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.

• 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.

• Start holiday planning and preparations earlier

• Simplify wherever you can when planning and holding festive celebrations

• Stick to your budget

• Scale down your holiday plans

• Ponder what you really want to do to celebrate the holidays

• Talk with family members and friends about what they want to do

• Plan celebrations that express what the holidays truly mean for you

• Identify old family traditions. Which ones do you love?

• Opt to keep holiday traditions that bring you joy and happiness

• Give yourself permission to let go of old traditions that you aren’t fond of

• Establish start and stop times for parties

• Take shortcuts like buying pre-made pies to save time

• Examine options for pre-made meals or catering services

• Promptly ask for help when you need it

• Inform all prospective attendees of your holiday plans in advance

• Discuss challenging issues in advance with a person who tends to create tension

• Use place cards to assign seating in efforts to avoid tension-filled holiday gatherings

• Short-circuit disagreeable family discussions by interrupting or changing the subject

• Make a gift list, considering the amount of money you can comfortably spend

• Cut down your gift list

• Shop early and make notes about where to get low-cost gifts

• Ask for gift suggestions from the people on your gift list

• Consider giving gift cards to save time and precious energy

• Suggest a family name-drawing to reduce gift expenditures

• Reduce the amount of money you spend overall for the holidays and per gift

• Avoid making credit card purchases at holiday time

• Think about making homemade food gifts to save dollars at holiday time

• Shop early and place gifts in a gift drawer so you’ll be ready for the holidays

• Schedule time to be with your kids for some special holiday moments

• Keep the kids busy with holiday crafts. They’ll enjoy it and you can get more done.

• 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.

Julie Kaylin

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