When you live with chronic pain or illness, you really do need to plan ahead if you want to have a stress-free Christmas. Actually, doesn’t everyone want a stress-free Christmas?
A Stress-Free Christmas – Is That Even Possible?
There’s so much to think about, isn’t there? Money, gifts, food, where to go, where not to go, who to invite, who not to invite… It’s one stress after another. And we all know that stress doesn’t mix well with any chronic health condition.
8 Tips to Help You Have a Stress-Free Christmas
We want to have fun. We want to enjoy the celebrations. We don’t want to be stressed.
Try the following tips so you can have a stress-free Christmas.
Tip 1 – Get Organized
Make Plans and Lists
If you haven’t already, start making plans now. Write lists of everything you need to do and buy.
Do you want a big family gathering or would you rather just spend the day with your nearest and dearest? Will you go out visiting or stay at home? Will you send cards and gifts this year? How much will you spend? Will it be a traditional Christmas dinner or something more laid back?
There are no rights or wrongs. It’s a personal choice and you are allowed to choose to do it your way. You don’t have to follow traditions. Do what’s right for you because that’s the first step to ensuring that you have a stress-free Christmas.
Tip 2 – Get Help
Don’t Do Everything Yourself
Delegate tasks to other people in the family. Get others involved with things like gift and grocery shopping, decorating the house, gift wrapping, preparing the dinner and setting the table. And make sure everyone gets mucked in to tackle the clean-up after Christmas.
Ask the Guests to Help too
If you’re having guests, ask them to help and even contribute. Perhaps someone could bring the starter. Someone else could bring dessert.
Tip 3 – Buying and Budgeting
Don’t Overbuy
Christmas can become so expensive. Many people buy much more than they need to, so make a shopping list, wait a few days, then reassess it. You might decide to cross some things off the list.
Don’t Overspend
Work out a budget and don’t overspend. If you get into debt for Christmas, you’re starting the new year in debt. Is it worth it for one day?
One big expense is Christmas gifts but you can cut down on the cost of that. Check out this post.
Tip 4 – Gifts
Buy Throughout the Year
Shops are so busy in the lead up to Christmas. If you’re struggling with a health problem, busy, noisy shops are a nightmare and a surefire way to stress you out.
Online Shopping
Shopping online is an excellent way to avoid stress because it means no travelling, crowds or queues. We can shop at whatever time suits us and the best part – your purchases are delivered straight to your door, or even to the recipient’s door.
Remember to set yourself spending limits. It can be easy to get carried away while shopping online.
Gift cards or vouchers
Sometimes it’s too difficult to think about what to buy for someone, therefore it might be easier to give a gift voucher.
Wrapping Gifts
Many shops, including online stores, have a free wrapping service so take advantage of that and save yourself an extra job.
Cut Down of The Cost of Gifts
Remember to check out this post for ideas on how to reduce the cost of Christmas gifts. Cutting down on the cost of gifts will reduce stress levels.
Tip 5 – Christmas Food
Grocery Shopping
Avoid the supermarkets on Christmas Eve as they are normally packed. Most food can be frozen, so shop early and freeze. If you want fresh, you could arrange a home delivery from the supermarket, but you’ll have to book it well in advance.
Cooking at Christmas
Do you like to go the whole hog with a big traditional Christmas feast? Tradition says we must overindulge. But remember, following tradition is not compulsory.
It’s not cast in stone that you must eat turkey and pigs in blankets just because it’s Christmas. If you’d rather have a steak, fish and chips or a vegetarian lasagne, you can. You could even buy something from the frozen section. It will make life much simpler. The choice is yours so do what feels right for you.
If you’re cooking, my big tip is to prepare as much in advance as possible. Prepare veg the day before. Cook what you can in advance, freeze, then defrost and reheat on the day. As well as being less stressful, you’ll have less pain and it will save your energy levels so that you can enjoy the celebrations.
Whether you opt for a traditional Christmas lunch or not, plan and prepare as much as possible in advance to avoid stress. Don’t work in the kitchen all day.
Book a Restaurant
Many hotels and restaurants are open on Christmas day with festive menus. It can be expensive, but many people like it because it removes all the stress of cooking and cleaning up. The downside is timing. You need to book a table for a set time and health conditions don’t always allow for that.
Chinese and Indian takeaways are often open on Christmas Day, so you could even buy a takeaway if you’re not up to cooking at all.
Tip 6 – Guests
Who Should You Invite?
This is your choice and nobody else’s. If you want a quiet stress-free Christmas with only your nearest and dearest, do that. If you would like other guests, invite them. If you’d rather be on your own, that’s fine too. Do what feels right for you.
Argumentative Relatives
If Uncle George and Uncle Alfie always end up arguing, you do not need to invite them. Don’t feel guilty about it.
But if you do invite them, warn them that this is both a stress-free and argument-free Christmas. Tell them you have a naughty step and you’re not afraid to send them there.
Tip 7 – Invitations
Invitations to Dinners and Parties
It’s lovely to be included, but when you live with a chronic health condition, sometimes you just don’t feel up to going out.
