When you were younger, do you remember all the presents, travel, and stress during the holidays? Or do you remember the excitement of Christmas Eve, the smell of breakfast on Christmas morning, the light in your parent’s eyes as they gathered the cameras, and your mom’s voice telling you when you could come out of your room on Christmas morning?
I lovingly remember the memories, the magic, and the quality time we spent together as a family.
But as you grow up, things start to change—especially when you start a family of your own. For some reason, the little things that once made us happy over Christmas and New Year are overtaken by stress, endless to-dos, and unrealistic expectations.
In this blog, I share my top tips on how you can simplify to choose happiness and fun with your family and friends, over stress during the holiday season.
The Best Tips To Simplify Your Holiday Season To Choose Happiness, Fun, And Less Stress
1. Start Early
I don’t necessarily think that this is the most important tip, but it is the first thing you should do in preparation to maximize your time and reduce holiday stress. Now I am not implying to decorate for Christmas before Halloween. But if you space out your shopping, planning, and prep in smaller doses throughout the holiday season, you’ll be significantly calmer come holiday eve.
Don’t try to do it all at once, and don’t wait until the last minute or wrap presents on Christmas Eve. Start making your gift list ideas and begin writing down what plans and must-dos will be on your agenda.
It’s much easier to enjoy being in the moment when we free our minds to simply be present, which can be accomplished by preparation.
Here are some things that you can consider during your holiday preparations:
- Goals
- Gratitude list
- Budget
- Gift list
- Shopping lists
- Food menu
- Grocery lists and more…..
Download your FREE personal holiday planner to keep everything in one place during the season.
This planner is designed to help you be proactive in not only the prep, but also in identifying your goals and priorities to bring back joy, happiness, and gratitude in the holiday season. It is your guide to keep it simple and avoid the chaos to enjoy your holidays again!
2. Write It Down
Start making your gift ideas, jot down anything special you want to do this season and begin writing down what plans and must-dos will be on your agenda. Writing things down as they come to you is a lot less stressful than trying to do things last minute! Writing things down relieves your mind from trying to remember tasks that aren’t happening today or even this week. It helps you clarify what you want. And enables you to visualize your results!
3. Don’t Break The Bank And Budget
In general, finances are often a major stress for many families. Whether it’s from feeling like you have to buy it all to make people happy or acting like you aren’t on a budget to bury the fact that you are living paycheck to paycheck. But here’s the thing—the holiday season does not have to put you into debt!
Try saving throughout the year for Christmas and the holiday season. Set small amounts aside every pay period, month, or quarter—based on what works best for your situation.
If you can, try to focus on making memories rather than giving material things. Try not to be drawn into the material focus of the holidays!
Budgeting is also a huge part of reducing stress over the holidays because you know what you can and can’t afford.
4. Build Simple Family Holiday Traditions
It’s so fun building simple family holiday traditions around what matters to you and your family. And these don’t have to be based on things or finances. The best parts of the holidays that I always remember are people, emotions, feelings, and experiences!
Remember the reason for the season and why we celebrate the holidays in the first place! It is so easy to get lost in all the planning and to-dos, gifts to buy, and food to make…. But really it’s most important to spend time with those you love.
5. Remember To Say No And Set Boundaries
Remember to say no and set boundaries. If you continually say yes over the holidays, to friends, family, and your kids—you’re going to get burnt out.
Check out my article here for tips on how to recover from parental burnout.
6. Look After Yourself First
It’s easy to get wrapped up in looking after everyone else during the holidays. You might find yourself checking that your friends, family, and children are having a good time—but what about you?!
Take the time to nourish yourself over the holidays. Whether that’s getting up an hour earlier to get things done in peace and quiet while the kids are still sleeping, sneaking in a workout while dinner is cooking because that’s your stress relief, buying an audiobook for your commute to grow your mind with positivity, or writing gratitude every night to keep your mind clear on what’s important…
If you’d like more tips on mental wellness for moms, then be sure to check out my blog post here!
7. Focus On Gratitude
It’s easy to start comparing over the holidays, but it’s not worth it! You are so blessed. Way too blessed for holiday stress!
Focus on the things that you have to be grateful for, instead of the things that you don’t have.
I love journaling about what I’m grateful for, it’s a good reminder for when my mind starts to wander!
A clinical journal on gratitude and well-being notes that there seems to be an association between gratitude and overall well-being.¹
Conclusion
What’s your best way to destress over the holiday season? How do you keep calm and grounded? Let me know in the comments!
*Affiliate Disclaimer: I only ever endorse products or programs that I have personally used and benefited from. This post may contain affiliate links which means I’d receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using my links. If you do make a purchase – thank you for helping to support my family through my blog!
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