Do you find yourself stressing over every detail of the holiday season? Has Christmas become a source of anxiety for you? These tips can help you simplify Christmas by cutting back on the things that don’t actually matter to you.
Christmas can be such a lovely time to be with family and enjoy some time off from work but it also has the potential to be the most stress-inducing time of the year.
With all of the crazy expectations of the season, it’s no wonder we struggle to keep up!
Between the gifts, parties, baking, and festivities, we end up running ourselves ragged before Christmas day has even arrived.
But Christmas doesn’t have to be some crazy fiasco every year. There are changes you can make that will help you leave time for rest in the midst of all the chaos.
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Is it even possible to simplify Christmas?
The short answer is yes, Christmas can be simplified in a thousand different ways.
The long answer is that you can’t simply decide that Christmas will be simpler this year and wait for it to happen. You will need to take matters into your own hands.
The changes I am about to suggest will definitely require some effort to enforce. You might have to give up your own pride or have some potentially uncomfortable conversations with friends and family.
The path to creating a simpler Christmas is not impossible but it is not necessarily easy. But I’ve got some ideas for you that you can choose from that are sure to make the holidays more pleasant, calm, and relaxing.
Trust me, the temporary discomfort is worth it in the long run!
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9 Mindful ways to simplify Christmas this year
1. Reflect on your own personal holiday preferences
One thing you will need to do before you start making changes to your holiday traditions is to look back at previous holidays and try to understand what you liked and didn’t like about them.
You will want to ask yourself three important questions:
Question #1: What traditions do I like as they are?
What traditions have you tried in the past that you really loved?
These traditions are things that didn’t add any extra stress to your holidays and brought a lot of value to your Christmas.
It might be something that you did alone or with family. It could be something you did one time and you’d like to make it a tradition.
Ideally, these traditions are small and easy to accomplish without any added stress.
Question #2: How many events do I want to attend or host?
This is an extremely important question to ask before you start getting invitations to things.
Are there certain events that bring you stress and anxiety year after year? Are there any events that you consistently look forward to? Do you have any annual invitations that you’ve wished you could say no to?
Try to figure out ahead of time how busy you want to be with events.
It is also a good time to decide if you want to host any events or if you would prefer to leave the hosting to other people.
Question #3: Were there any times during past holidays when I felt particularly stressed?
It is unlikely that the entire holiday season is stressful for you.
It is more likely that there are simply too many smaller moments during the holidays that make you feel anxious and overwhelmed.
It would be beneficial to you to try to pinpoint some of those holiday stressors so that you can determine what needs to be simplified over the Christmas season.
Try to be as specific as possible.
For example, perhaps you really enjoy decorating your house for Christmas but it stresses you out to have to get a ton of things out of storage every year.
Knowing this would help you determine that you want to keep the tradition of decorating your home but you need to simplify the system you use to do it. Perhaps you could simplify by storing your Christmas supplies differently or by asking someone else to do that part.
2. Simplify the Christmas decorations
Christmas decorations can be such a lovely thing to have around the home and can bring a lot of comfort and warmth to the cold winter season.
However, when taken too far Christmas decorations can become a stressful thing that actually makes you feel uncomfortable over the holidays.
You will need to determine on your own what Christmas decor you enjoy and what things you could happily do without.
Just make sure that the decisions you are making are for you and no one else.
If you don’t like putting up a Christmas tree each year, don’t feel like you have to.
If you’re only putting up certain decorations because that’s the way it looks in other people’s homes, you’re not doing yourself any favours.
Decorate your home with what you love and nothing more!
Additionally, it helps to keep in mind that a cluttered home might be subtly adding stress to your life. Be mindful of how much you are filling your home.
There is a chance that you may be getting extra stress from the extra stuff, so simplify wherever you can.
Ways to make your Christmas decor simpler:
- Limit Christmas storage to three bins so there is less to pack and unpack each year
- Use nature as decoration so you can get rid of it at the end of the season
- Use consumables (like clementines and candy canes) as decoration so they get eaten by the end of the season
- Keep the decorations out of the way so that you’re not tripping over anything
- Display decor in your windows instead of decorating the exterior of your house
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3. Simplify the Christmas gifts
There is so much I could say about how to simplify gift-giving at Christmas but I’ll just get to the heart of it in this post.
There is no reason that you need to feel like gifts are mandatory.
Children don’t care about gifts as much as you think they do. Friends and family will appreciate your decisiveness. And there is nothing in the Christmas rulebook that requires gifts to be distributed upon the commencement of this holiday.
