The holiday season is so stressful for me. It is tough for me to calm down and relax amid the massive number of family activities, volunteer projects, work schedule, Christmas gift (affiliate) shopping, and planning and hosting parties. I don't think I am alone in this. Today, I am going to share my favorite tips on making my holiday season less stressful and more relaxing. Feel free to read more and make this holiday season less stressful.
Jump to:
- Take Care of Yourself First
- Ways to Make Your Bedroom An Oasis
- Making A Bedroom Oasis Challenge
- Create Lists to Keep You Focused.
- How to Organize Your Family Holiday Traditions
- Take Time and Be Around Close Family
- Be Realistic with yourself and your family.
- Plan a Budget for Holiday Gifts.
- My Story, can you relate?
- How to Create a Holiday Season Planner to Save Money and Time
- 20 Perfect Home Organization Gifts Under $25 That Will Make Any Neat Freak's Heart Sing
- Sign Up for Your Favorite Stores' eNews.
- Make Easy Healthy Meals During This Time
- Request Donations Instead of Gifts.
- Offer Clear Communication to All Family Members When Hosting a Party.
- It is OK to Say No.
- Why You Should Say No and No Statement Examples to Save You Time
- It's OK if Plans Are Cancelled.
I found these tips to help me stay more relaxed during the holidays. They are tasks that I enjoy doing throughout the year, especially when I am busy serving others. I have included below the time you would save if you enact a particular tip, where applicable.
Take Care of Yourself First
Time Saved by using this tip: 2 hours per week
Do exercise. Walking, running, or practicing yoga are excellent ways to release stress. If you are creative, even doing craft projects will help you relax.
Treat yourself to a massage, facial, manicure, or pedicure; even a bath can help you relax - one of my favorite ways to treat myself.
Clear the clutter from a room and transform it into a serene space for relaxation. Remove all electronics except for a speaker to stream relaxing music. Only put your favorite things in the room. Visit my post for more ideas on organizing your bedroom (affiliate) into a restful oasis.
Ways to Make Your Bedroom An Oasis
Aw, the bedroom is a place where we can relax and unwind, right? I love a bedroom that has no clutter and that looks like a relaxing space, so I can escape from my day to where I can relax and do whatever I want.
Making A Bedroom Oasis Challenge
This month's organizing challenge is to make a special bedroom oasis you will treasure each night and walk refreshed in the morning. To accomplish this, we need to break down the task into several distinct activities. Not all tasks need to be done in the same week.
We tend to lose a lot of sleep during this busy time. So, making sleep a priority is key (affiliate) to helping control stress. Sleep will help keep you healthy and boost your immune system. No one wants to be sick around the holidays. It messes up everything.
Visit our other posts for tips on how to take care of yourself (affiliate).
Create Lists to Keep You Focused.
Time Saved by using this tip: 2-3 hours per week
List-making has genuinely helped me control the stress. Create lists for each event to keep track of all tasks. I do this, especially when I'm unable to sleep. Keeping a notepad and pen on the nightstand (affiliate) lets me jot things down quickly.
How to Organize Your Family Holiday Traditions
Starting to plan your holiday traditions? It seems early, but if you do holiday traditions around Thanksgiving, it isn't. So, let's plan, shall we?
Visit our collection of Free Checklists and Printables for more help.
Take Time and Be Around Close Family
Gather and watch a favorite comedy show or holiday season movie. Order a pizza and enjoy each other's company. A game night is another option during this time of year. Laughing is an excellent way to release stress. Choose a day that is typically available for everyone, such as a Friday night or Sunday evening.
Be Realistic with yourself and your family.
Time Saved by using this tip: 1 hour per week
Admit you can't do it all and pick the things you value the most, doing them over the other things you may 'want' to do.
You can even picture the Christmas that you want. Be realistic when deciding what to include and what you are okay with not having this year. Write down the goal of your ideal holiday to keep it at the forefront of your mind when situations and events come up.
Plan a Budget for Holiday Gifts.
