Holiday Tips for Busy Grown-Ups

Three Holiday Tips for Busy Grown-Ups

Many of us really enjoyed holidays when we were kids. But the Christmas season can be tough to enjoy as you get older. With work, family, shopping, and everything else, it turns from a happy and enjoyable holiday into a big cluster of stress and obligations.
I’d like to share a few simple tips that have helped people recapture some of the joy they used to have for the winter holidays.

Schedule some nostalgia.
One easy way of regaining some enjoyment of the holidays is to actually schedule it. The nice thing about being a kid was that other people took care of the details and scheduled everything. Now as an adult, you have to be intentional about creating your own time to have any fun and excitement for the holidays.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or complicated. You can set aside 10 minutes to listen to that one album you loved every Christmas, or an hour in the kitchen to fix a nostalgic dinner or desert. You can set aside a few hours to watch your favorite holiday movie, either alone or with someone else. Finding the time for one or two activities can help you remember your favorite things about the season. The point is to remember that it doesn’t happen by itself, you have to actually make time, or it won’t happen.

Give something.
One way many people can enjoy the holidays is to give…. in the right way. Many people find shopping for gifts to be a chore. If you fit in this category, you can still enjoy giving, you just have to more intentionally choose how you do it. Many people volunteer for a local charity. Others make a handmade gift for one or two special people.
But remember, it doesn’t have to be huge or complicated. The point is to reduce stress, not add to it. Making a simple batch of brownies or cookies (even if they’re the “break and bake” type) for the office can still be a nice way of giving without creating stress. Volunteering an hour to help someone wrap presents can add to the happiness of both people. Keep it simple.

Connect with people.
Many adults spend the holiday season stuck in their own head, thinking: “I have to get this many gifts and finish this much work before vacation and get this toy for the kids and and and…..”
A great way to get out of your head is to connect with the people in your life. Invite a friend over for coffee, or a business associate out to lunch. Call someone you miss and spend some time catching up. Connecting with people you enjoy can enhance your holiday experience and reduce the stress that comes with the season. And if nothing else, commiserating with someone over stress can help relieve some of it.
The end of the year can be a stressful time at work, with family, with weather, and a lot of other stresses in the bargain. Try a couple of the tips above, and hopefully, you’ll have a little more happiness and a little less stress in your Christmas season.

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