How to Get Rid of Holiday Stress

Christmas shouldn’t be stressful, it should be magical and fun! This year skip the holiday stress and have fun again. 

“I love Christmas, it’s by far my favorite holiday. I start decorating right after Halloween! Yet it seems like I’m still always rushing. I always tell myself I will start planning a little bit throughout the year to avoid this.

I’d much rather have everything done by December so December I can watch holiday movies, drink hot chocolate, and just enjoy the season. Yet every year I get busy and forget this plan.”

I wrote that over 5 years ago and I’ve learned so much since then. I think that year was a big tipping point for me. I knew it had to change, I wanted to enjoy the holiday season without so much stress again.

I’m still not perfect, I still tend to put a bit more on my plate than I should, I’m not great at saying no to things I really should say no to, and stress sometimes still makes an appearance during the holidays.

However, it’s so much better than it’s ever been and the girl that wrote the first part of this post is no longer who I am during the holidays. I do spend a lot of December drinking hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies now!

After focusing on figuring out how to have a stress-free Christmas I have figured somethings out and I have to share them. Christmas is such a magical time of the year and I hate to see people missing out because of stress.

How to Get Rid of Holiday Stress

Have a Solid Christmas Plan

If you read my blog a lot during the holidays you may be tired of hearing me say you need to plan ahead but it really makes such a difference.

You can use a paper you already have, a notebook, Google Calendar, or the Christmas planner I designed. Whatever works for you, just stick with it!

Write down all of the important information addresses you need, gifts to buy, events you are attending, the food you want to make, etc… Once you write it all down you will see why you didn’t want to just have this stuff in your head or on pieces of paper all over the house.

Delete Things from the To-Do List

Once you have everything written down it’s likely overwhelming and there is a good chance you will see you have too much going on. Take some time to think about what you want this Christmas to look like and get rid of the things to don’t fit with this.

This may mean hurting some feelings or even skipping some traditions but you will be happier in the long run and those that really care about you know that’s important.

Give Yourself Permission to do the Easy Thing

This one was hard for me! I used to handmake all of our Christmas cards, made homemade treats for everyone, made Christmas dinner from scratch, and made homemade gifts.

Did it impress people? Sure. Did I feel a bit like Martha Stewart? Well, yes but a very stressed out Martha Stewart.

It meant late nights, skipping fun things I wanted to do and made me kind of grumpy. It was not worth it!

I thought I’d feel guilty giving up a lot of these things, and I did at first,  but after some time went by I was able to see Christmas was still great without all of that and I got to enjoy it and I was a better person to be around.

Buy pre-made cards, even skip the family photo and newsletter. Buy that pre-glazed ham and store-bought rolls. Let a bakery do the dessert for you. Buy already made gifts, maybe even gift cards. Everyone will still have a great Christmas and your’s will be better.

The bottom line, find your priorities and stick to them!

Additional Resources

If you need even more help, be sure to check out my book A Stress-Free Christmas: A Complete How-To Guide. It’s packed with information to help you have a better Christmas and it’s a quick and easy read.

I also started a Christmas blog this year called The Stress-Free Christmas. I found that I’m really passionate about helping others find the magic in Christmas again and I needed a place to share even more.

If you want even more help having a more magical Christmas be sure to sign up for my newsletter below!