Massey’s top 10 Christmas tips

Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Massey’s top 10 Christmas tips

From sleep deprivation to over eating, fighting over the last slice of Christmas ham to making sure you can pay the bills, Massey University’s experts have you covered on how to survive this Christmas and New Year period.

1. ALCOHOL
Be mindful of your online alcohol consumption
Professor Antonia Lyons – School of Psychology, Wellington
Professor Antonia Lyons says social media users should be aware that each year they are potentially giving alcohol companies their own Christmas gift via their online presence.

Professor Lyons, whose research specialises in the links between social media usage and youth drinking culture, says not only is marketing alcohol big business in the festive season but companies make millions of dollars of profit by targeting young adults on social media sites.

“Recent years have seen exponential growth in alcohol brands advertising on digital platforms and engaging in intense marketing via social media. By ‘liking’ an alcohol brand on Facebook for instance, you give the company access to all your info, which they use to micro-target marketing to you and your friends.”

She says alcohol marketers know when you’re out drinking through geo-location technology and mobile data collecting, and send personalised messages to your smartphone while you’re on a night out. In addition clubs, pubs, music and sports events are often ‘branded spaces’ where photographers create promotional images to circulate online she says.

Hot Tip: Think before you click. “Be aware you are doing more than just sharing festive memories online. Consumers tagging and sharing images of events sponsored by alcohol brands are a marketers’ dream. You are doing the companies’ work for them when you tag and share branded photos.”

2. HOLIDAY EMERGENCY PLANS
Be prepared!
Nancy Brown
PhD candidate in emergency management from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research - Wellington
PhD student Nancy Brown says emergencies and natural disasters can happen while you’re on holiday, so the same rule applies as when you’re at home – be prepared!

“Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back. Agree on a ‘check in’ method, and it is good practice to take a moment everywhere you go to familiarise yourself with exit routes, tsunami evacuation paths, and the local hazardscape. Remember, you are in a different place, which could pose a different risk. If an earthquake strikes it is your first tsunami warning - if it is strong, get to high ground and await further information.”

Ms Brown says it is a good idea, whether you are travelling in New Zealand or abroad, to download the local area’s emergency notification App, for example GeoNet from GNS Science here in New Zealand.

“Take a look at what has been happening in that area, and stay aware - knowledge is indeed power.
It may not be practical to bring a few days’ rations of emergency supplies, but try to plan to never run out of water and food, replenish water daily before you go out, and always have a few snacks, like energy bars available.

Hot Tip: Disasters happen, even when you are on holiday - always bring:
• A copy of critical prescriptions and a bit extra medication in case your travel is delayed
• Don’t forget your emergency contacts list, electronic and a hard copy
• Make a copy of your identification, electronic and hardcopy
• Always have some cash in local currency on you at all times
• Even a small personal first aid kit can come in handy
These things are small, fit them all in a Ziploc bag and carry them with you, they can really save the day if needed.

3. PETS
Watch what your pet eats
Associate Professor Nick Cave
Companion Animal Veterinarian – Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences – Manawatū
The holiday season can be an eventful one for pets, especially with all that extra food lying around, but Associate Professor Nick Cave says pets can have sensitive stomachs, especially to foods that they don’t normally consume.

“A morsel of Christmas ham won’t do any harm but don’t overindulge pets with all the leftovers and resist the urge to give any bones to your pet. We’ve all heard that theobromine in chocolate is bad for dogs, so make sure you keep those safe, especially in presents. Now if your Great Dane eats an Oreo cookie, don’t panic, but chocolate, or the theobromine it contains, can be toxic to pets. Even in small quantities, it can be lethal. Nuts, raisins, Christmas lilies and even onions off the BBQ can also cause poisoning.”

Hot tip: Pets need down time just like humans, so provide quiet places where they can retreat away from your visitors and relatives - you may even want to join them!

4. BUDGETING
Be more savvy with your money
Dr Pushpa Wood, Director of the Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre (Financial Education and Research Centre) – Wellington
So, despite your good intentions, you have ended up – yet again – a last minute shopper. Here are Dr Wood’s top four tips for financially surviving the festive season:
• Have a family discussion about the total money available for Christmas celebrations and invite ideas from all family members on how best to stay within the budget.
• For Christmas lunch get everyone to bring a plate to share the cost of putting on a big feast, not to mention sharing the workload and increasing the variety of food at the table.
• Consider giving gift vouchers that can be redeemed during the Boxing Day sales. This way your money will go a lot further. Vouchers can be personalised with a card stating what the money is for.
• If, for some reason, you need to use your credit card to buy presents (a last resort option!), then prepare a ‘repayment’ plan before you charge anything to it to make sure that the $100 gift does not end up costing you lot more than that.

Hot Tip: If you were thinking ahead for this year’s Christmas, you would have set up a Christmas fund in January this year and saved enough to purchase all the gifts on your carefully thought out list. If that’s not you, make it your resolution for 2017.

