Ready or Not, Here Come the Holidays! What’s Your Game Plan?

Juggling a hectic pathology practice—often working 10- or 11-hour days—with family is enough of a challenge for Amberly Nunez, MD, FASCP. It gets even harder to maintain that balance during the winter holidays. She’s among many professionals who implement their own unique holiday survival strategy during this busy season.

“My husband is a physician in emergency medicine, and we have a three-and-a-half year-old daughter at home,” Dr. Nunez says. “We are working so much that it’s just not possible to do everything. I have to prioritize.”

To accomplish her holiday shopping, she starts early and also squeezes online shopping into work breaks when possible. She and her husband look at their social calendars a week or more in advance and lay out the activities they have planned and arrange child care.  

ASCP Assistant Director of Product Development Mary Beth Sharp embraces the winter holiday season with gusto, on top of her full-time job and two college-age daughters who are at home during the holidays.   

“I am very efficient, and I start everything early,” she says, matter-of-factly. “As soon as my daughters go back to college in the fall, it’s game on for Christmas shopping and planning.”

As holiday crunch time nears, Ms. Sharp saves a few vacation days to take in in December to shop and run errands. During the week, malls are not crowded, and she doesn’t have to wait in lines. She also enlists her daughters’ help with decorating and other preparations.

“It’s nice to involve them in family traditions, and it takes some of my burden away,” Ms. Sharp says.

For ASCP’s Tanya Norwood, keeping balanced during the holiday season is all about planning. “Planning reduces my stress level. I think about upcoming activities, parties, commitments, whether I need to do any preplanning and buy a holiday dress or gifts.  Then, I prioritize accordingly.  And, I do all my shopping online,” she says.

A senior leader at ASCP, Ms. Norwood has very little time to spare in her daily schedule. The mother of two teenage sons, she also cares for her aging parents, oversees a staff of 18 as Chief Marketing and Membership Officer at ASCP, and is an instructor in Northwestern University’s Information Design & Strategy graduate program.

“At work, we have a talented team in my department. I’m very grateful for that,” she says, adding, “Delegation and succinct updates from team members have been key to meeting project demands and timelines.”

In her personal life, Ms. Norwood has come to realize that she cannot be a “super hero,” and enlists her family’s support to manage both the hectic holiday season and daily routines. “Now that my boys are older, they are more self-sufficient. My husband and I empower our sons to take on more responsibilities for themselves and delegate assignments like putting up holiday decorations,” she explains. And, she has three other siblings who live in the Chicago area and, together, they share the responsibilities of caring for their parents.

Managing life and the holidays isn’t easy, and Dr. Nunez, Ms. Sharp and Ms. Norwood all agree that the key to a successful holiday season isn’t about perfection. It’s about accepting their limitations and enjoying the company of others around them.

 

 

 

Managing life and the holidays isn’t easy, and Dr. Nunez, Ms. Sharp and Ms. Norwood all agree that the key to a successful holiday season isn’t about perfection. It’s about accepting their limitations and enjoying the company of others around them.