Most of us enjoy the Christmas season but with it comes the stress of trying to get everything done perfectly and on time. How can we have more time to reach out and help others if we ourselves are stressed out?

1. Rethink your traditions. If you always make fruitcake, chocolates, cookies, deserts, crafts, and cards maybe you could skip a few of them. Or plan to do just a few of them each week so it doesn’t jam up the week before Christmas.  Check with your family and see which traditions are important to them.
2. Buy your gifts early. Have a goal to be done shopping by Dec 15. Or better yet buy your gifts online and avoid the holiday crowds.
3. Have guests help with the holiday meal. Are you the one that always hosts the Christmas dinner? Ask your family or guests to bring along a dish or a desert. Maybe you could provide the hot food and they could supply the cold dishes.
4. Plan ahead and make lists. Decide what needs to be done each day in the 2 weeks before Christmas. If you aren’t getting the items done each day then you know that you will have to skip a few things. Yes, you need to clean before guests come but does everything need to be scrubbed?
5. Stay home more and make sure you get your sleep. There are so many neat things that you can do over the holidays. But if you don’t get your sleep and get sick you may have to skip some special outings. So decide which is the most important to your family and the other nights just stay home and relax.

So with these simple steps maybe we can relax and remember the real meaning of Christmas. It’s not about gifts, lights, and shopping, but it is a time to remember that God sent the best gift of all, His Son JESUS.

How have you done this Christmas? What are some of your methods for reducing stress?