We packed up our pumpkins from Halloween and immediately the barrage of the holidays started flooding in. Who is hosting Thanksgiving? Is so and so hosting their annual ugly sweater party? Should we start planning our holiday cards?
And we’re off to the races. We love the holidays in our house. We like to make a big deal of celebrations. But even the merriest of merrymakers can succumb to holiday overload. Here’s how we make sure our holidays stay holly and jolly!
First things first, start with mindfulness. Take a moment and visualize what is most enjoyable to you about the holidays. This might be baking with friends, quiet time with close family, or going to lots of festive parties. Whatever you picture, keep that in mind as you plan your holiday season. Let’s make that the focus.
I hear you, how can I make that the focus when I have a ton of obligations? Let’s take a second and figure out what you really MUST do. Your boss’ Christmas party might be non-negotiable. Fair enough. Put that on the calendar and block space earlier in the day for the baking you’re really hoping to do. We get invited to a lot of things and think we must go. But that’s not the case. Here’s the permission you are waiting on to say no when you can.
Next up, the good stuff? What’s your favorite part of the holidays and how can you make sure it happens? Set blocks of time on your calendar for that purpose. If it involves friends or family make sure to give them enough notice to be available. What do you get to do? The absolutely light you up happy things? That you can go all in on.
I want to empower you to say no to one thing you dread every holiday season. Free yourself of the burden and consider it your gift to yourself. You’ll be surprised how good you feel after drawing that line in the sand.
Now, let’s talk about gift giving. Oh yes, the expectations of gifts is sure to overwhelm. But you can handle it! Set a limit for the kiddos, what’s your comfort zone? Is it five gifts? 10 gifts? 30 gifts? No, 30 is too many. Go back some. I’ve often seen floating around social media to do four gifts – one thing you want, one thing you need, one thing to wear, one thing to read. It even has a cute rhyme that goes with it! Or you can focus on gifting experiences or taking a family trip.
And for family and friends? Can you streamline that? Can everyone get the same thing? One year we did a ‘Favorite Things’ box and each person in our family had one item in the basket. I picked Project Pop popcorn, Dadlando picked Gideon’s Bakehouse cookies, Violet picked pancake mix, and our little guy was tiny so we chose applesauce… his favorite at the time. We had fun doing it, our family loved it, and it was easy!
Don’t let go of your routines! It’s easy for our healthy habits to take a back seat whenever we get busy. And the holidays are no exception. But if you keep your good stuff going it’ll help lower your stress and overwhelm. If you’re routinely eating healthy, going to the gym, and keeping up with any number of self-care options you’ll feel much better. Need ideas for your self-care? Check our list here.
We are wishing you the happiest – least overwhelming – totally merry holiday season possible. You can do it!
