It’s this time of year again. Christmas is around the corner and the festive season has officially kicked off. But for many of us the most wonderful time of the year can also be the most hectic and overwhelming one. And this year we’re even more pumped up and full of anticipation and excitement as this is the first Christmas since COVID without restrictions, YAY!
Hence, expectations are higher this year than ever. But not to worry. Remember what Christmas is all about and just enjoy it.
And if you’re still feeling the pressure you can always refer back to my tips for how to have a fantastic and stress-free Christmas. These will help you to get things under control and make the most of the festive season without having a nervous breakdown.
Start Early Or Better Right Now
The earlier you get a head start, the better as Christmas comes around very quickly. You don’t want to be last-minute.com causing you needless stress and perhaps sleepless nights filled with thinking about all the things you still have to get sorted.
If you start now, you can get a head start giving you more time to get everything in order. Plus, allowing you to spread out activities and chores throughout the festive season.
Make A List
Make a list of all the things you have to do and buy for Christmas and all the activities you want to take part in. Add anything to that list from parties you want to host or attend, activities and days out with the kids to decorating the house, sending out Christmas cards and cleaning the house for the big day.
Your list could look something like this:
- get Christmas deco out
- buy the tree
- invite friends over for Sunday lunch
- attend the office Christmas party
- bake cookies with the kids
- make Christmas decorations with the kids
- go to a Christmas market
- prepare Christmas lunch
- write and post Christmas cards
- attend wreath making workshop
- go food shopping for Christmas day
- buy presents
- …
Making a list helps you to see and have an overview of everything you want to do and have to do. Thus, allowing you to stay organised and plan ahead to reduce stress and overwhelm.
Add All Activities To Your Calendar
Once you’ve made your list, add all your appointments and activities to your calendar. This way you can take one look and see if you have a lot going on the week someone asks you to meet up or if you’re free.
In case you already have three appointments that week, perhaps you can decline or reschedule for the next week. This will allow you to spread out activities and appointments, reduce stress and potentially also free up some time for yourself. Remember, you don’t have to cram everything into one week unless you want to.
Start To Think About Presents Early
For me, finding and buying Christmas presents can be the most stressful bit about Christmas. I find it difficult to come up with present ideas, especially because my family is living abroad. Thus, we’re not around each other that much and it’s more difficult to figure out what they want or need.
To combat leaving the Christmas shopping to the last minute, I start to ask questions about presents and listen out for anything they say that might give me a clue. A hint could be something like this – You might be out shopping and your partner points out that he really likes this red sweater. You could go back and get that sweater for him as a present.
Another thing I do is to allocate some time one evening at the beginning of December for an active present brainstorming session. I take my laptop and browse around to see what’s out there, get some ideas and think about what my loved once might like. Then I write down everything I can think off and later on evaluate if anything I came up with is viable.
Set A Spending Limit For Presents
I don’t know about you, but buying presents for our friends and family can be challenging. Firstly, I personally often have no clue what to get specific people. Some are easy to read and others not so much. That’s once aspect. The other one is that it can get really expensive to buy presents. Especially if you’re getting presents for all your friends and your 20+ family members.
Let’s face it, the majority of us don’t have a goose that lays golden eggs. And thanks to COVID and the economic crisis we’re all worse off. This is where setting a spending limit for presents comes in handy and can offer much needed stress relieve.
If you’re buying presents for friends, you could set a spending limit of £10. Meaning you get them a present of up to £10 and so do they for you. Christmas is not about going on a spending spree and getting into financial difficulties. It’s about spending good quality time, being grateful for the things we have and showing our appreciation.
And of course the same can apply for family members. If you have to buy for all your nieces and nephews, plus your own kids and partners, that can be a lot of presents and can potentially add up to spending hundreds of pounds.
Setting a spending limit can be helpful to manage expectations and not get you into financial difficulties.
Do No Presents
And if you want to go a step further, do no presents. If you have no idea what to buy for each other, don’t buy anything at all. It’s a waste of money just for the sake of buying. Invite your Mum for Afternoon Tea instead or your partner for a steak or something like that.
Set Expectations
Setting expectations, basically letting people know what you’re prepared to do, how much you’re prepared to spend, how often you’re prepared to meet up is crucial. This way everyone knows where they are at and can plan accordingly.
But setting expectations for yourself is equally important. Our expectations tend to be amplified around Christmas, because we want to have a perfect Christmas. Some of us might even want to recreate certain Christmas traditions, activities and feelings around Christmas from our childhood.
Actually, that used to be the case for me. I used to have this picture in my head of what Christmas was supposed to look and feel like. I always thought I should bake plenty of Christmas cookies, do lots of Christmas crafting and meet friends multiple times a week. Because that’s what I did during Christmas as a little girl and teen.
However, I’m an adult now. I live in a different country with different traditions and am together with a partner who isn’t as Christmas crazy as I am. Plus, I’m living a completely different life than a nine year old one of course.
I only realised it this year. I was trying to recreate my childhood Christmas, which is impossible. I’m chasing something I can’t get. And instead of trying to chase something that doesn’t exist any more, I should try to make Christmas my own again.
By managing my own expectations, I set myself up for a happier and stress-free Christmas. I don’t have to do all the things on my list. I should do them because I enjoy doing them. Not because I think I have to or because I think it will get me back the Christmas I had as a kid. Setting expectations is frankly liberating.
And there you have it. Simple things you can do to have a fantastic and stress-free Christmas to enjoy and not fret the holidays. What’s your favourite tip?
If you enjoyed reading this post on How To Have A Fantastic And Stress-free Christmas, you might also enjoy reading my post 70 Quick Things To Do In 15 Minutes Or Less.
And lastly, don’t forget to sign up to my 30 Day Productivity Challenge inside the Freebie Library!
Get the challenge with easy to follow and implement prompts so you can take daily action – one prompt for every day of the month that will boost your productivity without you feeling like it’s too much or overwhelming.
