Managing Year-End: Avoiding Stress Traps at Work and Home

Featuring insights from Ashley Anderson, Founder and CEO of Ezra Sage. 

The end of the year has a way of sneaking up on us.

Between holiday schedules, year-end deadlines, school events, budget wrap-ups, performance reviews, and family logistics, Q4 can feel like one long stress sprint. And if you're a working parent, the load gets even heavier: childcare gaps, illnesses, travel, and expectations stack up quickly. But here’s the thing most of us don’t realize: it’s not stress itself that leads to burnout, but our response to it.

That’s what executive coach and workplace well-being expert Ashley Anderson, Founder and CEO of Ezra Sage, shared in our recent Masterclass, Your Brain on Year End: Avoiding Stress Traps That Sabotage Performance.

Let’s dig into the takeaways.

Why Q4 feels so hard (and it's not just you)

According to the American Psychological Association, 38% of people report increased stress this time of year, and a Journal of Occupational Health Psychology study confirms Q4 is one of the most stressful periods for workers due to the collision of:

• Heightened workplace demands
• Heightened personal obligations
• Less available time (thanks to PTO, school breaks, and illness season)

And when stress compounds, our brain shifts into survival mode. That means:

1. Long-term goals get replaced by “firefighting.” Your brain prioritizes immediate threats over strategic thinking.
2. Creativity and big-picture thinking shrink. Stress narrows focus and limits perspective.
3. You default to familiar patterns (whether or not they help). Autopilot takes over.

And remember: none of these are character flaws. They’re simply your brain doing what it’s designed to do.

The real enemy: losing the space between trigger and response

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” - Viktor Frankl 

This quote reminds us that it’s not the actual stress that’s the problem, but it’s losing our ability to choose what the best response is.

So how do we reclaim that space, especially during the busiest season of the year?

Ashley offers three powerful levers anyone can use ⤵️

The three levers to reduce year-end stress

Purpose Over Perfection

When overwhelmed, our brain defaults to: “Get everything done.” Perfectly. Immediately.

But perfection fuels panic. Anchoring to purpose helps override that response. Take 10 minutes and ask:

• How do I want this season to feel (at work and at home)?
• What truly matters to me right now?
• How do I want the people around me to feel?
• What do I want to experience?

Use these answers to help decide your priorities. 

Expectations vs. Reality

External demands rise while internal expectations skyrocket. We pile on the “shoulds”:

Then choose one expectation to release. You’ll feel the difference immediately.

Breaking the Comparison + Shame Spiral

Our brain constantly scans: How am I doing compared to everyone else? During the holidays, comparison is everywhere—on social media, at school events, at work, even in your own neighborhood.

To break the cycle:

• Name it: “This is comparison.”
• Reality-check it: What do I actually know?
• Redirect with self-compassion: What would I tell a friend?
  
  

This shift doesn’t just lower stress…it builds emotional resilience.

The path forward: choose one lever 

Stress will always exist. End-of-year demands won’t disappear. But you can change how you relate to the pressure. Ashley encourages everyone to pick just one lever to focus on for the next six weeks. Not a full life overhaul. Just one.

Because sustainable change doesn’t come from doing everything. It comes from doing the next right thing—with intention.

Looking for more ways to support yourself and your team? 

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Let’s close out the year with clarity, compassion, and less overwhelm—together.