We’re all used to year-end reviews in our workplace. Talking to our supervisor, listening to town halls, obtaining organization-wide emails – it’s something a lot of us look forward to. But do we ever look forward to reflecting on our personal levels of well-being for the prior year?
How would you rate your physical (health), mental, career, social and community well-being? What would your performance score within each dimension look like? What could you do to move your score by just one point?
So often, we forget to use the assets we possess in our professional lives for the challenges we experience in our personal lives to reach wellness goals. So, as you’re completing your year-end reviews, think about what successes have propelled you professionally this year that can be strengths used in your personal life for the future. Sometimes meeting with a health coach can help you discover these strengths and support you throughout your goal achievement. This month our four Take Action Weeks include:
Stick To Your Budget
The holidays can be a stressful time of year, and money is one of the leading causes of holiday anxiety for Americans.
The best time for holiday budgeting begins early in the year, when smart shoppers account for expenses associated with the holiday gift season in their monthly budgets and buy presents here and there throughout the year. Additionally, resourceful budgeters flock to stores after Christmas to scoop up decorations at bargain bin prices with an eye toward future holidays.
However, if you’re like most people, you likely have not planned very far ahead and could find yourself feeling the pinch in January. But don’t despair—with proper accounting and a handful of smart shopping ideas, it is possible to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list and stay within your budget. Here are a few pointers to help you stick to your holiday budget and manage your seasonal financial stress:
- Make a list and check it twice. Review your shopping list carefully. Does everyone listed on it truly need to be there?
- Set limits. Write down a maximum dollar limit for each person, vow to stay within that limit and then track how much you spend.
- Shop early. The best window for holiday shopping is between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1.
- Buy in bulk. Have something on hand for those unexpected presents. A case of wine or elegant candles are great ideas.
- Be realistic. Ask yourself if you can really afford to buy gifts—don’t feel obligated to buy them if you can’t afford them.
- Talk to your friends and family about scaling back. Ask about doing a gift exchange instead of buying gifts for everyone. If you find these things too embarrassing or unworkable consider going the homemade gift route
- Shop online. Some of the best bargains won’t be found in stores. Many retailers will waive shipping costs during the holidays. Plus, why spend the days before your holiday celebrations wasting gas and battling crowds for items that may not be in stock?
- Get a holiday job. Even with a good budget, extra holiday shopping can pinch the pocketbook. Consider working a seasonal job.
Holiday Depression & Stress
While many look forward to the holidays, others dread the season. If you feel stressed, the obligations at holiday time can take their toll on even the most cheerful of people. Here are some tips to help you minimize holiday stress.
Causes of Stress
Ask yourself what exactly about the season makes you feel stressed. Your feelings may be triggered by the following:
- Unhappy childhood memories
- Difficult familial relationships
- Negative feelings about your life over the past year
- Seasonal monotony—seeing the same faces, eating the same food and going through the same motions
- Lowered immune defenses because of colder temperatures, high incidence of the flu, eating more and sleeping less
- Financial stress
Minimize Holiday Stress
Consider the following tips to help reduce stress this holiday season:
- Enjoy the present and try not to worry about what may be lacking.
- Don’t feel you must meet all family obligations. Do not simply do something or go somewhere because of tradition, especially if it makes you unhappy.
- Ask others for assistance. For example, ask a relative to host the family get-together, or make it a potluck and have everyone contribute to the meal.
- Make a to-do list in chronological order to minimize stress.
- Limit your alcohol intake.
- Stay active and continue to eat a balanced diet.
- Create a new tradition, such as volunteering, especially if you feel lonely.
- Make time for yourself and your needs, even when hosting guests in your house.
- Keep tabs on your holiday spending. Make a budget and stick to it, no exceptions.
Card a Coworker
Focusing on career well-being and creating a welcoming and purposeful environment for you and your coworkers can not only support employee engagement but change the entire employee experience and work culture. Often in our year, we feel overwhelmed with the amount of work we do and think, is this all purposeful to the organization? Am I truly appreciated and enough? Carding a coworker can support your team in feeling purposeful, appreciated and enough.
Storing Cards
Keep some blank “thank you” cards at your desk or work area to be able to write on throughout the year. Providing gratitude through carding a coworker can only happen if you have cards available. And with the cards in a common area, it will remind you to send them even if you are busy at work.
Sending Handwritten Letters and Cards
A study conducted in 2018 revealed the significant, underestimated benefit handwritten thank-you letters have to both the recipient and person writing the card. Talk about a win-win!
What should I include in my card?
Really anything you’d like. The more specific you can be about the gratitude you want to provide to the individual, the better. For instance, instead of writing “Thank you for all you do, “be specific in what they did. “You made me feel so confident in your ability to grow within this organization when you returned that report back to me by the end of the day. I thank you for your persistence and hard work you put in every week, “is a more specific way to personalize your message. Also including some items about their personal life. For instance, “How is your grandmother? “This creates a question they can then decide to answer if they wish. Asking about a coworker’s personal life can build rapport and trust within your team and organizational culture. Improve your mental well-being. Maintaining a high level of mental well-being can be difficult. Depending on the type of work you do and when your “busy season” is can factor into the level of your mental well-being. Showing gratitude throughout your year to coworkers or when you feel your mental health is lacking can be a helpful action to take.
Create a Spending Plan
Once you have a general idea of how much you need to save each month from reaching your retirement goal, you need to determine where you will find the money. There’s one simple trick for saving for any goal: spend less than you earn. The first step is to get organized by creating a spending plan or budget.
Add Up Your Monthly Income: wages, average tips or bonuses, alimony payments, investment income, unemployment benefits, and so on. Don’t include anything that you cannot count on.
Add Up Your Monthly Expenses: mortgage or rent, car payments, average food bills, medical expenses, entertainment, and so on. Determine an average for expenses that vary each month, such as clothing, or that don’t occur every month, such as car insurance or self-employment taxes. Review your checkbook, credit card records, and receipts to estimate expenses; you probably will need to track how you spend cash for a month or two. You may be surprised to find out where and how much cash “disappears” each month. Include the amount you want to save each month as an expense.
Subtract Your Income from Your Expenses.
You may have more expenses than income. This is not uncommon. You have three choices: cut expenses, increase income, or both. There are hundreds of ways to reduce expenses, from clipping coupons to bargain hunting to comparison shopping. Increasing income could mean taking a second job, improving your job skills or education to get a raise or a better paying job, making money from a hobby, or jointly deciding that another family member will work.
Budgeting Tips:
Pay yourself first. Put away first the money you want to set aside for goals. Have money automatically withdrawn from your checking account and put into savings or an investment. Join a retirement plan at work that deducts money from your paycheck. What you don’t see, you won’t miss.
- Put bonuses and raises toward savings.
- Make saving a habit. It’s not difficult once you start.
- Revisit your budget every few months to be sure you are on track.
Article adapted from the U.S. Department of Labor publication of the same title. www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/publications/getting-started-steps-to-creating-a-financial-plan-for-a-secure-retirement
