Holiday stress is a real thing. Between family dinners, gift shopping, gift wrapping, holiday work parties and everything in between it can get quite overwhelming. We’re here to share a few ways to reduce the stress and enjoy the holidays with your friends and family.

1. Gift Shop Early

We all know that the closer we get to Christmas, the crazier the stores get. Instead of waiting to do your gift shopping and having to deal with crowds and no parking, get started early! Start making a list now of each person you need to buy a gift for and list some possible gift ideas for each. Keep this list handy when you do your shopping and start picking up gifts early and storing them away. Ideally, if you can get your gift shopping done by the end of November, you’re reducing a ton of stress knowing all you have to do is wrap and deliver the gifts that you already have waiting in your home. Don’t forget that you can also get lots of shopping done online without ever stepping foot in a store.

2. Make Holiday Parties Simple

Thanksgiving and Christmas usually mean a family meal at someone’s home, and if that someone is you there’s definitely an added layer of stress to your holiday season. There’s always that pressure to go through your entire home and make sure everything is spotless. Plus, you’re responsible for having food, drinks, cutlery and everything else necessary available for your guests. This is a two part suggestion. First, have a potluck. Make yourself responsible for one, maybe two, dishes and ask everyone else to bring a dish. Maybe start a group text or email where everyone shares what they are bringing so that there are no duplicates and all the components are covered (side dish, main dish, dessert, etc.). Use disposable cutlery as well to minimize your cleanup when the party is over. Second, consider moving the party outside. It could be in your garage, or even set up a tent and have tables and chairs set up outside. That way you keep the chaos outside of your home, especially when you have keiki running around and having fun. Plus, it’s usually cooler outside anyway.

3. Outsource Gift Wrapping

There are some of us that truly enjoy the art of gift wrapping…but I know I’m not one of them. If you’re like me, consider outsourcing your gift wrapping. There are places in the mall that set up around the holiday season with volunteers that will wrap your gifts for a donation. You could even consider bringing in a family member to help you, minus wrapping their own gift of course, and give them a little bit of money for their help. However, if you are one of those people that enjoy gift wrapping, but still need to reduce some stress, try starting early. If you’ve taken the advice from the first tip we shared, you should be picking up gifts already. Before you place them in a closet for safe keeping, consider wrapping it already before storing it away. That way, you don’t have a bulk to wrap all at once, which can be very time consuming.

4. Self Care

Some of the holiday stress just isn’t avoidable, however set up some ways to help you de-stress at the end of the day. Have a diffuser with calming essential oils running in your house, take a hot shower, relax on the couch while watching your favorite movie, read a book, etc. Whatever it is that helps you unwind at the end of the day, use those techniques to help you shed that extra stress.

 

The holidays can truly be a joyous season if we take the time to enjoy the moments with our family and friends and not focus on the stressful moments. We hope you have a wonderful and stress free holiday season!