How to turn Christmas 2023 into the best one yet

Make use of these valuable holiday stress tips and turn Christmas 2023 into the best one yet – WITHOUT the overwhelm!!

The coziest Welcome, my dear Sunday (and probably Christmas-) lovers out there! 🤗

I can’t believe it’s October already again! 🙏 I do have to say – October and in general autumn is my absolute favorite month/season of the entire year.

It’s getting cold outside and cozy inside. I can drink tea alllll day and wear my favorite turtlenecks. The fashion is THE best in fall and I’m just a sucker for all things autumn. 🍁🍂

And, of course, we have to say it out loud – Christmas is around the corner, which is pretty nice as well. 🎅

IF (!!) you’re ready for it, that is. 😉

Now, if you’ve found your way to Sunday Journals and especially this blog post, you and I may share one or the other similarity when it comes to the holiday season.

I do love the Christmas season and everything about it. I love the cold, the hot beverages, the markets and all that classic stuff.

However, I still have a tendency to get stressed and overwhelmed in the weeks before Christmas day every single year AGAIN.

Even though by now, we should know the deal, right?

In this post, I’d like to share a few actionable holiday stress tips on how to avoid the overwhelm and stress of this years’ holiday season.

Real Talk

Let’s take a closer look at this. In my universe, Christmas is (maybe a bit exaggerated, but close) all the social obligations and expectations from a year crammed into 4 weeks.

We, the sensitive ones, are already overwhelmed in the extended version during the year – a family obligation in April, a job-related event in May and two birthday parties in June from your closest friends.

Very likely I’ll cancel two or three of those due to excessive demands.

It is therefore extremely important for us to prepare mentally and physically for the season in order to experience a calm and happy Christmas this year.

Because how amazing would it be to start off the new year fully energized and ready to kickstart 2024 with a loud bang? 🎇

Preetttyyyy amazing, I would say.

So let’s dive into todays’ topic. Let me give you some tips on how to best use these holiday stress tips to get there. 🧙‍♂️

Preparation is key

There are several things about the holiday season that stress us out.

• Social obligations
• Family obligations
• GIFTS
• Self-care routines suffer
• Not enough time (if you don’t plan wisely)

So, we have to find a way to reduce these stressors as much as possible.

Whilst we cannot prepare much in regards to any social gatherings we might be invited to, we can however plan ahead our personal obligations during Christmas time.

Gifts, gifts and even more gifts

Probably one of the biggest stressors out there and super time-consuming, if not done right, is the Christmas gift story. 🎁

And at the same time, it’s the EASIEST to avoid. How?

Well, if you “just” plan out your gift strategy a little bit earlier this year than usually.

I’m talking October to mid November. That should be sufficient.

Write down your list of people you want to get some nice presents for this year.

Very important side note – you do NOT have to get presents for every single person in your circle, okay? 

While it’s a nice tradition to gift other people for Christmas, it’s definitely not a MUST. We live in an era where in this part of the world, everyone has absolutely everything while there are people and countries out there who have absolutely nothing.

So, if you are struggling anyways with ideas as to what to get your people this year, you might think about something different, more social this year.

Maybe you can do something along the lines of a charitable “gift” or donate to a non-profit organization that provides gifts for children in need? Check out this post on Oprah Daily for some inspiration.

This actually kills two birds with one stone.

You don’t have to think about an original new gift idea (which is impossible) for your loved ones, you also do something amazing for the people in need.

And that means? Yessss, one stressor less on your holiday list. ✅

Do not wait until the last second as it WILL lead to stress eventually. 

In regards to your really close family and friends, whom you’d like to really get something nice, block some time on your calendar, brainstorm and buy it as soon as you have an idea.

Also, you might end up with a not so original, obviously last-minute gift that no one actually really needed in the first place. Classic waste of money and energy.

Dare to say NO

Holiday Stress Tips 101. Another area, which we can influence wisely before and during the holiday season is our highly valued and much needed self-care time.

Especially before entering the new year, we love to get our creative juices flowing as to how we want to spend our new year, which habits we’d like to form, which goals we want to accomplish etc.

