No matter what you believe in or celebrate, we all hope that the holidays will be a time for relaxation. A lot of the time, especially over the past few years, the holidays have seemed to become so stressful. Paid post. All opinions are my own.
Between holiday shopping in massive crowds (not so much this year, however!), splitting your time between family and friends, and cooking for huge groups, it just is not as stress free as it used to be, unfortunately.
This year, however, I am determined to make my holidays as stress-free as possible and I hope you will do the same. You work so hard everyday and you deserve some time to relax.
The best time for this is during the holidays, surrounded by the people you love – the people who are closest to you. Thankfully, this year will be much easier to relax more since a lot of us are home with just our immediate family, and not attending holiday party after holiday party.
Will you join me in my mission to make the holidays relaxing again? I hope so! Here is what I am going to do to make this happen now and in the future (even when things are 100% back to normal):
How to Stress Less Over the Holidays
Make Your List & Check It Twice
I always seem to overdo it on Christmas shopping. I can’t help it – I just love to spoil people! I think most people are this way because it’s really hard to not spread the joy.
This year, I made a list for Christmas well before I needed to start my shopping. This ensured that I did not over shop and it also made sure that I included everyone. It is the worst when you accidentally forget to include someone.
Plan Early, Relax Later
There are a few ways that you can plan early, in order to relax early. The first way is by shopping early. Black Friday is usually when Christmas shopping ramps up for most people.
I try to get a lot of my shopping done then, in order to take advantage of sales and take my time wrapping early. If I don’t have it all done, I can always shop online, too.
By doing this, I am not rushing around two days before Christmas, wrapping every single one of my gifts. The second way I can plan early is by creating a menu well before Christmas rolls around (this can go for Thanksgiving, as well).
Creating a menu will allow me to relax close to the day because I won’t be looking up recipes, writing down a menu, and making a shopping list.
Instead, if I do this a few weeks before Christmas, all I will need to do is go to the store!
Lastly, which I touched on above is to make a list for Christmas shopping early. This way, I can have a list ready to go when I get all of my shopping done early!
This year, a lot of people are getting their shopping done online and/or shopping from local and small businesses. I really hope the trend of shopping small and local continues for years to come!
Speaking of lists, also print out a self-care checklist to make sure you are taking care of yourself, as well.
Limit Commitments
Limiting commitments is really hard for me, but this year is much easier. There are typically so many parties that go on during the holiday times and I have a very hard time saying ‘no’ to invitations, but it is important to do so.
A busy schedule definitely leads to stress, so if I limit the parties I attend, I can also limit the stress. A great way to do this is by surrounding myself with those I love and cherish and RSVPing no to the parties where I wouldn’t really love attending.
Like I said, this year is so much easier to limit commitments and I honestly think it’s a great thing.
Hire Things Out
Last but not least, if you have a big project or task on your shoulders, hire it out. Need help finishing up work? See if you can hire an assistant or a student that could learn from you. Have a big project on your hands such as moving? Hire it out!
Find a really transparent company that will help you reduce stress, instead of adding things to your plate. For example, New Age Moving Co. is the perfect example of a company that wants to reduce your stress. They are piano movers in Chicago IL, so they can literally take the weight off of your shoulders for you.
They are one of the most trusted moving companies in the Midwest, have amazing reviews, and the owner, Armand Gasbarro, holds all of his employees to very high standards, so that they are able to provide only the best service for their clients.
No matter what you are trying to tackle before the holidays, make sure you hire reputable and honest companies so that you are not burdened with any stress after hiring the project out.
Do you have any great tips to limit stress around the holidays? I would love to hear your thoughts on how you can reduce it!