{"id":108689,"date":"2015-12-21T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T04:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/108689\/women-should-exercise-their-right-to-relax-this-festive-season\/"},"modified":"2015-12-21T08:24:13","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T06:24:13","slug":"women-should-exercise-their-right-to-relax-this-festive-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2015\/12\/21\/women-should-exercise-their-right-to-relax-this-festive-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Women should exercise their right to relax this festive season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody understands the frenzied stress that comes with the festive season more than working moms.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the progress women in South Africa have made in the workplace, they still carry the bulk of domestic duties which burgeon over the holidays to include buying thoughtful presents, managing children, entertaining guests, organising seasonal rituals and arranging holiday travel and family outings.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>All of this is while juggling the usual nine-to-five and year-end deadlines.<\/p>\n<p>During a period of seemingly endless \u201cto do\u201d lists, Madelein Ozok, group general manager: marketing at Sun International, urges women to take a step back and give themselves some time to relax.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe festive season can be a particularly trying time for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOutwardly, it may appear that we are all exposed to the same stressful factors, from overeating, overspending and drinking too much, to arranging holidays, staying up too late, and entertaining the kids while schools are closed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the working mom, it is a particularly stressful phase, especially if they aren\u2019t taking leave from work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany women find it hard to take a step back and allow themselves some down time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut, it is something that should be prioritised,\u201d said Ozok, a mother of three children.<\/p>\n<p>Responsible for formulating and implementing group marketing strategies for Sun International\u2019s casino properties across South Africa, Chile, Panama and Columbia, and reporting directly to the chief operations officer, Ozok knows all too well the challenges that come with balancing family and career.<\/p>\n<p>She offers these tips for keeping holiday stresses in check and enjoying the festive season:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make lists \u2013 write down what you need to do to avoid being caught off guard with something you should have done but haven\u2019t planned for. When you get to tick things off it is quite empowering.<\/li>\n<li>Delegate \u2013 you do it at work, you can do it at home. Assign tasks to other people in the family. It is \u201cokay\u201d to ask for help. Think of it as \u201cempowering\u201d them to take charge.<\/li>\n<li>Switch off when you aren\u2019t at work \u2013 cellphones, emails and social media can be invasive. If you commonly receive work related emails and calls after hours, switch off your devices when you are at home.<\/li>\n<li>Keep up your comforting routines \u2013 if you regularly go running or walking or attend yoga classes, keep it up during the holidays. These routines and activities can help you feel grounded during the holidays when things can feel a little of control.<\/li>\n<li>Learn to say no \u2013 whether it\u2019s to attend a party for a fourth night in a row or to host the in laws during their stay in town, you have the right to say no if you don\u2019t feel up to it.<\/li>\n<li>Stick to your budget \u2013 lower to middle income households typically experience increased financial stress over the festive season. Be realistic about what you can afford, prepare a budget and stick to it.<\/li>\n<li>Give yourself permission to relax \u2013 a study by the American Psychological Association found that only 27 per cent of women allow themselves to relax during the holidays compared to 41 per cent of men. It is your festive season too. Allow yourself time to relax. Take long leisurely baths, lie by the pool, don\u2019t answer that phone, read your book, let somebody else do the cooking or shopping.<\/li>\n<li>Get your sleep \u2013 late night parties and increased household or family responsibilities over the holidays might result in you getting less sleep than you need. Strive to get seven to eight hours of sleep most days of the week throughout the holidays. This is especially important if you are working right through.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t feel guilty \u2013 if you are on leave, revel in your time off. Don\u2019t feel guilty about taking time off work and don\u2019t worry about what could be waiting for you when you return.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='17ab40a6a2ee805421ace9478cfb909c'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take time for yourself during the holidays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":108690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[2384,969,9229,5632,2734,9228,6696],"class_list":["post-108689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-festive-season","tag-germiston-city-news","tag-germiston-women","tag-holidays","tag-melissa-hart","tag-relax","tag-sun-international"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["festive season","germiston city news","germiston women","holidays","melissa hart","relax","Sun International"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}