Has stress taken the fun out of your holidays? Put the “jolly” back in your holidays by reducing holiday stress and creating cherished holiday memories with these proven strategies.
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Acknowledge that everything doesn’t need to be perfect. Going with the flow and embracing the simple joys in every moment are key to reducing holiday stress.
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Start holiday planning and preparations earlier
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Simplify wherever you can when planning and holding festive celebrations
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Stick to your budget
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Scale down your holiday plans
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Ponder what you really want to do to celebrate the holidays
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Talk with family members and friends about what they want to do
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Plan celebrations that express what the holidays truly mean for you
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Identify old family traditions. Which ones do you love?
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Opt to keep holiday traditions that bring you joy and happiness
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Give yourself permission to let go of old traditions that you aren’t fond of
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Establish start and stop times for parties
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Take shortcuts like buying pre-made pies to save time
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Examine options for pre-made meals or catering services
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Promptly ask for help when you need it
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Inform all prospective attendees of your holiday plans in advance
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Discuss challenging issues in advance with a person who tends to create tension
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Use place cards to assign seating in efforts to avoid tension-filled holiday gatherings
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Short-circuit disagreeable family discussions by interrupting or changing the subject
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Make a gift list, considering the amount of money you can comfortably spend
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Cut down your gift list
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Shop early and make notes about where to get low-cost gifts
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Ask for gift suggestions from the people on your gift list
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Consider giving gift cards to save time and precious energy
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Suggest a family name-drawing to reduce gift expenditures
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Reduce the amount of money you spend overall for the holidays and per gift
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Avoid making credit card purchases at holiday time
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Think about making homemade food gifts to save dollars at holiday time
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Shop early and place gifts in a gift drawer so you’ll be ready for the holidays
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Schedule time to be with your kids for some special holiday moments
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Keep the kids busy with holiday crafts. They’ll enjoy it and you can get more done.
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Take time daily to meditate, even if only for a few minutes
While meditating to focus on reducing holiday stress, download and enjoy the FREE 5 minute “Too Blessed To Be Stressed” guided meditation.
For even more soothing guided meditations, 10+ hours of exclusive, relaxing meditative music, empowering affirmations, and other helpful resources to reduce your stress both around the holidays and all year, check out the Meditations, Music, & More Membership.
Also feel free to contact me anytime for a private, complimentary happiness coaching session via email and for more personalized tips to help you live a happier, healthier, less stressed life.
Happiness coach passionate about helping you live a happier, healthier, less stressed life. Also love meditating, blogging, recording voiceovers, singing, and writing great music. Dedicated to utilizing my talents to help make your day shine! Contact me at julie@juliekaylin.com