It is an instantaneous, sociological phenomenon. As soon as the weather gets colder and the first jingly sound of holiday music is piping through the stores, a wave of stress washes over people. There are suddenly so many things to do and errands to run. Life becomes an endless and insurmountable checklist of baking preparations, holiday parties, shopping sprees and Grinch-like hassles. Every year, like clockwork, this is what happens. There is little variation. You would think that we would learn from one year to the next what to expect as the holidays approach. You would think we would have a game plan to the most successful way to pull off Christmas and New Years with minimal headache and trauma. Perhaps we actually thrive on the added stress that goes along with the holiday season. Of course, we would never admit it, right? However, that is a whole different sociological phenomenon. As we all look forward to the holiday season, perhaps a couple of tips on how to achieve and maintain a Zen-like approach are in order.
1. Do not wait to go shopping until the last minute. This is commonsense. This is self-explanatory. This is what the ghost of Christmas past taught us long ago. But every year there is always those last half-dozen gifts that we are relentlessly pounding the pavement trying to find.
2. Do not get overwhelmed with baking. Christmas baking always starts out fun. Making cookies or fudge with the family is a great holiday pastime, and the smell of baked goods on a cold winter day is soothing, nostalgic and romantic. But somewhere in the run up to Christmas it all falls apart. The joy and good holiday feeling is replaced with long and frazzled weekends tirelessly labouring over batches of Russian Teacakes. Why does this happen? For some reason we feel obliged to bake cookies for everyone we know. Friends, family, acquaintances, the postman, the bartender at the local pub, suddenly everyone is on the list to receive of tin of your specialty cookies. Less baking will reduce stress.
3. Attend as many Christmas parties as you want, but do not host your own. Throwing a Christmas party is a no-no. There are enough things to do around the holidays. The last thing you need is to play host. You are not a curmudgeon if you do not throw a part. Think about all the cooking, baking and cleanup, not to mention the shopping to decorate the house. This is terrible holiday stressor, and the hangover from such a lavish event can last well into the New Year.
Shopping is the number one activity that causes stress around the holidays. You can minimize the headaches and the bustling crowds if you take care of some of your shopping on the Internet. There are no long lines and crowds of frantic, last minute shoppers in the quiet confines of your living room. Throw another log onto the fire, sit back and order those gifts.
To enjoy the Christmas holidays stress-free, get yourself a credit card that offers credit card rewards, giving you instant savings on your holiday season purchases.