Time Saved by using this tip: 3 hours per week
Plan a budget for each recipient. You can use my free Christmas gift sheet to help you jot down the cost of it all, or you can make your own. This checklist (affiliate) consists of a section for those who use reward points to purchase gifts. Dividing it up by event and when they occur creates an order of importance, helping to determine which gifts you need to buy first. And don't forget the birthdays in December. Surprise! This gift (affiliate) Christmas list is in my FREE ebook for the Holiday Season - you can also visit the post below.
My Story, can you relate?
I want to tell you my story (affiliate) about when I was knee-deep in activities from two days before Thanksgiving through to the new year.
I started by hosting Thanksgiving, where my husband and I would prepare all the food and smoke a turkey or two. We even made the gravy broth, and back then I would also make side dishes right before dinner. I didn't learn that make-ahead or slow-cooker dishes are the best for Thanksgiving. I eventually discovered that, too. However, when my kids were in orchestra, choir, dance classes, and guitar lessons, and were involved in clubs, we had to bring something festive, such as food or gifts, to every party.
Oh, did I forget to mention that I had a Christmas Eve family gathering, a Christmas Day gathering at my mother-in-law's house, and then a New Year's Eve party with friends? Yes, all of these activities have been happening for over 10 years. Just thinking back, I know why I was exhausted by January 2nd when the kids went back to school.
This is when this checklist (affiliate) was born. I knew when the parties were and was able to add them to this sheet to help me manage everything by due date.
Find the right spot for your gifts.
No one likes to find a gift (affiliate) that was supposed to be given to someone AFTER the holidays are over. Finding a great spot that will not be forgotten is key (affiliate) to avoiding overspending. Places like an unused closet or basement shelving (affiliate) in a tote work great, but must be used for every gift (affiliate). This will remind you and visually show you how much you have spent on things. You can even use an envelope to hold all the gift cards (affiliate) and place it in the tote so that you won't misplace them either. I've had many clients who found a lot of money in gift cards (affiliate) simply because they forgot where they had placed them.
Save money by finding coupons easily with browser extensions.
You can also add extensions to your browser, such as Honey, Rakuten, or Capital One Shopping, which will automatically find coupons and compare prices to save you even more money.
Buy online and pick up in store.
To save you time and frustration when shopping, try buying online and picking up in-store. This option saves you time and money on shipping while also avoiding in-store mayhem and browsing. You can easily save 1 - 2 hours by doing it this way.
You can also ask teenagers what they want from a list of 3-5 things. Informing them that they may get two or three of them will surprise them, and you will not have to go into debt.
How to Create a Holiday Season Planner to Save Money and Time
Planning is necessary so we can fit in everything and enjoy the holiday season. From November through the middle of January, we typically participate in or host several events, both at home and outside.
Want to give the gift of organization? Visit these gift ideas below.
20 Perfect Home Organization Gifts Under $25 That Will Make Any Neat Freak's Heart Sing
The holiday season is upon us, and if you're anything like me, you've got that one friend (or maybe several!) who gets genuinely excited about label makers and storage bins.
Sign Up for Your Favorite Stores' eNews.
Time Saved by using this tip: 1 hour per week
They will automatically send you any deals that are happening. These email lists offer the option to receive emails daily or weekly. If it is too much, you can always unsubscribe. It will also save you money and time to check what they are running specials on, rather than heading to the store to see for yourself.
Avoid impulse buying when you have too many email newsletters. Be sure to check your gift (affiliate) list to avoid over-ordering or overspending.
Visit my post about Black Friday Time Saving Tips to help you get what you need and not overspend.
Make Easy Healthy Meals During This Time
Time Saved by using this tip: 1 hour per week
You don't need to do anything special during this time of year, when you will most likely be hosting and attending events and parties. Keeping your weeknight meals easy but healthy will go a long way in keeping your holiday season stress-free. Browse our recipes on the Recipe Index page for a variety of easy and healthy weeknight meals for you and your family. Below are just some of my side dishes.
Request Donations Instead of Gifts.
Time Saved by using this tip: 1 hour per week
If you struggle with clutter in your home, consider requesting donations to be made in your name to a cause you are passionate about, rather than receiving random items. When a loved one asks you what you want for Christmas, mention why you would prefer a donation. You can even provide them with the website, so they don't need to search for it online.
