The holiday season is upon us and so is holiday stress! The best thing about the holidays can also be the worst thing about the holidays. In today’s blog post, we’ve got five ways to reduce holiday stress and get more enjoyment out of “the most wonderful time of the year!”

Double up on meal making

In December, I try to make double meals for the first week or two of the month. I make one meal for us to eat and one for the freezer. Making a double meal only takes a little bit longer than making a single meal and costs just a bit more than making one meal.

During the last two extremely busy weeks of December, I can just reheat a meal, add a fresh component (salad, a loaf of crusty bread, etc.) and dinner is served! Some of my favorite meals to make and freeze are Mexican lasagna, Shepherd’s Pie, chili, soup, and quinoa black bean taco filling.

Do tandem activities

Since time is at a premium during the holidays. I try to combine activities so I can do twice as much in the same amount of time, thus checking off two boxes at one time. We enjoy going to a local trail of lights in December. We also enjoy getting together with friends. So we go to the trail of lights with our friends. Other tandem activities we enjoy are: making gingerbread houses with friends, cookie baking, and attending local community holiday performances.

Gift thoughtfully

Holiday gift-giving doesn’t have to break your budget and your peace of mind. Spending money we don’t have is a big cause of stress. Many of the people to whom we give gifts don’t want or need another thing and they really don’t want their loved ones going into debt to give them gifts.

I live on a modest income so I often give items that I find at the thrift store, at library book sales, or even on a local barter group. When you go to the thrift store on a regular basis, you’ll be surprised at all of the new or like-new items you can find that make perfectly fine gifts. I also make and gift food items or gifts of my time. Giving thrift store items, homemade items, or gifts of time is fiscally and ecologically responsible. There’s no stress there!

Do less

Many people spend days on end doing holiday cookie baking or making several varieties of candy, just to find out that the only cookies everyone really wants are chocolate chip cookies and they don’t even like fudge! Years ago I decided that I would make just five varieties of cookies rather than a dozen varieties. I ask the family what their favorites are and only make those. You can apply the principle of do less to many holiday activities. The old saying, “Less is more” is true. Doing less creates more enjoyment in what you do decide to do. Taking the pressure off of yourself is not only a way to reduce holiday stress but a good self-care practice. 

Do more

During the holidays, I find that doing more of some activities actually lessens the stress that the holidays can create. I have a collection of holiday stories which we read each evening, so we spend more time reading. We watch more television, overindulging on holiday movies almost every night. We spend more time together driving around looking at Christmas lights together. We spend more time on shared experiences. All of these activities create more joy and connection- the perfect antidote to stress.

These five ways to reduce holiday stress are affordable and easy to do. If you give them a try, we’d love to hear about it! Happy Holidays from Transcript Maker!