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It’s very easy to get stressed at Christmas. Which, when you think about it, is ridiculous. For most of us, Christmas is a case of having a roast dinner, perhaps with family or friends, exchanging gifts and having fun. It should all be so simple, and something for everyone to enjoy.
So where does all this stress come from?
Well, you could blame the media for starters. Christmas adverts start in autumn, and that’s even before the big hyped adverts launch in November. Magazines are full of articles about the perfect Christmas, with wonderful images of how your home is supposed to look. And, as for the shops, they seem to be full of Christmas stock the minute the kids go back to school in September.
Add to this the memories of previous Christmases – either good or bad – and it’s not surprising we feel under pressure to make this year’s Christmas into some kind of Hollywood-worthy experience.
But it’s important to keep a grip on reality and remember that Christmas Day is just one day, and that the whole idea behind the Christmas season is to celebrate life and love, and take time out to be with others and be grateful for the good things in your life.
If you stay focused on the meaning of Christmas, and make a conscious effort not to be drawn into all the hype, this could be your best Christmas yet. So in this article, we share a few tips about how to de-stress this festive season.
If you’re not careful, the festive season can become overwhelmed with different events and activities. You can end up feeling as if all you’ve done is rush around, and you’ll be glad when it’s all over.
So before it gets to that point, make time to think of a few things you’d really like to do this Christmas season. These might include experiences such as Christmas markets, a carol service, pantomime or ice skating. Or it may be a case of planning casual get-togethers with special friends or cosy times at home with family.
But make sure that you get to do some of the things you would love to do over Christmas, and enjoy the season.
When you’re planning some things that you would love to do this Christmas, you may realise that you also need to start saying no to a few other things. These may be Christmas traditions that you always go along with but have never really enjoyed. So why do them? Even if it feels a bit awkward deciding to opt out of something that others are expecting you to do, if you don’t enjoy it at all, why spend precious time (and probably money) on it.
And if it is something that you do with friends and family, you could always suggest an alternative activity that you would enjoy more instead.
If you are hosting Christmas, learn to be satisfied with “good enough”. It is unlikely that your home will ever achieve the level of supposed perfection portrayed in TV movies and magazines. Always remember that these are stage sets and photo shoots rather than fully functioning family homes.
Rather than wearing yourself out spending weeks cleaning, just make sure that your home gets a bit of a spruce-up before the decorations go up. For a couple of weeks before you put them up, why not adopt the 20 minute rule: focus on one room in your home and just clean what you can get done in 20 minutes. Then you won’t feel exhausted and resentful from slogging away at cleaning, but your short bursts of effort will soon start making a visible difference.
The most important thing is that your home is comfortable and welcoming to guests rather than feeling like a show home.
Whatever you plan to eat on Christmas Day, it’s not the time to be trying out ambitious new recipes. A much better idea is to stick to tried and tested. This will ensure that everyone eats something good, and that you won’t end up in a complete stress mess.
The key thing to a successful and stress-free Christmas lunch is to keep things simple. Go ahead and buy in ready-made elements where needed, such as starters, stuffing, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake – unless there are things that you would really enjoy making yourself. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your meal will be somehow inferior unless everything is homemade.
And why not also keep table settings simple too? Unless you want lots of flowers, garlands and candles etc over the table, a simple centrepiece and festive napkins would be good enough. And will leave you more space on the table for food and drink!
We discussed earlier the importance of doing things that you want to do over Christmas. But many of these are likely to be active and perhaps outside the home. So it’s also important to make sure that you are making some downtime for yourself.
It’s up to you what you do. Perhaps you fancy sitting down one afternoon watching a Christmas film. Or soaking in a long bath, playing a game, reading a magazine or even just closing your eyes and daydreaming for a few moments. Allow yourself time to be on your own and regroup.
Another key aspect of this is to stick to the little daily routines that you love. For example, if you like a walk or run every morning, watch an episode of Friends when you come in from work, or read a book before going to bed at night, keep those routines going as far as possible during the festive season. Make time for the little extras that brighten up your day.
And try to get plenty of sleep. Good quality and quantity of sleep are important to overcome stress and help your immune system stay healthy.
It’s very easy to end up spending too much time indoors over the Christmas season. Whether it’s eating, drinking, socialising or trying to finish all the jobs that you still insist you must do, it’s all indoors.
But fresh air and exercise is really important to fight stress and also boost our emotional and physical health. So no matter how cold it is, wrap up warm and get some fresh air, even if it’s only for half an hour.
Fortunately there are so many opportunities at this time of year to get out and about. During the day, how about heading out for a walk and maybe a pub drink or lunch? And if it’s snowing there is the additional choice to build a snowman or have a snowball fight. A nighttime walk to check out the local Christmas lights is also another fun option.
So make time for exercise and fresh air, to help boost your immune system and keep you feeling well this festive season.
Last but not least, why not take a few days’ break from social media over Christmas? Prioritise face to face time with others, and quiet restful time on your own instead.
Social media can be overwhelming with its amount of news, ads, voices, opinions and general “noise”. There is also the issues of FOMO, where it seems that everyone else is having a better time than you (which they’re probably not, but just portray it that way).
It can all become stressful without us realising it, and can eat away at our peace of mind. So why not put it all on the back burner for a couple of days and focus on the here and now instead? You never know, you might enjoy that so much that you make it a New Year’s resolution to limit your time on social media from now on.
We hope that this article has given you a few ideas about how you can de-stress this festive season.
If you run into any unexpected financial issue that is stressful, remember that Loans 2 Go offers emergency loans that may be able to help.
For more helpful lifestyle and financial tips, visit us here again soon at Loans 2 Go.
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