Originally, people would simply gift each other small, homemade goods. You might receive a nice piece of needlework, a handmade toy, or something edible.
It wasn’t until commercial companies started encouraging gift-giving that people started buying and giving gifts to the extent that we do today.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing to go back to the older traditions of gift-giving or opting for minimalist gifts. It has the benefit of saving you money, time, and energy, and allows you to appreciate the season the way it’s meant to be enjoyed.
You also don’t have to decide on all or nothing. There are so many different ways that you could choose to approach gifts and finding a fit that feels right for you and your family might take some time.
Play around with different options and see which ones you like best.
Tricks to help you simplify gift-giving:
- Set a gift limit for close family
- Go on a trip instead of giving gifts
- Buy gifts in November so there’s no stress of a Christmas rush
- Shop online
- Do a ‘Secret Santa’ instead of getting gifts for everyone
- Try the tradition of Jolabokaflod
4. Simplify all of that Christmas wrapping
If the gifts weren’t already a tad complicated, the additional task of wrapping them all is another big stressor for a lot of people.
Not only is it a huge drain on time but it can be very expensive if you try to get too elaborate with it.
That being said, it could also be something you enjoy doing, so it might not be necessary to opt out of the activity.
Just be honest with yourself and decide what you’re comfortable with. Maybe you don’t do any gift wrapping at all or maybe you just keep it very simple. Or perhaps you make an event of it and go all-out.
It’s all a matter of what you prefer.
Don’t let other people’s expectations make the decision for you.
Be intentional about what you do and stand by your choices.
Ways to make your gift wrapping easier and more enjoyable:
- Use old newspaper and twine to save money
- Use brown paper and write the recipient’s name directly on the paper so you don’t have to make gift tags
- Get dollar store gift boxes and gift bags that are faster to assemble
- Wrap gifts whenever you are watching a Christmas movie to make it more fun
- If ordering online, send the gifts directly to the recipient
5. Simplify your Christmas cards
If you typically send out Christmas cards in December and it stresses you out, this is an easy tradition to let go of entirely.
Christmas cards are not mandatory and can add a lot of unnecessary stress to your holiday.
If you don’t want to forego the tradition entirely, you could choose to send out the cards electronically to save you time. Or you could just send the cards to a smaller amount of people.
You have lots of appropriate options that could help you make your Christmas a simpler one.
6. Simplify Christmas advent
Again, this is another trivially easy activity to be rid of entirely if it is stressing you out too much.
It can be fun to follow a Christmas countdown but if it’s just adding stress to your daily life leading up to Christmas, then it’s not worth the trouble.
There are so many options when it comes to advent, as well. If one form of advent feels too extravagant, you can also look around for simpler advent options.
The main goal is to make sure that your advent tradition- if you choose to have one- brings you joy and doesn’t add stress to your daily routine.
If it does those two things, it is a tradition worth keeping.
If not, then it’s time to reconsider your options.
7. Simplify your Christmas dinners
A giant turkey dinner is not exactly a low-key thing to try to make on one of the busiest days of the year. And if you are already not a fan of cooking, then this tradition might be a huge source of stress on Christmas Day.
And let’s not forget the insane amount of cleaning necessary when the meal is over.
But again, there is no Christmas rulebook that states you must cook a lavish turkey dinner for a group of friends and family.
If this tradition is something that brings you more stress than joy each year, it’s time to make some changes.
Alternatives to a traditional turkey dinner on Christmas Day:
- Order food (Fun Fact: in Japan, it’s traditional to eat KFC)
- Do a potluck meal instead of making it all yourself
- Make a crockpot meal so that you can set it and forget it
- Make a meal you’re familiar with
- Simplify cleanup with compostable plates
8. Simplify your Christmas baking
We often go overboard with the treats at Christmas.
There are so many opportunities to bake sweets during this season that it’s hard to know when you should and when it’s time to say no.
If there are times when you really enjoy baking, then, by all means, continue to do it!
However, if there are certain baking activities that only add stress, it’s time to let it go.
You can choose to either forego the treats entirely or just buy something delicious at the store. It’s all a matter of what you would prefer.
9. Simplify your Christmas schedule
This might be the thing that is hardest to do because it does require you to have some tough conversations with family but it really is worth it.
Some people pack their Christmas Day with activities that would normally happen over the course of an entire week.
Some people start their day earlier on Christmas and try to get everyone up and moving so they can cover a bunch of visits with family on the big day. The kids usually end up exhausted and cranky by midday and the parents were tired upon waking up earlier than usual.
It’s not a good fit for most people.
Instead of trying to cram all of the Christmas activities into one day, try spreading some of them out a little.
