Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Cass Mullane

If you’re like me, you’re probably starting to get that feeling that you need to grow a few more arms to juggle all the balls that you have in the air. There are the clients, the workshops the webinars, the studio, the shows to organize and hang, the art to make, the ¬book to finish writing, the classes to teach, the products to develop, the speaking to do, and on and on. Oh, and now we need to figure in the added balls of The Holidays… Yikes!

So, here are two tips for ousting the overwhelm and welcoming the warmth of the season.

1.You are hereby given permission to say “No, thank you” and to feel good about it! Be choosy about what you say ‘yes’ to. Whether it’s a request to speak or to donate art for a benefit or to put together an event, be choosy about what you say ‘yes’ to. I’ll bet you and your cohorts already have quite a mountain of things to do and you probably do not need to add one more thing to your list. Instead, think about what’s really most important for you to do in the next several weeks and focus on getting those things done. You’ll do yourself a huge favor by fairly assessing what you know must be done versus what everyone may want you to do instead. While it would be nice to have little elves that come in and do our work for us so we can take on all the other stuff, the reality is the important things are not going to get done until we do them. So why leave them hanging around? Remember that taking on extra things adds to your sense of overwhelm, and that means you’re not functioning at your very best. Saying ‘no, thank you’ to things that don’t make sense allows you to relax a bit and to be more fully present for yourself and for everyone else.

2. You are hereby given permission to practice quality self-care and to feel good about it! It almost goes without saying that we all need to ensure that we work in a little extra time for self-care in the coming weeks. We naturally fall into that mindset of taking care of everyone else at our expense. But that’s not healthy! Taking a little time away from the craziness to take care of yourself is healthy. Schedule that massage, read that book, take that walk, doodle, do a puzzle, do yoga, pay attention to what you’re fueling yourself with, pat yourself on the back for the great things you’ve done and continue to make smart choices (this all goes for me too!). Doing this will allow you to relax, recharge and reframe.

When you let yourself say no to the superfluous and when you give yourself some special attention and care, you really amp up your ability both to handle any challenges that may crop up and to fully enjoy all the fun of the holidays.

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Cass Mullane’s calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s the author of Cool Stuff Jar which is slated for publication in Spring 2014. You can also visit Cass on Facebook. Cass is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.”