How to Easily Relieve Stress During the Holidays

If you get stressed out with trying to make the holidays perfect, you’re not alone! Almost everyone feels the pressure for a holly jolly Christmas. I’ve discovered 3 keys to easily relieve stress during the holidays.

One way is to battle the stress and anxiety by planning ahead! How many like to make gifts or shop for Christmas gifts way in advance? I think this year is the earliest I have started! (Back in February I started getting some items for my kids.) It’s a great way to relieve the stress at the end of the year if you have the majority of your shopping already completed! Especially if you like those deals on Black Friday or Cyber Monday… you need to be organized! Not sure where to start? I have a few ideas for you!

Christmas gift giving doesn't need to be hard - plan it out and relieve stress

So, instead of finding some lined paper and writing out my plans, and rewriting them because it’s not neat and orderly, it was time for a Christmas planner printable! I converted my scratch paper notes into helpful Christmas planning pages. The gift giving planner page is a great place to start. I like to write out all the names for everyone I plan to have gifts for. Then start brainstorming ideas, whether buying or DIY. If you have kids, the Gift Wish List page is awesome! Keeps things simple and not too focused on the gifts by dividing their gift wish’s into 4 categories: Something I Need, Something I Want, Something to Read, and Something to Wear. Even little kids can draw pictures if they don’t know how to write yet.

Important Step for Christmas Prep

Another important step to Christmas prep is the budget! Plan out how much you want to spend on gifts, meals, treats, events, etc. Before you know what to go shopping for, you need to know how much you can spend in each category! Plan that out and another financial stressor will be eliminated! As long as you make sure to set reasonable goals and expectations. Wanting to spend $1000 on everything might be what you want to do, but figure out what you can actually afford. There are lots of fun things to do that cost very little or nothing! Knowing your priorities (spending time with family, friends, making a difference in your community…) is one of the biggest factors in relieving stress during the holidays!

Knowing your priorities is one of the biggest factors in relieving stress during the holidays!

Christmas Cookie Baking - low cost activity to relieve financial stress during the holidays

Decorating cookies is a fun activity to do with your kids that costs very little and creates lasting memories!

Did you know that baking cookies is probably one of the cheapest ways you can have fun during the holidays? I love to bake for Christmas time especially. Lots of fun with the kids and you get to be creative! Plus, who doesn’t love to eat cookies? I tend to go over board planning for a long list of baked items, but another key to relieving stress during the holidays is time management! I probably don’t have time to bake 10 different kinds of baked goods. Choosing our top favorites and planning for those sounds like a better plan. Don’t you think?

…another key to relieving stress during the holidays is time management!

Have Fun at Christmas Time

If you’re not sure what other fun things there are to do in the winter holiday season, check out the bucket list page! So many ideas that cost little to nothing and can help up the fun factor! You can even write in your own ideas if you have traditions you like to do with your family that aren’t listed. More thoughts on time management… it may not be reasonable to expect to complete the whole list. Depending on your priorities and time available, pick what you want to do this year and keep the list for next year! You can split it up into multiple years to add variety. Make it work for you, don’t worry about what’s expected!

How many times have you gotten your family photo taken and planned to make it into Christmas cards? When you go to order, do you know how many you actually need? Kudos if you do! I never seem to have that figured out, or know how many addresses I have correct and ready to go either (and don’t forget the stamps!). The result: another planning page just for that! Now I can list out all the family and friends we want to give a card to, write out their address (helps to double check they’re correct too!), and check off as you go what you have completed! I even attempt to have this all done by December 1st in order to relieve stress in that busy month. Still working on that level of accomplishment, but some year it will happen!

3 Keys to Relieving Stress

Know your priorities! What is important to you? Spending time with family? How much of your extended family? Do you want to visit with friends? Are there annual parties or other special events you want to go to this year? Only you can determine what is a priority!
Know how much time you have! This will help you say no to things that are unncessary. Limit the parties and activities to what you deem important. Too much busyness will just clutter this special time and stress you out! Relax and enjoy this time with the people you love and care about.
Plan your holidays accordingly! Once you’ve determined you priorities and know how much time you really have for everything, then you can plan ahead for everything! Planning is a great tool to relieve stress, but don’t forget to be flexible as well. Things change and it helps not to get in a fit about everything not going according to plan. You are on your way to a stress-free Christmas!