Sidelining Stress During a Winter PCS Move

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CORT. All opinions are 100% mine.

When it comes to living the military life, if the government says jump, you jump. In the case of many military families jump means relocation, or PCS (permanent change of station, for any non-military readers out there).

Sometimes a PCS move can happen at the least opportune moment, such as during holidays, around important family events, or less desirable weather, such as the middle of winter.

During any of these inopportune moments when a PCS move takes place, there are some ways to reduce the stress of the situation to help you keep your cool and reduce the stress of balancing other events in addition to the details of your PCS move.

Sidelining Stress During a Winter PCS Move

Here are four tips to keep in mind to help you manage a PCS move around the holidays, specifically in the winter. However, these tips will be beneficial any time of the year.

Maintain Balance

Make sure you aren’t giving all of your energy to the PCS move. If the holidays are close, give some of your time to enjoying the season, the celebrations, and the people in your life. Keeping a balance in your life of what’s going on around you and important in your life in addition to the PCS move can help you prevent burnout.

Take Breaks

Listen to your body. If you’re getting frustrated, overwhelmed, fatigued, or have a foggy head, your body is signalling that you need a break. If you’re worried you have too much to do keep in mind that giving yourself a time out to do something relaxing will often increase your productivity.

Take time to read a book, watch TV, take a nap, play a game with the kids, or work on a hobby you enjoy.

Minimize Life

Minimalism is an idea that’s gaining momentum, and it’s something that some cultures have embraced for years. The idea isn’t to eliminate everything non-essential in your life, though some people take it to that extreme. Instead, taking an inventory of your life and belongings and keeping only those things that you absolutely love and need.

During the holiday season this may mean looking at your holiday traditions and deciding which ones are causing you the most stress and which ones bring you the most joy. Do you need to spend extra money on several gifts, or can you cut down on how much you’re buying this year? Does baking trays of holiday cookies stress you out? If so, why take part in this tradition if you’d be happier doing something else.

Minimalism will help you find more time in your life as well as have fewer items in your household to worry about moving. You don’t have to practice extreme minimalism to reap the benefits of a minimalistic lifestyle, and this is something you can start in on prior to receiving new orders.

Be Prepared

My husband was a boy scout before he was a soldier. The motto, Be Prepared, has been a part of our household since the very beginning. If you know that part of your military experience will include PCS, then do what you can from the time you move in to help prepare for the next move.

Keep a record of your belongings, frequently declutter, and keep up on the latest military information and resources. Knowing what to expect is a great way to help you prepare for the unexpected.

CORT has some fantastic tips to help you with a PCS move such as the Spouse’s Guide to Surviving Military Relocation and Top 7 Tips for a Winter PCS Move.

Do you have any tips to help a family make the most of their PCS move?