Christmas. It is a time for 24/7 joy and happiness. Right? Well, not always... I think we have all experienced moments when we would happily fast forwards to a calmer, less pressured time in January.
Whatever way you look at it, the festive season is pretty demanding. There’s food and drink to order, the perfect presents to find, buy and wrap, restaurants to book, cards to write and houses to clean in anticipation of the arrival of guests. Phew, even that sentence is exhausting.
The good news is that Christmas doesn’t have to be punishing. With these five tips, you will be on track for a stress-free festive season.
Start Early
It is never too early to start planning Christmas. Yep, I am that person who starts thinking about baubles and Bublé in October. I am that person who really (desperately) wants to put up her Christmas tree in early November. Sorry.
In all seriousness, however, time is your friend in potentially stressful situations. Who says you can’t start your Christmas preparations early? You don’t, of course, have to decorate your home months in advance (although no one would judge you if you did), but there are plenty of jobs that you can tick off your list in the months before Christmas.
You could, for example, create your gift list or complete your Christmas food shop. You could start planning for guests (checking pillows, linens and towels). You could complete a Christmas decoration inventory and note what you may need to buy.
By starting early, you’ll have the last laugh when you actually have the time and headspace to enjoy the festive season.
Manage Your Time
I am a big fan of time boxing. I use this strategy throughout the year in lots of areas of my life. I find that it keeps my stress levels nice and low.
If you are new to the concept, you start by making a detailed list of all the things that you have to do (present and food shopping, decorating, card writing, preparing the house for guests etc).
Your next step is to organise that list in order of when each task needs to be done. Some tasks can be done in advance, some need to wait until closer to Christmas. Estimate how long each task will take to complete.
Once you have done that, look at a calendar and allocate each task to a particular day (making sure you are being realistic about what you can / want to accomplish). All that remains is to look at your calendar and work through the tasks for the day.
Time boxing really helps when you want to avoid overwhelm. You will know exactly what you need to do and when you are going to do it – it is all in the plan. You can then give yourself the best Christmas gift - the ability to enjoy the present.
Prioritize
One of the most stressful things about Christmas is the sheer number of demands on our time. Come the festive season we are all suddenly supposed to be event planners, personal shoppers, caterers and interior designers. It is exhausting.
To avoid stress, prioritise. Do the things that are meaningful. Avoid the things that make you stressed or overwhelmed. For example, if Christmas shopping crowds make you anxious, think about sending gift vouchers, gift experiences or online hampers.
If the idea of writing Christmas cards to all your family, friends and colleagues makes your heart race, consider sending an e-card and donating the money that you would have spent on cards and postage to your favourite charity.
It is okay to prioritise. It is okay to put yourself first. After all, you can’t pour from an empty jug.
Delegate
By step four, you should already be feeling smugly stress-free. You have started early, managed your time and prioritised. As well as making the festive season far kinder to your wellbeing, this process can also help you delegate.
If you know the tasks that you have to complete, you can more easily see if someone else could help.
All too often, we try to do too much. We don’t like to ask for assistance. Why is that? Sharing the load is often a way to turn Christmas preparations into something both collaborative, fun and stress-free.
If you have family coming for Christmas, you could put them in charge of a certain part of the big day. This could involve them bringing food or drink, asking them to prepare the vegetables or the starter course, or putting them in charge of arranging after dinner games.
Meanwhile, if you would love to host a big dinner party but worry that it will be too stressful, consider asking your guests to bring board - a food course board. Someone could bring a starter board, someone else could bring a dessert board and someone could bring a cheese board. This leaves you free to concentrate on your main – and yourself.
Avoid Perfection
Perfection is not your friend. Don’t invite her to your Christmas celebration. She is so not worth it – seriously, we are talking all surface and no soul.
Of course, you will work hard to make the Christmas season special. Just don’t aim for perfection. Unrealistic goals almost always backfire in one way or another and they are so stressful. Do your best – no one can ask for more – and then go enjoy yourself.
I hope that these tips are helpful. Wishing you a very happy stress-free Christmas!