How to be a Confident Busy Mums at Christmas
Christmas is a time which can be very testing for mums and dads. There are all the additional financial pressures that Christmas brings, as well as a lot more to organise than usual.
There are the Christmas parties, which may put pressure on your current wardrobe and expertise in small talk.
And of course lack of clothes, or confidence in the clothes you have got, may result in a last-minute emergency dress shopping trip, squashed between Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, which is hardly ideal.
And of course having met all your Christmas deadlines all you now have to do is cook a fantastic Christmas lunch for all the family.
Having a lot of stuff on your plate can mean that you slip into fire fighting mode and deal with each item as the deadline approaches.
This in itself can be very stressful, and can ebb away at your confidence and in the worst case leave you feeling stressed and a failure.
Being confident and having a strong self belief in your own ability to “deliver”, what is being demanded of you, will have a direct impact on your moods, your energy levels and actually your happiness. And of course your happiness will have a direct impact on your family. And that is the reason why having inner confidence in yourself is so important for your wellbeing.
So here are some tips which will help you be more confident this Christmas.
There is never a more important time of the year to think ahead. This means planning, and writing down your all your plans. Plans in the head do not count. Writing down your plans down will give you clarity, and help you focus on the details of what you need to do – not just a fluffy big picture. The thing to remember the devil is the detail and a thinking exercise in which you walk yourself through what you will need to do will highlight possible hiccups or things you may otherwise have overlooked.
I suggest writing plans down in a notebook or on your PC. It has to be somewhere where these written plans will not go astray and that you can easily refer to.
Plan – what you will be wearing at any social events you will be attending. Write down what you plan to wear after you have had a rummage around in your wardrobe and you have tried the outfit on. Have you got the right shoes, tights and the correct underwear for the out fit. Can this be dressed with different accessories, or be worn to another event. Hang the items together in preparation. Is it all clean?
Do a menu plan. Write down what you will be eating over the Christmas period and from that work backwards to work out what shopping you will require.
Have some back- up store cupboard recipes up your sleeve. Pasta, sauces, cheese are all good basic standbys.
Grab your cookery book and work out timings for meals you will be cooking. Again working backwards, write the timings and actions down or print them off. Have them available to refer to as you cook Christmas Dinner or any special meal where you feel you may get distracted. Remember to also include things like laying the table.
Try to shop online for your Christmas shop but if that is not possible, identify all the items you can buy in readiness for Christmas which are not date driven and do not need to be fresh. Shop for these as soon as possible.
Schedule everything in your diary Most people schedule events in their diaries not necessarily actions they need to take. The thing is actions take time – so it is important to schedule time for the Actions you need to take. For example wrapping Christmas presents, or even sorting out your Christmas wardrobe, these and other things take up time but aren’t what you could describe as events.
This article is drifting on now – so I hope I have given you enough information to help you realise that by thinking ahead to situations that are challenging you may well be able to feel more confident.
My next busy mum article and confidence is going to move on to delegation – and having fun at Christmas.
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