Juggling Jingle Bells: Tips to Manage Holiday Stress for Insurance Producers

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How insurance producers can manage holiday stress

The holidays are here again, when jingle bells bring both joy and challenges as we juggle the constraints of time, money and energy. Here are a few tips to help you manage the extra work at your insurance agency, plus add extra time for yourself into the mix.

KEEP YOUR HOLIDAY SPIRIT ALIVE
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number of Christmas/New Year’s holiday long-distance trips (to and from a destination 50 miles or more away) increases by 23%. That means your insurance agency will see (or perhaps has already seen) an uptick in client phone calls, telling you that there’s been an accident. They slid on an icy patch (or hit a deer or rear-ended another car), and their holiday plans are shot – along with their holiday spirit.

Then there’s the client call to say that when putting up decorations on the roof, they discovered a soft patch – firsthand – by putting a foot through. Or they overloaded their circuit breaker with too many holiday lights, causing a fire in the garage. Then there’s the kitchen fire when the turkey exploded in the turkey fryer. The list is never-ending, as you know.

As you connect your clients with an appraiser, your cool head and calm spirit can help them get through the unexpected event and back to enjoying their holiday as quickly as possible.

PRIORITIZE AND JETTISON
It’s Christmas Eve – and no doubt reality has set in: you just don’t have the time to create the ideal holiday setting or meal that you saw on Pinterest or in your favorite magazine. Now’s the time to focus on yourself and those activities and people that matter most to you, and jettison the rest. You can always aim for perfection next year.

Related: Insurance agency email tips during the holidays

STAY ACCOUNTABLE
When other events pop up that you’d like to attend, don’t just shoe-horn them in. Always go back and prioritize; remember, think streamlined. It’s better to miss an event than to run your family ragged and end up with overly tired kiddos. Figure out if you need a weekend off to recuperate or an extra day to prepare for your New Year’s bash, and then give it to yourself. Make this holiday season what you want it to be.

STRESS BUSTERS
Even in the best cases, when you have planned and prepared, unexpected stresses can arise. As well, for many people who have lost loved ones recently or are dealing with other traumatic experiences, the holidays can be a very emotional and stressful time. So how do you deal with that stress?

  • Start small – Find something that is easy and manageable to squeeze in to your hectic schedule, even if it’s 15 minutes to stop and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and a Christmas tunes in front of the fire.
  • Go easy – It’s more important to have fun together than to follow a set schedule. Forego the elaborate table settings and side dishes and make memories instead. Enlist the help of others – even the kids – and enjoy the imperfect results.
  • Live in the moment – It’s easy to get caught up on the things that didn’t go right and let disappointment set in. So hold on to the happy moments as long as you can.

Enjoy your streamlined, fun-filled, memory-making holidays!

Related: Your quick guide to sending business holiday cards

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