With 2018 about to wrap up, our lives — which have become busier due to technology and the unprecedented pace of change sweeping the world — appear to be even more crowded. Why? In fact, the month of December was called Shiwasu in the old Japanese calendar — literally meaning it is a period when even priests run around to attend memorial services and ceremonial occasions.

Though we are not priests, many of us have a list of things to do at the end of the year (and the beginning of the new year). Unlike in North America and some European countries, where the holiday season almost starts with Thanksgiving in late November and ends on New Year's Day, the new year holidays stretch on a bit longer in Japan — as many of us spend time with family from the last few days of the year through Jan. 3.

Activities usually scheduled for the year-end include gift-giving, year-end/Christmas parties with colleagues and friends, and writing New Year's greeting cards. Some engage in a big cleanup of their house so they can greet the new year in a clean and neat environment. I trust I am not the only one who feels under pressure to get as many of these things done as possible. So I want to suggest that we take stock of these activities and consciously decide which ones we should stop doing.