10 Tips for Managing Holiday Stress

Can you believe that it’s only 44 days until Christmas!! As I get older, I am amazed at how quickly Christmas is around the corner. Even this year, I am shocked at how time has flown!  Do you get stressed out during the holidays? A lot of holiday stress is self-inflicted, though, and can be avoided. Here is a common-sense look at what you can do to reduce the stress of the season. Today I am sharing my 10 tips for managing holiday stress.

A couple of weeks on Instagram, I posted it was 60 days until Christmas, which got a big reaction from my followers. How time flies when we approach Halloween, and then poof, it’s Christmas!

One of my friends was already complaining that the stores were already in the holiday spirit with Christmas decorations up even before Halloween. Two weeks ago, I received 12 phone calls from corporations and people looking for Christmas decorating services. Tis the season!

10 Tips For Managing Holiday Stress

#1 Start shopping now.

We have survived Covid-19, but we have seen the lack of inventory for over a year now. There are also concerns about being able to get products due to supply chain issues. On the news last week they were saying that now is the best time to be shopping. Remember Amazon, FedEx, and UPS are your best friends during the holiday season.

#2 Exercise regularly

Food everywhere. Unhealthy quantities are full of sugar but so delicious!

The best thing to do about the unavoidable overindulgence is to exercise regularly. A good sweat will do wonders for the toxins and extra calories from the holiday celebrations and can actually reduce stress. Of course, it’s unreasonable to expect you not to partake of the goodness of the holiday table. But by watching your health, you’ll be in better shape in January than those who don’t and feel better about yourself for doing it.

Did you know that you can get over 10,000 steps just decorating your home? Last year I clocked in 18,000 steps in a day decorating my home.

 #3 Delegate the Holiday Decor to Professionals or Family

If you seem overwhelmed with decorating your home for Christmas, get help. Whether you ask for help from your family or hire a professional Christmas decorating company like mine, ask for help.

My clients are professionals or celebrities who entertain a lot during the holidays. The last thing they have time for is decorating their home. Many of our clients are over 60 who still want their home decorated for the holidays but can’t do it by themselves anymore. My holiday decorating services saw a surge in new clients last year. This is because so many people are tired of putting up their decorations, but they still want their homes filled with holiday magic!

#4: Focus on what is important to you during the holiday season

Do not stress if you don’t send 200 cards to all the relatives and friends you used to send cards to back in the day. Have you noticed many of them have already quit sending you a card? I wish everyone Happy holidays on your social media platforms or send ecards.

#5: Take time to stop, breathe, and relax.

If you feel overwhelmed with the holiday season, take a day off to spend time at home relaxing. Enjoy your day and not worry about the shopping list or the million other things you think you need to do during the holidays. Instead, put on your favorite music, spend time alone doing absolutely nothing. Make sure you take care of yourself too!

#6: You don’t need to attend every Christmas party. Learn to say no.

This is the time of the year when your friends all decide to throw a party. We’ve had 11 months of opportunities to get together, but December seems to be the magical month. Everyone has their homes decorated so pretty, and for some silly reason, you get invited to 3 parties on the weekend. Pick your favorite and decline the rest. Who needs that much merriment anyway? Enjoy an evening at home; all dressed up with no place to go.

#7: Remember to have fun during the holidays

We have a family competition of the men vs. the women in our annual Gingerbread House Competition after Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful way to have fun and begin a new family tradition with our adult children.

#8: Limit Your time in the kitchen.

Bake only one family traditional holiday recipe and not bake a thousand different recipes. Better yet, find a great bakery that makes delicious cookies and desserts!

We only have Sammy living at home with us, and I don’t bake cookies anymore. (Which I miss terribly. Not!) Sammy and I pick out our favorite holiday recipe and bake it together.

In our finest Christmas sweaters, of course!

#9: Shop before Thanksgiving and avoid the crowds.

I’m not too fond of crowds and do all my Christmas shopping early. If you really think Christmas is about great sales, wait until  December. Then you’re shopping for a sale, not always a meaningful gift. My children still make a list of things they want or need, and I start shopping for it. If I don’t get a list, they get a gift card to their favorite store. My children know that I prefer gift cards so that I can shop at my favorite stores. If you need to put a little something under the tree, make it a meaningful one.

#10: Don’t stress yourself with housework.

If you clean your house as I do, I actually do less housework and cleaning during the holiday season. I have so many Christmas decorations out that I dust my tables less.

When your home is filled with holiday decorations, no one is looking at the dust. I do a deep cleaning the week before I start decorating my home and again after the decorations come down in mid-January. My decorations fill up every room, and I don’t need to dust.

I hope you enjoyed these tips for managing holiday stress.

Now, who’s ready for Holiday fashion?

 

I hope you have a stress-free holiday season!

And yes, it’s coming sooner than you think!

Thanks for stopping by today!