5 Easy Ways to Relieve Your Holiday Stress

These tips will help you stay grounded and make the most out of your holidays

As we head into the winter months, many people are worried about the approaching holidays. For many of us, the mounting pressure of the holidays will bring mixed feelings of joy and stress, due to the overwhelming pressure brought on by the pandemic.

And now there is an added stress of the planning, shopping, and gift preparation.

But here is the thing: You can avoid all this stress if you approach the holidays with a different mindset. Making it harder than it should be will only make the holidays more stressful for you and deprive you of the holiday joy.

The good news is, with a change in perspective, you can make your holidays the most enjoyable part of the year. After all, the holidays are meant to bring joy — not stress.

First things first, remind yourself of the meaning of the holidays. If you celebrate Christmas, ask yourself how is it special to you? What experiences make it special?

Switching gears will help you feel grounded and focus on what’s important, and be able to enjoy the holidays for what they are.

The next thing you should do is — take it easy.

Your holiday doesn’t have to be grand this year. So go light on shopping, decorations, and gift planning. Before you panic about how you’re going to buy everyone gifts this year to make everyone happy, take a step back and think about the meaning of holidays.

Here are 5 ways to reduce your holiday stress.

Relax your expectations

With any holiday, there is a tendency to follow the trend — the more pompous your holiday celebration is, the better. But the reality is, lavish festivities come at a price — a more stressful life for you.

With each holiday season, I realized it more and more. I remember the times after my kids were born and I planned things like decorating their room, cooking up a storm, and baking Christmas cookies. Somehow I thought I would handle it all myself, only to realize later I forgot things like a table cloth or gift wrapping paper or other minor but important things.

I made those mistakes because I overestimated what I could handle. I asked myself: “Was it all worth it?” The lesson I learned is to keep yourself grounded, I need to cut down on my expectations. That means sticking to the basics and making my to-do list shorter.

Focus more on experiences and less on shopping

Approach holiday time as a way to rest and relax. To do that, you need to switch gears. Focus on being present and enjoying the holiday for what it is instead of relentlessly worrying about gift-buying and decorations.

From my experience, more gifts don’t translate to a better Christmas. It’s all about our experiences that make the events more memorable. It’s about the activities we do during the holidays and how we choose to occupy ourselves.

Shift your mind towards experiences rather than things. That means spending more time with your close-knit family, enjoying family meals, watching family movies, or playing board games. If you focus more on activities you envision for this holiday season, you won’t overload your holiday to-do list.

You can make a list of your favorite activities you enjoy doing. What helps you to get in the holiday spirit, besides shopping?

For me, it’s baking gingerbread cookies before Christmas. I feel the joy of baking on holidays. I love the smell of ginger filling up the kitchen from freshly baked cookies out of the oven. For me, it’s an experience hard to resist. It’s also the experience of watching “Home Alone” or “Elf” movies with the kids that was etched in my memory.

The point is, focus on experiences and make it simple.

Rethink your plans for giving gifts

Make the holidays easy by doing the bare minimum. That means you can rethink your gift-giving plans too.

Instead of making a giant list of people who you want to buy gifts for, perhaps cut it down in half. Maybe you can send your friend or family member a gift card or a thoughtful postcard instead of the actual gift. You can also send an electronic card and attach a heartfelt message with it.

You’ll still be able to connect with people you care about emotionally. They’ll remember a gesture that came from a heart more than a physical gift.

Switch to online shopping

Since the pandemic hit, I switched to online shopping, and I couldn’t be happier. It saves me so much time and energy and keeps our family safe in the pandemic. My favorite places I shop at are Walmart and Amazon.

With both, you get free shipping with an order of $35 or more. You can also snag great deals from the clearance sections.

Your order selections may be limited compared to shopping in a store, but it’s worth it. In the end, you’ll save yourself so much time and experience less holiday stress.

If you decide to order groceries, you can also use Instacart.com.

Split a gift with someone

Rather than worrying about giving each person in your family a gift, make your gift-giving a joint effort.

For example, if you have kids, you and your husband can pitch in and together purchase a gift. It will help you to save time and energy, not to mention money.

Or if you’re thinking to buy something for your mother or mother-in-law, you or your partner can both contribute towards purchasing one gift rather than giving gifts individually. You could also exchange names with extended family so each person buys a gift for one other person.

The bottom line

It’s okay to take it easy this holiday season, especially since we are in the pandemic. Don’t let the stress of holidays strip away your joy. Relax your expectations and simplify your to-do list. It is not worth it to stress yourself and make it harder than it is. Enjoy the holidays for what they are. Stay grounded by choosing experiences over things.