15 Ways to Simplify Your Holiday
How can you simplify your holiday, reclaim its cheer and fully enjoy what the season has to offer? Take what you can from the following 15 ideas and implement them for the upcoming holiday season.
Holidays have gotten out of hand and they seem to be starting earlier each year, so it has become even more important to simplify your holiday. For some, people think they just need to get more organized with their decorations, their calendar, and to begin planning further in advance…say as early as March! As an organizer, I can appreciate this solution. However, what I see, experience, and hear from others is that it is more about simplifying your holiday.
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary
so that the necessary may speak.~Hans Hofmann
- Make a list. This list is different than the typical holiday lists of gifts to buy, meals to make, decorations to put up, etc. For a change of pace take time to list what you love about the holidays as well as what stresses you out. If nothing is coming to mind, use this upcoming holiday season to help you identify them. Keep a journal or simply make bullet points under each heading. Imagine a holiday season without the stressors! Would you be able to enjoy what you love even more? YES! Identify at least one thing that causes stress in your holiday and create a solution for it.
- Greeting Cards. This may be the easiest place to start simplifying. I have read where some people divide their list into two categories and on the even years they send cards to one category and the odd years they send to another. You can also decide not to do cards at all this year and see how it feels. If you miss it, then you can add it into your holiday plan for next season.
- Green Holiday. Did you know that 5 MILLION tons of garbage is generated between Thanksgiving and New Year’s? We can do a lot to help honor our environment during the holidays and not be so wasteful. For great ideas read tips on creating an earth friendly holiday and 10 Green Toys for the holiday.
- True Family Time. Decide to do an activity with family and friends—skating, skiing, bowling, local play, or a hike instead of a gift exchange.
- Tree Solutions. Plant a tree, or use an outdoor tree to decorate, or get an artificial tree to use indoors. If you use a real tree, recycle it or create a recycling program in your area.
- Wrapping Options. Americans spend close to $3 billion per year on wrapping paper! This year use old maps, cloth napkins, reusable cloth bags, or newsprint to wrap your gifts.
- Gift Giving. Simplify your holiday by rethinking gifts this year. What can you give that would be a gift of your time? What kind of experience can you give? Take time to really think about the person you are giving a gift and focus on their interests and values. Consider gifts that are consumable. Maybe give a family gift of a game or puzzle or rechargeable batteries. Or, decide to only give gifts to people in a 20 mile radius of where you live so you can hand deliver them. Or, decide not to give gifts this year. Get ideas for clutter-free and earth friendly gifts, click here.
- Decorating. I know people who love the holiday decorations, but feel overwhelmed when it’s time to decorate their place. Experiment with these suggestions to simplify your holiday when it comes to your decorations.
- Try having a decoration party to put up and to take down the decorations.
- Have a different symbol each year as the focus.
- Only decorate one room.
- Organize your decorations based on the room of the house they will be displayed and take a picture so anyone can decorate your space.
- Keep in mind decorations should bring you joy when you look at them; if they don’t, it is time to pass them along to someone else who will enjoy them.
- TV Freedom. We often don’t know we “NEED” something until we see it on TV. Turn the TV off during the holiday season to make sure amazing marketing tactics do not influence you. Reserve time with the TV to show holiday movies that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
- Organizing. Having a more cheery holiday doesn’t automatically come with being more organized. The key is this: the less you have, the less you expect, and the less you commit to will allow you to be more organized and in the process feel more peace and cheer with the holidays.
- Hire it done. You don’t have to do it alone! If one of the things you love is having all your friends and family over, but you have a hard time finding the time and energy to clean, hire someone to clean before and after the party so you can relax and truly be present at your party. You can also have local cooks make the dessert or main course. You can also decide to eat at a restaurant for the holiday dinner, which will also reduce the chances of overeating and having to find a place for all the leftovers.
- Communication. How ever you decide to simplify your holiday, it is a good idea to first know what that means to you and why you are doing it. Then it is important to share your thoughts with your family and friends. Opening this topic for discussion can often times alleviate the pressures other people have felt and not verbalized. For others, you may find resistance. Be prepared for both responses but know in the end you will simplify your holiday for you and your family.
- Social Events. The holidays create party after party after party! If this becomes too much for you, it is okay to pick the one or two of your favorites and say no to the rest. If you are hosting a party, maybe offer dessert and drinks instead of the big dinner. Make it easy on yourself and offer something different than the other parties.
- Catalog Shopping. It can be fun to flip through the colorful pages, full of the oddest items! Just beware that catalog shopping can contribute to spontaneous shopping, clutter for the one on the receiving end, extra expenses because of shipping, and more catalogs to clog your mailbox. Request to be removed from the mailings you don’t want. Look in the catalogs with a very specific person in mind so you have a higher chance of getting a great gift instead of the automatic waffle flipper for someone who doesn’t eat waffles.
- Budget. Do you know how much money you spend during the holiday season? You may want to take note of that this year. It could be an eye opener. Once you start adding plane tickets, decorations, special foods, gifts, etc. it can be an outrageous amount! To get a handle on the finances you can either reduce the amount that is spent or create a separate savings account for holidays and place a percentage each month into the account. Check out Stages-of-Wealth for more ideas, processes, and motivation on this topic.
My personal journey to simplify my holiday has transformed over the past 4 years. It started with letting go of my expectations. I stopped sending holiday cards, although I continue to send cards to special people in my life throughout the year. I stopped buying holiday gifts, but rather send a gift when I am reminded of the person. I no longer make special holiday travel plans to see family, but rather plan other vacations when it is not so hectic and tickets are more reasonable. I have created stress-free seasons where I can renew, rejoice, and recreate.
Here is to a journey for you to simplify your holiday. May your holiday seasons be celebrated the way you want them to be!
Resources to Simplify Your Holiday
- “Simplify Your Christmas” by Elaine St. James. The tips and ideas can be applied to every holiday.
- Holiday Survival Kit by NewDream.org
- Recycle Trees, and other holiday items
- Skipping Christmas by Jon Grisham. A fun little story to get you thinking about your own holiday rituals.
Reasons to Simplify Your Holiday
- 5 MILLION of extra tons of trash produced in the U.S. each year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
- It takes an average of 4 months for a credit card user to pay off holiday bills.
- The holiday season these days seems less a time of tradition, family and faith than a consumerist binge. And the hidden financial, environmental, and human costs of the commercialization of the holidays are now coming to light: 96% of 8-to-12-year-olds included a big screen TV on their 1997 holiday wish list. But 73% of parents would like to limit their children's TV watching.
- The day on which holiday sales peak varies depending upon which day of the week Christmas falls upon, but the highest sales day is usually either the last Saturday before Christmas or December 23
Suggestions from other readers
This was the best gift I ever received/gave... James and I last year for Christmas decided to take what money we were going to spend on eachother and bought toys for children instead and donated them to the Salvation Army - you can go right into Walmart - pick an age of a child - and shop for THAT child. It was great. We felt fabulous about giving to someone who was in need, giving them a treat and we weren't left with a bunch of gifts that we really didn't need. ~ Joanne
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