There is this energetic spark by the end of the year that gets us motivated to move towards our dreams and goals and THIS time, for real… 😉

Unfortunately, however, we are run over by all these obligations (christmas parties, cookie parties, mulled-wine parties, and sooo many more) that we do not even find the time to focus on this energetic spark inside of us.

This year, let’s do it a bit differently.

Here at Sunday Journals, we love a good challenge and to get out of our comfort zone. 

People-pleasing and de-prioritizing ourselves has not gotten us ANYwhere close to where we want to be.

So, Sunday Lovers, let’s get out of our comfort zone together. Let’s introduce the next holiday stress tips.

I want you to be bold this holiday season. 💪

Let’s start now with forming a new habit called DARING TO SAY NO. 

You will likely get quite a few christmassy invitations. Which is nice, however, if you join every single one you’re invited to, you will be overwhelmed.

So, plan ahead wisely this year. Think about where you want to join and where you don’t want to join BEFOREHAND and be prepared to refuse an invitation as soon as you get it.

You’re a sensitive soul that loves all things ME-TIME and SELF-CARE? Or you’re just getting started with your HIGHER SELF JOURNEY? No matter where you are in your self-love journey, I invite you to join our „Me-Time-First“ community and get valuable and actionable bits on all things self-care, slow and intentional living and how to successfully chase your wildest dreams!

How to do that?

Clarity. Get clear on which invitations you are definitely going to join (e.g. your parents mulled-wine party, your best friends cookie party,…) and write it down.

Then, I want you to get clear on which invitations you are NOT going to accept. Now, of course you don’t know which invitations are going to come and which won’t.

You can however think about scenarios that might appear.

Maybe you overheard your colleague talk about a little Christmas gathering she is planning to do for the team in December, which is something you just don’t have the energy right now to take part.

For these kinds of scenarios, I want you to be prepared with a friendly but assertive excuse as to why you cannot join this year. 🗯️

This might look something super easy along the lines of:

„Thanks so much for the invitation, I’d love to come, however I already have plans for that day.“

Simple as that, and not even a lie, as you probably have self-care plans for yourself. 😋

Related reads for later

How to declutter your mind and get clear on your goals

The benefit of having these excuses ready to shoot is that you don’t get into the awkward moment when someone personally asks you to stop by and your politeness makes you say “Sure, I’ll definitely stop by, thanks for the invite!”, when deep inside you are already annoyed you said Yes.

Trust me, this will help you immensely in the long run. You are going to be so happy and relieved, when the day comes and you were brave (and farsighted) enough to avoid this social obligation.

The result of your new habit?

You will have enough time and energy to still take care of yourself during the stressful holiday time, which is vital for your energy levels.

The regained time you now have you can reinvest in your self-care routines.

Allow yourself to take it slow

Now, if you’re like me and you also love this beautiful christmassy time of the year to the fullest, you probably tend to stress yourself out even when there is absolutely no reason for it. Hi there, holiday stress tips.

I want you to remember that…

🌟 it is absolutely fine, if you skip Christmas decorations this year.

🌟 nobody will judge you for not showing up to every mulled-wine gathering in town.

🌟 you are allowed to watch Love Actually already in November and without your family

🌟 you do not have to make every Pre-christmas weekend something special – it is more than okay to just treat it as every other weekend of the year (because it is)

🌟…you do not have to have the biggest and most unique presents for your family and friends

Take out the stress of the allegedly set obligations and only do whatever feels right to you.

Let’s get the season started 🎄

Make it the coziest, most wonderful time for yourself and your loved ones without the pressure of making it “the best Christmas ever”.

If you follow these holiday stress tips and let go of expectations, this years’ Christmas will automatically become something truly magical. 🌟

Now, I hope this post inspired you to take action and slow down where needed.

Let’s always keep in mind that we can only do so much in our lives and with our energy available.

So let’s be careful as to where we put our energy.

I wish you the most beautiful and coziest time now in the next few months and I hope you can incorporate some of these tips into your Christmas preparations.

Talk to you soon,

Noni 💕

P.s. Bonus Hack – Share these holiday stress tips with family and friends, so you are on the same page this year!! 😉