The holiday season is a time of celebration, reflection, and spending quality moments with loved ones. But too often, it can turn into a hectic race to meet expectations and a never-ending to-do list, leaving us drained and stressed. This year, let’s make a conscious effort to enjoy a stress-free Christmas and focus on what truly matters. JOY!
Here are my best tips for a stress free christmas time.
1. Start early and plan ahead
For me personally, this is by far the most important tip. Start planning early and make lists. I myself make lists for all sorts of things. This way, I get all the tasks out of my head and don’t forget anything that I would have to do last minute. Another good hack is to note down gift ideas throughout the year. Every time someone expresses a wish, I immediately write it down in a note on my phone. This makes gift shopping much easier and stress free. Another great idea is to buy and wrap gifts early, so you can not only save yourself from impulsive gifts and stress but also save a few bucks (Sales, Black Friday,..). Wrap your gifts early to have a great additional Christmas decorations under the tree.
2. Break down tasks and ask for help
Break your bigger tasks down into smaller parts. This way, they are more managable and you can shedule them in between. For example instead of “decorate for christmas” break it down to “decorate tree”, “decorate living room” or “decorate sideboard”. Also its easier to deligate them to other people living in your house such as your partner or family members. Or let’s say you are hosting a dinner party – just ask your friends if they can either bring a dish or help you serving the dessert.
3. Shedule breaks and free time
In between all the christmas parties and family gatherings, most of the people struggle to find any downtime at all. Thats why its so important to shedule free time for yourself. Block out times on your calendar and kind of make an appointment with yourself to get a bit of relaxation time or spend a day with your family watching christmas movies in your Pajamas.
4. Just ask people for their wishlist
Well, this is so simple yet genius. If you have no gift idea for a person – just ask them what they want. This is always an absolute win-win situation because you don’t have to stress about finding the perfect gift and the other one receives a gift they really like.
5. Romanticize Christmas and Enjoy
The last tip is simple yet effective. We all know that we can not have a complete stress free christmas time, but what we can do is trying to romanticize the last bit of christmas stress. When rushing through the mall trying to find all the christmas gifts, just give yourself a 10 minute break, order your favourite starbucks christmas drink (by the way mine is Chestnut Praline Latte) and enjoy all the christmas decorations. Or lets say you have to wrap presents or decorate the tree – just turn on your favourite christmas movie or listen to your christmas playlist and light a scented candle.