Offer Clear Communication to All Family Members When Hosting a Party.
Time Saved by using this tip: 2 hours per week
Keep the communication clear with all the family members. You can't change a person, but you can reassess if you want them to attend your party. Remember that as a host, you have the right to set boundaries.
It is OK to Say No.
Time Saved by using this tip: 2-3 hours per week
If you don't feel up for doing a particular family activity, it's okay to say no, thank you. Not all events require attendance by everyone. Be true to yourself. Visit my post, which discusses ways to say no.
Why You Should Say No and No Statement Examples to Save You Time
Many people have time management issues. You may need to say no to some requests to make time in your daily schedule. This post discusses the benefits of saying no and provides examples on how to decline effectively, thereby freeing up your time and energy for other essential tasks.
It's OK if Plans Are Cancelled.
Time Saved by using this tip: 2-3 hours per week
Sometimes family and friend events are canceled. Dealing with sadness and being honest with yourself is essential. Disappointment is a real thing, and it is OK to feel this way. Read more about it here from Harvard Business Review.
By doing all these tips, you will be well on your way to a memorable, stress-free holiday season. I hope your holiday season isn't too stressful. If so, I hope you can utilize some of these tasks to help manage your stress.
LOOKING FOR MORE TIPS TO MAKE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON RUN SMOOTHLY? VISIT THESE POSTS I FOUND ONLINE.
24 days and ways to a more relaxed Christmas by Today's Parent
10 Steps to a Less Stressful Holiday by Parents
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (affiliate), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
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Lucy Kelly says
Requesting donations instead of gifts is such a brave and effective way to buck the Christmas/Holiday system a little bit and help reduce incoming clutter. When you ask, as you suggest, you free the giver to give you what you want. So many wins all around!
Janet Schiesl says
Self-care always goes out the window first and then the holiday gets stressful and we don't really enjoy any of it. I try to do less between Thanksgiving and the new year. I purposely make doctor's appointments and take the whole day off for the appointment. It's a little self-care, but I still accomplish something.
Julie Bestry says
These are all stellar tips, but what I most love is that amid the actionable, practical ones, you included setting boundaries (for guest behavior and for yourself, giving people permission to say "no" when necessary).
I have to say, every year when I read posts like this, I feel more and more relieved that I only do Thanksgiving and New Year's (because Hanukkah is celebrated mostly through cooking, at which I'm at utter failure, and with tiny humans, of which I have none), because everyone always seems so worn out by the most wonderful time of the year!
Jonda Beattie says
Lists help me feel in control and therefore more relaxed. Love this post! A big thing for me is the "It's OK if plans are cancelled". Since I love to plan and know what is happening and when this one is a hard one for me but I have gotten much better at it. I even have on my vision board "Plan to go off the plan!"
Hilda Rodgers says
I live from lists during Christmas! It's the only way I can feel relaxed because I'm not worried about forgetting something. Great tips for relaxing during the holidays. Thanks!
Linda Samuels says
This is a beautiful list. I've used all of these as ways to take care of myself during stressful times...and even non-stressful times. It's a funny thing about the lists. I think for some it makes them feel more stressed because the tasks seem insurmountable. For me, it helps to get the ideas out of my head and organized into actionable items. But the best part is that rush of dopamine I get when I cross things off. I'm also looking forward to using a spa gift certificate that I received for my birthday. I've been saving it for this month when I knew I'd especially appreciate using it.
Stacey Murray says
Lists help me relax, too! If it's out of my head and on paper, I feel less anxious about remembering a holiday-related task. Crossing off the task is a good feeling, too. Not as good as the suggestions in #5, but still good!
Janet Barclay says
I've done most of these and agree that they are relaxing. With crafts, it can go either way. When a knitting project goes badly, it is the exact opposite of relaxing!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Good point, Janet. Some hobbies/crafts can give you more stress than you want this time of year. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Seana Turner says
Paying attention to yourself is so important at this time of year. After all, it is meant to be a time of joy and gratitude. I love your idea of watching something that makes you laugh. We can be so tense that we forget to laugh, and laughter really is restorative!
Sabrina Quairoli says
I totally agree, Seana, thanks for stopping by and commenting.