10 Ways to Practice Self-Care During the Holidays

The holiday season is supposed to be filled with fun, time with loved ones, and a bit of magic unique to this time of year. Unfortunately, it tends to feel chaotic and stressful for most of us.

If you’re overwhelmed by keeping up with holiday parties, gift-giving, and your regular commitments and responsibilities, this post is for you!

Keep reading for ten ways to practice self-care during the holidays so you can make the most of this season without feeling burned out.

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1. Prioritize Your Time:

One of the best books I’ve ever read on time management and establishing priorities is Essentialism by Greg Mckeown. In the book, Greg says, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” What a powerful statement!

Before you say “yes” to every holiday party invite, go out and buy more decorations for your yard, or agree to submit a dessert to your office’s holiday baking competition, consider what you actually want to get out of this holiday season.

Which activities align with how you want to feel this season and who you want to spend it with?

Once you know the answer to that question, you can eliminate the things that do not align with your priorities for this holiday season.

2. Incorporate Some Holiday Joy Into Your Daily Routine:

Hopefully, using the first idea in this post, you can eliminate some unnecessary stress this holiday season.

Still, the holidays are a busy time of year, with our regular routines and responsibilities and additional holiday activities and commitments.

Between keeping up with work deadlines, family & friend commitments, and keeping your house running, there are opportunities to incorporate holiday joy into each day without adding additional stress to your plate.

A Few Ideas for Adding Holiday Joy to Your Routines:

Make & listen to a holiday playlist: You can listen on the way to work while making dinner or cleaning the house. I promise that with this music as a soundtrack to even your more mundane tasks, it’ll still bring you a bit of cheer – you might even find yourself singing along.
Watch a holiday movie: Re-watch a favorite movie you enjoy yearly or branch out and discover a new favorite. Whatever you choose, watching a holiday movie after work can be a great way to unwind and soak up some holiday cheer.
Read or listen to a holiday-themed book: Instead of or in addition to a movie, you can unwind with a few chapters of a holiday-themed book or an audiobook. Need some suggestions? Check out this list of holiday titles on Goodreads.

3. Re-Evaluate Which Traditions Are Worthwhile:

I believe when it comes to the holidays, it’s really easy to keep doing things even though they no longer fit our lifestyle or bring joy simply because they have been a tradition over the years.

I’ve been surprised to find that after a discussion with my family, no one was sad or disappointed by skipping old traditions some years and replacing them with something else that served the same objective: spending time together.

Consider what traditions may be draining you and what alternative options align with you and your loved one’s priorities for this season.

4. Abandon The Idea of The “Perfect” Holiday:

On a similar note to the idea above, try to be flexible with how your holiday celebrations look this season.

This time of year, it’s easy to have a grand idea in our heads of the perfect holiday meal, giving the best gift, having the cutest outfit… the list goes on- but in reality, life happens, and you have to remember there is no such thing as a perfect holiday.

Be mindful that travel delays happen, sometimes recipes don’t turn out well, and things don’t always go according to plan, and that’s perfectly okay!

Embrace the moments and memories of celebrating time with loved ones, and be open to finding joy even when this season doesn’t look exactly how you imagined it would.

5. Set Limits on Gift-Giving:

Don’t stress yourself out by going into debt trying to show people you care about them!

Try to set limits with your friends and family on gift-giving. You could do a Secret Santa or otherwise assign recipients in large groups, so you’re not buying a gift for everyone and instead focusing on one person. Or you could do a white elephant gift exchange, and everyone who wants to participate has to bring a gift, and whoever doesn’t want to participate or doesn’t show up doesn’t have to bring anything.

If you don’t feel comfortable discussing gift-giving boundaries or if the opportunity to discuss just hasn’t come up, consider who you’re going to see this holiday season that you really want to give a gift to and who you could show appreciation for having in your life in another way.

For example, last year, a co-worker I wasn’t expecting a gift from gave me a sweet, handwritten card telling me how much she appreciated working with me. It was perfect and made my day!

Little gestures like a heartfelt note can be much more meaningful (and better for your finances) than buying a bunch of small gifts that may or may not be used by your recipient.

6. Prioritize Experiences Over Things:

I think many of us would say the most important part of the holidays for us is appreciating the time and memories we will make with loved ones. Yet, we emphasize the gifts we’ll give or receive during the holiday season.

Whenever I’ve gotten caught up in all the stress and expectations that come with the holidays, I’ve found that putting more emphasis on fun experiences with loved ones is a good cure.

Some of my favorite experiences over the years have been going out to eat and seeing a Christmas light display, having a game night with family and friends, and watching my favorite holiday movies with my parents.

7. Unplug & Spend Time Offline:

The quickest way to become discontent with your life – even when it’s wonderful – is by comparing it to everyone else’s. Social media can be great in connecting us with loved ones and friends worldwide, but it tends to make you doubt whether what you have and are doing is enough.

As someone who struggles with wasting time scrolling through social media, I know I want to be more mindful of dedicating time to being unplugged to savor this holiday season.

A Few Ideas for Reducing Screen Time:

Determine when you’ll stop using your phone for the day so you can unwind without the temptation to scroll on your phone.
Keep your phone out of sight: Place it on a charger away from where you’re hanging out or unwinding, or keep it in your pocket or purse when out to dinner.
If you’re an iPhone user, consider using the screen time feature in your settings to help you maintain social media usage boundaries.

8. Make Time for Rest:

Finding rest in any busy season of life is difficult! But there’s an extra challenge added at the end of the year with wanting to end the year well, looking towards what the next year can bring, and trying to get everything done even to have enough time for rest.

You have to set aside some time to rest and recharge, or whatever fun things you have planned this season will not be enjoyable.

9. Make Time for Gratitude & Reflection:

Consider setting aside a few minutes each day to pause, reflect, and identify a few things you are grateful for.

Starting and ending my day with The Five Minutes Journal helps me be mindful about incorporating gratitude and reflection into my daily routine. It’s a great guided journal for those who haven’t journaled before because the prompts are simple and don’t take long, so you can easily make it a habit.

10. Be Present This Holiday Season:

My final tip for practicing self-care during the holidays is to be present.

Being fully present on any given day can prove challenging, but you’ll get more out of the holiday season if you are mindful of the moment you’re in.

Slow down. Put down the phone. Don’t dwell on what went wrong with your holiday plans hours or days before. Don’t rush through whatever activity or moment you’re in.

Simply stop and savor life from moment to moment.

Appreciate the beauty of the Christmas lights and decorations around you. Enjoy family game night without thinking about the next activity. Notice what is bringing your loved ones joy in this season. And finally, have some fun!