And my diary is FULL!
This is a collectively busy time, I don’t know any other person who hasn’t already commented on how busy they are. All of a sudden everyone wants to get together. Putting dates in the diary for big group meet ups start to become a bit of a juggling act. And it is all lovely, but for a sociable people pleaser like me its hard to say no to. I’m a bit scared, I’ve over committed.
Right now, I can feel stress increasing and energy declining. And I’m left wondering – is it just me or midlife?
The midlife impact.
And it turns out midlife and the impact of our good old hormones could once again be at play!! I do find myself attributing my hormones or lack of them to almost everything these days. But I also find it really helpful to understand what is happening and why.
In midlife, our bodies actually become more sensitive to stress. As oestrogen starts being unpredictable, we lose some of the natural calming effect it normally has on cortisol (our main stress hormone). So when life gets busy, it really can feel more stressful.
Energy is a whole other story. Sleep is often disrupted when hormones change, and also there is an impact on blood sugar and how we efficiently use energy. Add the 35,000 decisions we apparently make every single day (more when life gets busy), plus the physical effort of rushing around and socialising, it is no wonder we might feel mentally and physically drained.
So it may not just be me after all…
But what can we actually do to reduce stress and increase energy when life gets busy?
01
Being planned
For a while now, I’ve been plotting out my week hour by hour. Its been so helpful seeing my week ahead laid out on one piece of paper – its clear when I have over-committed, when I’ve double booked (which happens a lot) and it helps me factor in my non-negotiables like exercise.
02
Reduce the number of decisions
There seem to be a whole load of extra decisions as we head towards Christmas – choosing gifts, planning days or nights out, juggling diaries and just more organising than normal. So, having some go-tos for the daily things to remove a decision – like what to wear, what to have for breakfast, dinner etc – can really help reduce the decision making load.
Top Tip: I do all my Christmas shopping on the weekend of Black Friday, I plan in advance what I want to buy and who for – I block out a few hours and do a big online shop. I am a lover of a physical store, but at Christmas, it’s all a bit overwhelming and this is a whole lot easier plus I find I make decisions much quicker.
03
A Must Do list
Its really easy to create a long to-do list of tasks and note every single thing that we think needs to be done. When its busy prioritising is a necessity. Top tip: only plan to do the ‘must-dos’ each day, the most important tasks. Everything else can wait or if it can be delegated even better. I plan to be kind to myself and take some pressure off and delete some of my list each day if I need to.
04
Prioritise exercise, rest and sleep
Its easy at this time of year for healthy routines to go out of the window. I find making time for exercise and rest to be important in helping manage stress and energy.
Getting enough sleep can be tricky anyway – in my experience it’s been a harder as a result of menopause and then when you add in late nights or late dinners, it can feel even more disrupted.
The knock on effect is that it can then feel harder to exercise, but even getting out for a walk or a quick jog in the morning can have such a good impact on both energy and getting to sleep later. Movement is medicine!
05
Balanced Diet
This is another challenge at this time of year. Over the coming weeks, there will be at least 3 times per week where I’ll be eating out and as much as I want to say I’ll opt for ‘healthier’ options, I am human. Who doesn’t love the pastry based treats that are ever present at this time of year, the puddings, the cheese, the chocolate? I know I will not be able to resist. But I will be able to plan for the rest of the week and around those treats so that I have healthy options to enjoy. And I’ll be keeping myself very hydrated too – which also helps with not overeating and managing energy levels.
And when I need an extra moment of calm, I have my go-to stress relievers:
- A five-minute breathing exercise (4-7-8 method).
- A warm bath with an essential oil blend (de-stress blend: 2oml of sweet almond oil, 6 drops of clary sage, 6 drops of frankincense, 6 drops of geranium)
- Knitting – I always have a project on the go and there is nothing more calming that knitting and TV
- Reading a few pages of a book – I love this for escapism, plus a few pages before bed help me drift off – here’s a link to some of my favourite reads.
- Journalling – this is just the best way to brain dump thoughts and feelings, its a daily calming practice for me.