5 Ways to Beat Holiday Stress

While `tis the season to be jolly, for many of us the holiday season can also be a stressful time. With all the pressure to cook, gather and shop, it’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed during the holidays.

The weight of stress can affect our health in many negative ways, impacting our focus, productivity and well-being. Managing stress may feel impossible. But there are some simple, science-backed tools to help you cope with stress during the holidays and all year long. These are five ways you can beat holiday stress.

Rein in Your Expectations

Being disappointed can be stressful. It can lead to anxiety and even depression during the holidays. Know that it’s OK if your holiday is not a series of greeting card moments. The holidays are about making good memories, not about being perfect. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment by romanticizing the holidays. Instead, make a list of traditions you feel you can and want to uphold.

Set Boundaries

Whether it’s saying no to an invitation or choosing to spend less money on gifts, setting boundaries can feel good. It can also reduce the stress that comes from feeling overwhelmed. Not only will saying “no” or buying less help during the holidays, but it can also help after – when the holiday bills come due.

So if you find the demands of the season too much, find a polite way to decline an invitation. Or leave your credit cards at home when you go shopping and pay for everything in cash. That way you won’t overspend when faced with the mountains of holiday merch in stores. You’ll be thankful for it come January.

Give Yourself the Gift of Self-care

Many of us are so focused on pleasing others during the holidays that our own needs end up on the backburner. This year, add self-care to your holiday to-do list. Take some time out of your busy schedule to do something for you.

Especially during stressful times, it’s important to eat a balanced diet, get enough sleep and stay physically active. All three are great ways to reduce stress and nurture yourself during a chaotic season. There is lots of research telling us that these things are key to keeping our bodies and minds balanced. When we’re balanced on the inside, the mad rush of the holidays won’t seem so overwhelming on the outside.

Take a Time Out

Some level of stress is healthy. We need it to survive. For example, if we feel a threat, stress gets our heart pumping and puts us on high alert. But too much stress can put us in an ongoing state of high alert, which is not healthy. This is when we need to tune out the pressures of the world and tune into our own needs.

Luckily, there are tools we can practice at home to do this. Mediation is one important tool. So are yoga and Tai Chi. These ancient practices were designed to help our bodies and minds find strength, peace and balance. In the process, they help us fight stress.

Don’t Forget to Laugh

Laughter really is good medicine. It’s also a powerful tool for fighting stress. Studies show  that laughing reduces stress hormones in big ways. We learn how to laugh even before we learn how to speak. That puts laughter in the category of important survival skills. So when holiday stress strikes, cue up that silly cat video or listen to babies giggling (whatever works for you) and get in a good belly laugh. You’ll feel the stress start to melt away.

Practice these five science-backed tips during the holidays and all year when you’re feeling overwhelmed. The health benefits of reducing stress are the gift that keeps on giving.

Sources: How to Relax in Stressful Situations: A Smart Stress Reduction System,  Healthcare, 2020; Sleep, food, exercise, stress: Why working on one of these can improve the others,  Mayo Clinic, 2023; Laughter as medicine: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies evaluating the impact of spontaneous laughter on cortisol levels,  PLOS One, 2023; I’m So Stressed Out! Fact Sheet,  National Institute of Mental Health

Originally published 12/1/2014; Revised 2020, 2021, 2024