How to Make Holidays Less Stressful

I , like many others, look forward to the holidays with great expectations for family, friends, and time to enjoy the seasons. The holidays offer great foods, much-needed time from work, and the opportunity to reconnect with loved ones.

While the holidays can be a joyous time, they can also be very stressful and cause anxiety for many. Whether finances, family dynamics, or other worries are at play, not everyone is excited about the added stresses that the holidays can bring.

One of the most common reasons the holidays become stressful is the expectation placed on families who may be overextended emotionally and/or financially. The added burden of providing big meals, and gifts, and paying for travel may heavily burden an overextended budget. This extra weight adds to the stress the family is already experiencing.

Despite the Hallmark channel’s insistence that families love one another and that being together is all that matters, many families are fractured, busy, and unable or unwilling to live in harmony. This struggle adds to another stress load, weighing them down. A time that society says is supposed to be joyous becomes more depressing. Maintaining, much less just making, the holiday picture-perfect family and home is just not possible. Life happens.

A key to having a less-stressed holiday revolves around preparation and setting boundaries.

• Make a plan. Determine what holiday events you will participate in and what ones you will say no to. It is okay to say no and ‘no’ is a complete sentence.
• Set a budget and stick to it. Don’t go into debt in the hopes of pleasing others or meeting their expectation.
• Allow for imperfection. The magazine and Hollywood Christmas image is impossible. If things don’t go exactly as planned, step back – take a breath – and keep going. The tree is leaning? That’s okay. Ornaments don’t match? No problem. Someone commented how their decorating is better than yours? It’s okay. You decorating satisfies you. Change your focus from perfection to the joy of the moment.

Developing a plan that allows for the fun parts of the season without setting the family up for failure is the best way to ensure that everyone has the best time possible, even if times aren’t perfect.