Christmas season is supposed to be filled with joy, merriment and thankfulness. But most often than not, we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed and stressed over fixing the budget, shopping etc. all in the name of celebrating the best time of the year.
But how to carve out the best time of Christmas before and after the celebration ends with family and get rid of the crippling stress? Scale things back a little and allow yourself to lower your stress level with some shuffling! Which means the same things with more thoughts, efforts and fun into it, so stress doesn’t take over our mind.
Here’s a list of tips to melt away this seasonal stress this festive time around.
1. Make a thoughtful Christmas budget early
A big portion of our holiday stress circulates around fixing the budget for shopping, decorating the house, preparing gifts, hosting parties and so on! This time around, take a step back and start setting your budget before the holiday season approaches. In this way, you’ll have more time to think about your probable Christmas expenses along with the usual expenses accounted for utility bills or house rents, for instance.
What are the plans that are optional for you? Maybe minimal house decoration, indoor parties with closed family members and friends, avoiding last-minute speed-shopping etc. will help you with impulse spending and post-holiday stress! Despite all the holiday hoopla, keep your budget plan realistic, thorough and organised so you can stick to it till the end.
2. Go for minimalistic Christmas decoration
You can slow down the constant flow of stress easily once you reconsider minimalistic yet thought-provoking options to go festive instead of bringing the full-on holiday wonderland right in your house every year. This year, consider keeping your Christmas decoration modern, neat and thematic. Repurpose and customise old decorative pieces by colouring, spray painting with kids and other family members so you can have a quality time in the process as well.
Instead of decorating every single room, make a centre point of your living and dining spaces where your family members and guests gather most often. You can save a lot of time, money and take the compulsive need for expensive holiday decoration in this way. You’ll feel more relaxed with more time in your hand for self-care.
3. Give yourself a break from Holiday Frenzy
Stress boils in when you slack off during your free times and leave all your holiday errands for the last minute. To spare yourself from going through the overwhelming holiday frenzy, pre-plan, set aside specific days for shopping, visiting friends, baking etc.
Prepare separate lists of the things you’re going to purchase or the items you want to add on your Christmas dinner menu to coordinate your journeys simultaneously. This will spare you from the last-minute scrambling to buy forgotten items or a chore you missed out on. Pre-ordering food items from online can also be a tremendous help to schedule the rest of your work properly. Online dessert supplying services like Pud For All Seasons for instance can help you with different kinds of gourmet Christmas pudding supplies across Australia any time of the year.
4. Strictly avoid overindulging
Even if you don’t want to hear it or don’t believe it- your stress level during the holiday season is directly associated with over-eating as we are surrounded by extravagant foods and alcoholic drinks. Sugary desserts, high-protein too much alcohol consumptions etc. can exacerbate stress hormone named cortisol. So even if it’s a very unpopular suggestion, it’s crucial for you to keep your appetite and dietary in check.
So if you have the tendency of over-indulging and gaining weight during holiday season-maintain perspectives of healthy alternatives, enjoy seasonal food and treats in a controlled portion of sizes. You can also prepare gluten free vegan desserts at home or order online.
5. Declutter your house before Christmas
Christmas season is a perfect time to give your house a new look without spending a dime on it. It oddly satisfies that can bring your stress down to zero! Why? Because a post-holiday interior filled with gifts, decorations, food items piled up on old furniture and appliances is not such an eyesore but also very overwhelming.
When the holiday starts, get some free time to get rid of old, broken, items from your house. You can even consider donating your goods in local community organisations. After the Christmas celebration is over, save some of the gifts you’re not in need for so you can re-gift those next year.
Check out some impressive gift ideas for your special one on special occasion like birthdays, anniversaries, christmas, new year, etc.
6. Turn chores into fun activities
Everyone likes to celebrate holidays, but not as much when it comes to behind the scene, tedious chores like cooking, baking, decorating, and so on. These eventually results in procrastination and stress. But you won’t feel quite the pressure and stress if you can turn all the errands and chores into fun and engaging activities for everyone!
You can play scavenger hunt or a form of a race to speed up the whole process with family members’ altogether. You can arrange surprise gifts and treats for the participants to spice up the whole activity even more!
Just because it’s Christmastime, that doesn’t mean you have to stress yourself out for everything. Instead of catching up in the pre-Christmas hustle and bustle, let yourself relax and genuinely enjoy the people and the occasion you’re putting your hard work for.
Author – Claire Dunn is a freelance writer and an independent blogger who writes about communication, sustainability, technology, fashion and home improvement.She aspires to become a professional writer and make a difference in society and the world we live in.