The holidays are filled with joy, gifts, and time remembering what we’re thankful for, but with all those things can come stress and hectic schedules trying to get everything done! Here are ten tips for how to get through this fun but crazy time!
1) Plan, plan, plan! Sometimes, stress just comes from not being organized enough. Things pile up and become overwhelming, and before you know it you’re asking yourself, “How am I going to get all of this done?” Planning ahead can really help put the mind at ease, and you can even get festive with it by buying a holiday-themed calendar, or even stickers to mark important dates. Making sure to plan out your busiest days in advance is a great step in the right direction of making the holidays manageable so you can stop worrying about when and start enjoying the moment.
2) Start a savings jar for those Christmas presents- With all the love that comes with your friends and family comes the desire to buy them gifts that they deserve, but those prices can add up quick! So start now, decorate a jar with holiday colors and put your spare change in it every time you come home. Make some hot coco at home instead of going out for coffee, and sooner rather than later that money will add up more than you’d think!
3) Write things down. It sounds simple, but it’s a key to making life easier at any time, not just the holidays, because nobody remembers everything.
4) Get enough sleep! Sleep is one of the first things people sacrifice when things get busy or hard, but this is one of the worst things you can do for yourself! Getting at least 8 hours of good sleep a night has proven to make for a healthier mind, body, and mental health. It also gives you more energy to get all those things done!
5) Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s easy to take too much on or convince yourself you don’t need help, but inviting a friend over to help decorate the house or asking for a hand in all those cookies you promised to bake for the school Christmas party is a good way to both take some of the weight off of your shoulders and also get you some quality time with loved ones.
6) Speaking of loved ones, don’t forget to spend time with those that make all of the holiday times worth it! If you get lonely during the holidays, as many do, make sure to schedule lots of quality time with friends and family, because that’s what matters the most!
7) It’s okay to take time for yourself. Take a hot bath, read a book, or do whatever it is that makes you happy and calms you down.
8) Try easy, homemade gifts! Sometimes the pressure of making enough money to buy all those awesome Christmas gifts can become overwhelming, but it’s also not totally necessary. There are plenty of great, affordable things to make for your loved ones and even personalize to their taste, like mason jars filled with delicious hot chocolate mix. There are plenty of varieties of hot coco mix, like white hot coco, peppermint hot coco, and more! A hand-made, personalized gift is also a great way to show someone that you really care.
9) Set realistic goals and remember it’s okay to drop things occasionally. The holidays are busy, busy, busy, and we all have an idea of what we want the holidays to look like. But keeping reasonable, doable goals will help with keeping a healthy perspective and expectation, and letting go of that extra side project in order to rest or make time for something else every once in a while is a good practice.
10) Take the time to remember what the holidays are all about—With a list of presents to buy, meals to cook, plane tickets to lock down, and much, much more, sometimes the biggest stress that comes with the holidays comes when we lose perspective of what really matters, which is spending time with loved ones and appreciating the things in our lives that make us happiest. So take a deep breath and put down the hot glue gun and go take a walk with a friend or play a game with your child.