5. SLEEP
Balm for the weary mind
Dr Bronwyn Sweeney
Research Officer and Professional Clinician – Sleep/Wake Research Centre – Wellington
The holidays often bring added stress of visits, entertaining, and travelling. Dr Sweeney says getting good sleep can protect emotional health and help us manage emotional reactions. “When we don’t get enough sleep our brains pay more attention to negative things and are less likely to notice the positive things around us. Our brains become bad judges of other people’s emotions as well so we can sometimes incorrectly judge what is going on.”

Hot Tip: Recognise sleep as an important part of your health routine and prioritise sleep where you can. Remember that your emotional reactions are not just based on external things like whose house you have to visit, but also your brain’s ability to correctly judge the situation. Good sleep makes you a better judge.

6. CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Keeping those family get-togethers festive
Ms Virginia Goldblatt
Director of the Massey University Mediation Service – Manawatū

Those involved in conflict resolution will agree that prevention is better than cure when it comes to avoiding discord over the festive season. So, even if you can’t hide the gin bottle from the quarrelsome aunt, at least ensure you don’t also sit her next to a querulous uncle at the dinner table.

“It is always a good idea to steer clear of contentious topics of conversation that get people overly fired up, but that’s even truer this year. Be warned – no one in my house should mention Donald Trump or the day will be ruined! CNN has gone even further, suggesting families engage a moderator for the Christmas table – someone used to running a panel where people shout at each other and no one listens.”

Hot Tip: If you can’t quite stretch to a professional moderator or mediator, then make sure you have a steady supply of sober and sensible guests willing to pour oil on any troubled waters. And, if the occasion requires it, delay, defer and distract until the moment has passed and the subject can be changed.

7. NUTRITION
Savour your food
Dr Carol Wham
Senior Lecturer – School of Food and Nutrition - Auckland

Dr Wham says it’s important to eat mindfully this Christmas. “Mindfulness has become popular for a good reason. It describes an awareness that emerges through purposely paying attention in the present moment; non-judgmentally. Research indicates automatic eating is common for several reasons; because it’s a coffee break or simply seeing food or having it within arm’s length. Mindful awareness brings the eater’s focus back to what and where one is eating. To help with weight regulation, consider strategies that reduce portion sizes; eating from a smaller plate and ordering smaller choices at restaurants.”

Hot tip: Make sure you’re sitting at the table before you eat.

8. EDUCATION
Reading makes you smarter
Professor Tom Nicholson
Professor of Literacy Education – Auckland

School is out and weeks of holidays stretch ahead. So what should you do about your child’s reading?
Professor Tom Nicholson says reading over summer has a lot of positive flow-on effects. “It improves your general knowledge, vocabulary, and reading fluency. When school stops, learning seems to stop as well. We stop reading and the skills we have built up during the year start to fall away. This reading slump over the summer can result in learners slipping back from three to six months in their reading age. Some researchers have calculated that if you multiply the summer slide – say, three months across 12 years of school – it adds up to three years of reading slide.”

Encouraging your child to keep reading – whether paper or e-books - over the long summer break will also them avoid suffering the effects of “summer slide,” Professor Nicholson says.

Hot Tip: Some tips for reading aloud to younger children during summer are:
• The first line of the story should sound really exciting
• Change your voice according to the characters and the action
• Pause at the end of sentences
• Read the last line slowly and with feeling

9. NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS
Keeping your New Year’s resolutions
Dr Shane Harvey
Director of the Massey University Psychology Clinic – Manawatū

Research suggests the majority of people don’t keep their pledged goals and resolutions. Dr Shane Harvey says in one study about those who set resolutions, 52 per cent said they believed they would accomplish their goals, however, only 12 per cent actually achieved them.

“As time goes on, the number of people keeping to their resolutions tends to decline. The ability to stick to goals becomes harder. It’s not like there’s a guy with a bazooka or a handle of beer waiting outside. It’s more like a chipping away at our resolve.”

Dr Harvey says despite the relatively low chances of keeping New Year’s resolutions, it is worth a shot. “People who explicitly set goals are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t.”

Hot Tip: Success in reaching a goal is influenced by a number of things, but being reminded of your goals can help. Highly successful people may review their goals several times a day.

10. PHOTOGRAPHY
Tips for taking great summer snaps
Shaun Waugh
Photography senior tutor at Whiti o Rehua School of Art – Wellington

Smart phones have revolutionised the way we take photos, and you don’t have to be a pro to get an amazing shot. Photography senior tutor Shaun Waugh has some advice for budding photographers.

“First off, make sure your finger isn’t in front of the lens! And that your lens is clean. A handy trick is to tap on the screen to set the auto-focus and auto-exposure, and it helps if the sun is at your back. If the sun is behind your subject, and you don’t want it to look like a silhouette, tap on the screen to set the auto-exposure to the subject, not the background. If it’s still too dark, consider using the flash.”

Mr Waugh says it’s also helpful to think about composition and the rule of thirds. “Turning on the grid feature is good for this. Also, use your own body – go in close, or far away, and don’t just take snaps in front of you, go low or high to get different angles.”

Hot Tip: Make some prints!! These physical reminders are still nice on your fridge – not everything is for Facebook!

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