Your Holiday Self-Care Battery
Let’s have a little Holiday Self-Care Battery check-in! The holidays can be tough on your mental health. Like, really tough. It’s okay to say “Hey, this time of year is hard for me” without immediately following it up with all the reasons you should be grateful or happy or festive. There are probably reasons to be happy or grateful but that doesn’t cancel out the other stuff. You’re allowed to feel both.
Your battery gets drained during the holidays. It just does.
Family drama, overcommitting to every single event, the financial stress of gift-giving (and will they like it?), trying to make everything perfect, dealing with grief and loss, saying yes when you really want to say no.
And then there’s the other stuff. Working long hours if you’re in retail. Potentially bad weather that adds stress. The end-of-the-year stuff that you’re trying to wrap up.
All of these things drain your battery until you’re running on empty and wondering why you feel so exhausted and overwhelmed.
Here’s a very accurate cliche: You can’t pour from an empty cup.
So what recharges Holiday Self-Care Battery?
And the equally important question of: Can you make time for it?
I looooove my family. But it’s also very separate. I have the holiday plans with my husband and brother. Then I have the plans with my husband’s sister and her family, and then his brother and his family, and then my sister and her family AND then our friends. So all of these social things (that I’m usually great at rotating through) come together in one month and it feels like a lot of socializing for me. Even though I have fun with them. And even though I want to hang out with them.
For me, it’s setting boundaries without guilt. It’s saying “I need to leave by 6pm” and actually leaving at 6pm. It’s making sure that my schedule gives me a cushion afterward to rest and decompress. It’s letting go of the idea that everything has to be perfect and instead focusing on the joy part.
I used to feel so guilty about that. Like I was being selfish or difficult or not festive enough. But over the years I’ve learned that when I don’t take care of myself, I end up miserable, burnt out, and honestly kind of resentful and then it’s not really fun for anyone. I’m just there but not present.
The hard part is recognizing what drains you and what recharges you, and then actually finding the time to give yourself some love.
This season doesn’t need you to run on empty.
You’re allowed to notice what drains you and then reduce things where you can. You’re allowed to protect your energy even if other people don’t fully understand. And you’re allowed to create a holiday that fits your nervous system (even if it doesn’t look ‘normal’).
And if all you can do right now is one small thing to recharge, that counts. A nap counts, setting a boundary counts, and saying “not this year” counts.
And now! I want you to make your own list – specific to you.
Fill out the Holiday Self-Care Battery worksheet (free on Patreon) then use it as a guide. On the left, write down what truly drains your energy during the holidays. On the right, write down what genuinely helps you recharge. Then look at both lists and ask yourself what you can reduce, shorten, or opt out of and THEN what you can intentionally make space for that helps you recharge. Even small shifts count. Leaving earlier, building in quiet time, or scheduling one comforting thing on purpose.
The goal isn’t a perfect holiday or a fully charged battery (after all, batteries are meant to be used!), but just notice what your nervous system needs and then try to meet those needs.
