Enjoying Silly Season!

6 Tips For Surviving Christmas Stress

The holiday season is one of the most stressful times of year. Not only do you have the stress of finding the right present for people, but you have the stress of paying for Christmas and the stress of Christmas parties, seeing family or even the stress of being alone at a time which is traditionally centred around family.

Stress Management

It is a time to be merry and not a time to be stressed.

The following tips will help you to beat stress this Christmas and enjoy the holiday period even more.

Tip 1 – Establish a Christmas Budget At The Start Of The Holiday Season

Christmas is a time when you overspend and then spend the rest of the year worrying about it and how you are going to pay it off.

At the start of the holiday season, make a list of everyone you need to buy presents for and set yourself an affordable budget. It’s very easy to get caught up in present one up man ship, but avoid it and stick to your budget, you will thank yourself in a few months time.

Set yourself a budget for food, travel and everything else over Christmas to ensure that you are not stressing about money.

Tip 2 – Get Yourself Organised

Christmas is a very hectic time so make sure you are organised. Make yourself lists of all the people you need to buy for, all the food you need and places to go. Start your Christmas shopping early, write your cards early and be organised. Being able to start December with most of your Christmas shopping done will really reduce your stress levels.

Tip 3 – Know Family Arrangements

Family is one of the biggest sources of stress during the festive season. Whether it is due to clashes within the family or the sheer logistics and travelling required to get together, it is a very serious source of stress. Make sure you know your family arrangements well in advance. Don’t leave it to the last minute, start planning as early as you need to. This will reduce your stress because you will know what you are doing, where you are going and when it is all happening.

Tip 4 – Avoid People Who Create Stress

There are always people you feel you should visit over Christmas which cause you or your family stress. These are people who are best avoided as it is not worth getting stressed and spoiling Christmas. Visit people because you want to, not because you feel you ought to. Ought to and should basically means you are doing something out of a sense of guilt, not because you want to. Spend the holiday season with people you want to be with.

Tip 5 – Make Travel Arrangements In Advance

Travelling at Christmas is hectic and expensive. You need to make sure all travel arrangements are made as far in advance as possible in order to benefit from cheaper prices and to ensure you can get the tickets you need. Remember, a lot of people travel at Christmas, so make sure you are well prepared and plan to travel outside of peak times if you can.

Tip 6 – Make Up With People

Life is too short to hold grudges and the time comes when it is just too late to make up. Take some time out over Christmas to heal past grudges and arguments between you and some of the people around you. Often these arguments are a source of stress and by healing them you can reduce the stress.

Christmas is a time for merriment and enjoyment. Take some time out and reduce your stress levels so that you can really enjoy the festive season.