How does Christmas time usually make you feel? Happy, light, and merry? Or stressed, overburdened, and tired? Unfortunately for many people, it’s the latter. But Christmas doesn’t have to stress you out this year! All you need to do is learn some tips on how to have a low-stress Christmas!
1. Do Less
For many people, Christmas is stressful because they try to do way too much. They want to go to every party, see every Christmas movie, bake every dessert, and volunteer at every event. While it’s not realistic to do nothing this December, try to reduce just how much you do. Say no to some parties, reduce your movie watching and baking wish lists, and prioritize your volunteering time. You’ll still get to do a lot, but you won’t be half as stressed!
2. Split Christmas Work
Is it usually your job to essentially run Christmas in your home? Why not split the work up among your family members? Maybe one of your older kids can bake some desserts, and your husband can work on hanging the lights outside. By getting everyone involved, you’ll make Christmas much less stressful!
3. Have a Plan B
Do last minute changes stress you out? Then if you want to have a low-stress Christmas, you should have a plan B ready for any major activities or events. Have backup restaurant ideas, backup movie ideas, even backup gift ideas. This way if something goes in a direction you didn’t expect, you already have a good backup plan figured out.
4. Pack Early, and Double Check
If you’re traveling this Christmas, an easy way to reduce your stress is to have your family pack their bags early. That means at least the night before leaving, if not earlier. Once packed, double check that everyone has everything they could possibly need, especially anything personal that couldn’t be purchased at your destination. You may want to look for a free printable travel packing checklist to help you.
5. Shop Online
One aspect of Christmas that easily gets stressful is shopping. If you don’t like crowds, then the mall at Christmas may be your worse nightmare! And stores running out of stock can make you frustrated. So to have a low-stress Christmas this year, shop online. Prices are usually the same as in-store (if not better), and many places offer free shipping specials around the holidays. And since you can shop from the comfort of your home, you can shop quickly, and peacefully!
6. Start Early
The earlier you can start on your yearly Christmas work, the better. That means shopping early, filling out cards early, making reservations early, buying tickets early, etc. Doing things early might also allow you to take advantage of special early-bird prices, or to use coupons that would have expired before the height of the Christmas season!
7. Have a Simple Christmas Dinner
Christmas dinner is another aspect of Christmas that many people find stressful. To make it less stressing, keep your Christmas Dinner menu short and simple. Christmas dinner is not the time to make some super-fancy recipe you’ve never tried before. It’s also not the time to try to single-handedly cook a huge banquet. Instead, try to stick to your main protein, a few sides, and a dessert or two. To make things even easier on yourself, why not ask that your guests bring their own dessert dishes to contribute?
If you try these tips, you’ll have a low-stress Christmas and truly be able to enjoy the season!
Do you usually have a stressful Christmas?
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