In my family, we would actually sleep in on Christmas.
We would spend the day at two different family households and then have our own quiet family Christmas the day after. We never tried to rush to fit everything into just one day.
Take a look at your own Christmas routine and decide what things can actually be saved for another day.
This might mean that you have to disappoint some families by choosing to see them on a day that is not Christmas but they will understand.
Besides, in the end, it needs to be a decision that makes you and your household happy, no one else.
Extra Tips
Here are some quick little tips and phrases to help you on the path to simplifying your Christmas holiday. Hopefully, some of these tips can help you make decisions that serve you best.
Your Christmas doesn’t have to look like a Hallmark movie
Movies and television portray Christmas as a big, extravagant affair but that’s not necessary in reality.
Don’t let the media set the standard for what Christmas needs to look like for you.
If you don’t feel like doing it, don’t do it.
It really is that simple.
Lots of times, we feel like certain traditions are mandatory or necessary when it doesn’t matter at all.
Christmas has a lot of traditions associated with it that aren’t needed, so if you don’t feel like doing it, just don’t do it.
Your choices are an ongoing conversation. You don’t need to follow the same script every year.
I’ve definitely fallen prey to this one.
Sometimes, when you do something at Christmas and it goes well, it suddenly becomes the expectation that you will do it every year after that.
But it’s perfectly fine to switch things up year after year.
If you want to do gift-giving one year and travel the next, you have every right to do so. Don’t feel like there’s any pressure to keep things the same forever.
Don’t go into debt for the sake of the holidays.
I CANNOT stress this enough.
There is no reason for you to EVER go into debt for the sake of Christmas.
If the gifts and fancy food are beyond your personal budget, you should say so. Christmas can be made special in other ways and you don’t need to sacrifice your budget to have a good day.
If you find yourself getting stressed, maybe your expectations are just too high.
Even after you take action to simplify your Christmas traditions, you may still find yourself getting stressed on occasion.
If this happens, then you need to take a look at yourself and ask, “Are my expectations too high?”
Maybe you are expecting too much in certain areas and are inevitably getting disappointed when things don’t work out the way you imagined them.
The simplest thing to do in this situation is to readjust your mindset. Stop expecting Christmas to be perfection and accept it for what it is.
Frequently asked questions about Christmas traditions
How do you simplify Christmas for kids?
I was a grade one teacher for four years and I can tell you that, no matter what group of kids I was teaching, they had a lot more trouble managing their emotions during special events.
The bigger the spectacle, the harder time they had.
Trust me when I say that children will thrive from a simplified Christmas routine.
They likely won’t even notice that you simplified things and their day won’t be as much of an emotional roller coaster.
Kids will benefit most from a simplified gift-giving experience and a slower routine on Christmas Day.
They won’t notice that they’re missing out on anything and the simpler activities will be easier for them to handle.
How can I enjoy Christmas more?
I can’t speak for everyone but I have found that simplifying your Christmas holiday is the best way to make time for the things that you really love about Christmas.
To enjoy the holiday season more, stop doing the activities that bring you stress and only keep the stuff that you value.
The less you feel like you have to perform for the holidays, the more genuinely you can appreciate the season as a whole.
What time should you wake up on Christmas morning?
This answer differs according to everyone’s schedules but I personally recommend turning off all the alarms on Christmas day.
Let your body tell you when it’s time to get up and ease into your day.
For those of you with kids, my parents had a good rule that allowed them to sleep in if their kids woke up before them.
The rule in our house was that we were allowed to open our stockings without our parents present. The stockings always had something small we could eat or play with so that we were occupied while our parents were sleeping.
How do you spend Christmas alone?
If you find yourself alone at Christmas, I would recommend you still try to connect with people on this day.
We are social creatures and Christmas is one of the best days for some social self-care.
Try making a call to someone you love if you can’t be with them in person.
If it’s possible, you could also volunteer on Christmas Day. The opportunities vary based on your location but there is usually a soup kitchen open and in need of helping hands.
This would be a great way for you to make some positive human connections even if you find yourself alone on Christmas Day.
Wrapping up
If it has been a struggle in the past to enjoy Christmas without suffering from severe overwhelm and stress, then it may be time to consider simplifying a few things in your annual routine.
Take a look at some of the examples provided and ask yourself what things you feel benefit you most.
If there is any aspect of the Christmas holiday that automatically stresses you out, consider going without it.
It might feel uncomfortable to you at first but it will help you create a more balanced, enjoyable holiday season.
What do you do to make your Christmas break a stress-free holiday?
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