Budgeting Your Time (and Energy) for the Holidays

By Nicole Jovel, guest blogger

“My head could just buzz with all the things I’d like to do for my family,” said Ann Burnside Love as she thought about the upcoming holiday season. But Ann, founder and chair of Love & Company and resident of a suburban Maryland retirement community, has a plan. “Holidays require lead time and pacing,” she said. Her plan is to think ahead, review her calendar, and pencil in down time to counterbalance the hustle and bustle of the season. “I occasionally have ‘crash days’ where I don’t get dressed, catch up on the newspaper and listen to music all day. I might read a book with my feet up and order in the wonderful food they have on hand in my community so I don’t have to go anywhere,” Ann said.

She knows from experience that she’ll need it. With four grown kids who have kids of their own, her large family means a lengthy shopping list. Instead of letting it overwhelm her, Love relies on a mix of catalog shopping, online shopping and gift cards to ensure that all her loved ones have a special gift to open for Christmas without exhausting her own time and energy. “When I first came to my community five years ago, I would have driven myself to whatever store I wanted. Now I might drive to a few places but I certainly wouldn’t go into the big crowds on the busiest shopping days.” Ann said. “I have limited energy of which I have to make the most use. I might go shopping for some special gifts and take advantage of catalogs for others. You can go online and buy practically anything you want and have it delivered directly to you or directly to the recipient.”

Beyond shopping, the holiday season also ushers in a variety of get-togethers and special events. “There are more concerts and other events around Christmas,” said Ann. “There are also lots of special events in my own community, like the lighting of the trees and bus trips that will take us to restaurants or musical events.” When Ann knows she’ll have a particularly busy social calendar, that’s when her down days come in handy. “This past weekend I went from a hair appointment to a party and then to a concert. I know it will take time to recover after a day like that.”

That foresight is taken into consideration when Ann is choosing what events she will attend. If she looks at her calendar and sees that dates are getting overfilled, she will block off time before and after the events to rest up and recover. “I don’t have the energy I had when I was shopping for my own young children and everybody had to have beautifully-wrapped packages. That’s not the way it has to be anymore and that’s a good thing,” Ann said.

From Ann’s own experience she says it’s a matter of making choices about how much of your time and energy you’ll use for planning and participating in events. “You get to choose what you want to do.”

And all along the way, her advice is to be kind to yourself and listen to your body. “I used to wait to recuperate after the holidays were over,” said Ann. “Now I do it all along the way.”