Every year my goal is to have a stress free Christmas, and it has taken me many years to grow in my ability to protect my family during this season. Commercial media desperately wants to grab our attention along with social media, and many other sources of distraction. You know we’ve been pursuing a minimalist lifestyle along with a minimalist Christmas. However, we know that the majority of families want to celebrate this holiday as much as possible. We want to share our top 10 ways to have a stress free Christmas this year.
How to Have a Stress Free Christmas
1. Plan ahead. The more you can plan ahead and the sooner you plan ahead, the less tasks you have to complete in a short amount of time. I recommend downloading our FREE Holiday Planner to organize now and plan for a debt free Christmas.
2. Complete everything by December 1st. This has become my secret weapon to enjoying my holiday season. By December 1st I have purchased and wrapped all of my gifts. I’ve had my photos taken for Christmas cards, and I address them well before that date. In fact I usually mail them on December 1st. This way my holiday season isn’t filled with a to-do list that keeps me from enjoying time with my family. This also means I start very early and plan ahead (see step 1).
3. Bake ahead. Most baked items can be baked ahead and frozen. My grandmother taught me this trick. She bakes all of her items between October and November and freezes them. This includes all of her pies and cookies. Check out her Cornflake Cookies for a colorful addition to your cookie tray this year. Also, check out our Peppermint Bark Brownies for a twist on a traditional treat.
4. Pray for peace. Each morning I try to get up around 6a.m. before everyone else to spend some time in prayer, asking God to help guide my day. During the holiday season I pray for a peaceful season and lasting memories. By focusing on my family each morning, it helps me make better decisions that help keep our family less stressed during the holidays. I love to read these Unhurried Holiday Devotionals.
5. Stick to your budget. Financial stress can be debilitating, and if material things are more important than your financial health, then something is definitely wrong. Establishing a Debt Free Christmas is extremely important to making this time of year easier on your mind and your budget. Once you’ve established your budget, stick to it, and remind yourself that things aren’t more important than time with your family or your financial sanity.
6. Don’t feel you have to do it all. Pictures with Santa, Christmas light tours, church programs and many other activities vie for your attention, it’s easy to get so busy that you don’t enjoy the holidays. When you print out our FREE Holiday Planner, there is a calendar that will help you decide on one activity per week, two at the most. If you are participating in more than two activities each week during advent, you are already going to feel overbooked. Try to stick to no more than one to two events per week during the holiday season.
7. Focus on yourself and plan de-stress activities. Check out our post 20 Ways to Get Rid of Stress for ideas on how to reduce your stress during the holiday season. This may be something as simple as going for a walk, or getting a massage. Either way, don’t forget to take care of yourself.
8. Set realistic expectations. Remember that there is always next year. It’s been one of my lifelong dreams to attend the Macy’s Day parade in New York City. This season my cousin and her family was planning on going so we made plans to go too! However, after our son’s burn accident, we just could not go with all of the stress going on in our lives.
9. Narrow the gift list. A few years ago our family had grown so large that it was becoming ridiculously expensive to buy gifts for each member. We decided that each adult would exchange names and each child would exchange names. Everyone in our family has loved this idea, since everyone still has the fun of opening a gift but it doesn’t strap each family financially.
10. Find free activities. Last night we took our son to Tiny World. This is a free event put on by a local family that we love to take our little one to since there are 20 miniature houses each featuring different scenes, Christmas lights, and a room with an extensive train and village. Our son loves it and it costs us nothing, besides the donation we make for the hot chocolate. Two weeks ago we went to our local Christmas parade which is also free and our kids love to go each year, and Santa arrives at the end on a train. Activities like these make life memorable at no cost.
Have we forgotten a great idea on how to destress at Christmas? Comment your idea below!
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