When an invitation arrives, you get anxious and the “what ifs” creep in.
“What if I can’t make it on the day?”
“What if my pain flares while I’m there?”
“What if the music is too loud?”
Don’t let ‘what ifs’ control what you do, but if you really don’t want to go, then politely decline the invitation. Never feel guilty about saying no, cancelling or leaving early.
If you find it difficult to decide whether or not to accept an invitation, please read this post.
Tip 8 – Rest
Rest When Needed
If you live with chronic illness or chronic pain, every day is tiring. Christmas day is often more tiring than normal.
Where is the extra energy supposed to come from? Can we magic that out of thin air especially for Christmas? Or does that man with the white beard deliver it to us?
We can’t and he won’t, therefore we need to rest when we can.
Always take some time out if you need to – even if you have guests. Remember that resting is not being rude – it’s self-care.
Do What’s Right for You and Enjoy Christmas
Stress and health conditions don’t mix well together. Do what feels right for you without guilt. The season is often tiring and hard work, but it should also be fun. I hope you can enjoy a stress-free Christmas.
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you’ve found it helpful. Do you have other tips which you’d like to share? Please drop a comment below.
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It’s a shame that the Holidays become such a stressful time of year but add on top of that chronic pain and it’s even worse. This may sound terrible but we often consider just going away for the holidays to not have to deal with the family stress. Add on top of the family stress the worries about gift buying, cooking, wrapping presents and it can ll be too much. I’ve learned in my 50+ years that I need to just slow down and take it one day at a time and try to let things rolls off of me more.
The Holiday times are truly stressful and I couldn’t imagine having chronic pain on top of it all. These tips are very helpful to mitigate stress and to properly prepare and organize. I do hope everyone has a healthy and joyous holiday. Cheers to having a stress free Christmas!
I think it is possible! One of my main things that helped me be less stressful this year is not overwhelming myself with doing too much.
Christmas is such a busy, stressful time of year. I really feel for anyone that is suffering from chronic pain and trying to get through the holiday period and all that it involves.
There are actually some really good tips here for sure. I think it is always about being as organised as possible xx
Gift cards are a life saver.I’ve always been one to gift people with one from their favorite store.
The idea of a stress-free Christmas sounds so crazy out of reach BUT I will admit that I’ve seen a huge reduction in my stress levels since I switched to doing most of my holiday shopping online. I think you might just be onto something here!
Holidays & Christmas time are for complete enjoyment. But to ensure that, planning well in advance is a must to avoid stress. And for those like you who are battling chronic pain help from people around can too be a great relaxant.
Hi Liz,
What a wonderful comprehensive advice! Thank you.
This is definitely helpful to people who have health conditions which add to the holiday stress, but it is also useful for the rest of us. Your tips can be used as a checklist that helps anyone to get organized and complete all preparations efficiently. I can’t think of anything else that you might have missed. I like your point on NOT inviting argumentative guests. I stopped doing that years ago. And of course, guilt is should not be among anyone’s feelings when thinking of own health while preparing for Christmas.
Have a wonderful stress-free Christmas!
I know a lot of people find Christmas time stressing and I am definitely not one of them, I do feel a bit relaxed during the season and just let myself sink into the mood. Not all the gifts, not perfect wrapping – who cares as long as I care about the people
This is great advice! Thank you!
“If Uncle George and Uncle Alfie always end up arguing, you do not need to invite them” – I want to uninvite someone but I can’t, no matter how much I wish I could! ?
You’ve covered so many different aspects, you’ve done an incredibly thorough job yet you’ve made it all so succinct and easy to read. A restaurant or takeaway are actually good ideas for those who don’t have others to celebrate Christmas with, too. It’s silly when you think of how exhausted and stressed we can all get over Christmas, and I think every year it’ll be different but it never is. In the grand scheme of things, it comes and goes very quickly and it’s not worth making ourselves sick-er over. Fantastic post, Liz! ♥
Caz xx
As much as I love Christmas, I also find it stressful because I’ll be seeing some family members that are judgemental towards my chronic illnesses. I find it such a funny idea to put them on the naughty step! It’s hilarious and I’m definitely going to warn them with it if they end up giving me mean comments. 😉
You are right. The idea of even seeing a headline about having a “Stress Free” Christmas seems foreign to me. I can’t even imagine doing it if you have a chronic illness. Possibly it can feel the same, mentally, that is (not physically) as having a special needs child who would possibly throw everything off within a matter of seconds. I once thought I was going to have to cancel his very own birthday party, of which, over 30 people were coming! I have to hand it to you, if you are having a lot of company then you really must have mastered the ideas presented in this post. Because that’s a lot of work even for someone who doesn’t deal with chronic daily pain.
Such good advice!
Wonderful tips you got there and it’s important to remember them to make things a bit easier for you. I always like to plan everything beforehand to keep my thoughts organized.
Some simple but effective tips here. I love the argumentative relatives tip! This time of year can be so stressful and we need to do everything we can to help ourselves.