Christmas Hacks to Make the Season Less Stressful

Happy Sunday, y’all! I thought this would be a great time to share some tips I’ve used to help make the holidays less stressful. While they all take some planning, these tips aren’t painful ones to use. These Christmas hacks are ones I’ve grown up with, while others are new to me.

So let’s check out some Christmas hacks to make the season less stressful!

Plan Ahead

I feel like this hack is a no-brainer! Planning is something I think everyone should do. Planning could be as complex and in-depth as you want. What to plan? Your gift-giving list, your holiday menu, holiday cards- you get the idea. When’s the best time to start your planning? Is now too soon? Seriously, the sooner you start planning, the less stressful the holiday season will be.

Gift Giving

Yes, I understand that gift-giving is stressful, no matter the reason. But if you prepare, you can do it with less stress. Consider how many gifts you want to give. Do you really need to give everyone a gift? Or could you combine some people into a group gift? For example, instead of giving my in-laws a gift each, we give them one for them to share. Yes, typically it’s a gift card to a restaurant, but it’s less stressful than coming up with two gifts for people who are impossible to shop for.

Are there people on your list that you want to give a treat to over the holidays? Or people you can actually eliminate? You may want to give your kids’ teachers a little something. But you don’t have to go overboard. Trust me, teachers don’t need more mugs. Give them a handwritten note or a drawing from your children. Those are the things they keep.

Holiday Cards

If you have some on hand, go ahead and start addressing them. You don’t have to mail them yet, but if you take a bit of time to prep them now, you can drop them in the mailbox when it’s time.

Holiday Decorating

Does having your space decorated to the nines bring you joy? Then go for it! Do you feel stressed by doing what the magazines and social media say you should be doing? Then don’t do it! It’s your space, do what makes you happy! If you share that space with other people, have them help you decorate.

I’ve even heard of people who leave their trees decorated year round. They wrap it in clear plastic, and put it in an unused room. When it’s time to decorate, they just pull the tree out of it’s hiding place.

Christmas Eve

If your big holiday meal is on Christmas, take it easy on Christmas Eve. In my house, normally we order pizza. One year, after I found a shirt that said I like Christmas tacos, we had Taco Bell for Christmas Eve dinner. These kinds of things help reduce the stress and allow us to finish whatever we need to do before the “big day,” like wrapping presents or watching holiday movies.

Christmas Breakfast

There are many ways to make your Christmas morning low-stress; a lot of it depends on how many people you’re feeding. You could keep it simple and have pastries. If you really want a bigger breakfast, you can prep an overnight casserole. With a casserole, you can pop it in the oven before opening gifts and within an hour it’ll be ready to eat. Sounds like a win to me!

Holiday Menu

How many people are you serving? There are a couple of ways to take the stress away. One, make your meal a potluck. Everyone brings a dish to share. A potluck does take a bit of planning, so everyone doesn’t bring the same thing. However, that could make for a funny story for the future. I read a story where one family pairs up, often one kid and one adult, and the pair is assigned a dish to bring to the meal. They’re not told what to make, only that they have to provide a dessert, appetizer, vegetable dish, etc. The family has had so much fun doing this; they’ve done it for several years. A plus: they’ve found they don’t rush through the meal, as everyone wants to talk about what they made.

Another way to reduce the stress is to pre-order the meal from your local grocery store or butcher shop. A lot of places near me have started doing holiday meals. For around $200, you get a meat (ham or turkey), mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables (often 2), rolls, and a small dessert for 6-8 people. I’ve even seen a store that offered a Christmas breakfast. For $50, we had a dozen eggs, a pack of bacon, a pack of sausages, a jar of jam, a small bottle of maple syrup, tea (we aren’t a coffee household), and chocolate milk. Yes, we needed to actually make breakfast, but having it in a bundle helped a lot.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is December 26, for those who may not know. If you’re not going to hit the post-holiday sales (which I don’t blame you), take a day off from doing anything. Spend the day relaxing and hanging out with the family. Order takeout, and dress in comfy clothes. Don’t clean, don’t undecorate. Just use the day to relax.

Socializing

If people don’t bring you joy, you don’t have to spend time with them. If you can’t avoid people, then maybe set up a gathering away from Christmas. Have brunch in the week between Christmas and New Years. Or at the beginning of December. Whatever works for everyone.

Holiday Baking

Not everyone finds baking fun and relaxing. A lot of people actually find it stressful, but force themselves to do it because it’s tradition. If you have to have your Nan’s special gingerbread cookies, then make them. But order the rest of your baking from a local bakery.

Those are ten Christmas hacks to make the season less stressful. Have you used any of these hacks? What are some hacks you use to make the holiday season less stressful?

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