A Clutter-Free Christmas
A Christmas clutter hangover can leave you feeling the effects for longer than a few days.
I love Christmas! The excitement on my children's faces, catching up with family and friends, beautiful food, and time off work to spend at the beach. What more could you ask for?
But there's also a teeny weeny bit of dread. Do you ever feel like this?
When you're already juggling the day to day, all the added tasks and organisation that you need to do can leave you feeling stressed and exhausted. Planning events, shopping for presents, wrapping, functions to go to, holidays to book.
Have you ever heard of the 'planning fallacy? It's a phenomenon where you underestimate how much time and effort tasks take despite your previous experience. I know I have experienced this, the chaotic last-minute rush to get the Christmas dinner on the table or the presents wrapped and under the tree. There is no doubt that Christmas is a considerable time and effort sapper.
Then there are the expectations you place on yourself of achieving the perfect Christmas. Have you ever achieved this? No, me neither. Did it leave you feeling a tad disappointed? Yes, me too. Was all the effort worth it? Hmm.
In recent years, the amount of waste and clutter generated at Christmas time has made me feel bad, particularly from unwanted gifts.
Unwanted gifts that cost money, time to buy and wrap, that don't get used or played with, have to be homed, tidied away, maintained, and eventually removed.
Do you ever feel guilty about money wasted or that your child doesn't play with things bought for them? Guilty about gifts you've received but didn't want?
This guilt can see you hanging onto these things, cluttering up your spaces, getting in your way and adding to your burden.
I wonder if we get more pleasure from seeing and unwrapping presents than the actual present itself?
All the trimmings that go with Christmas can see you buying things you don't need. It's easy to get carried away trying to create that picture-perfect Christmas. You can feel pressured into saying 'yes' to things you don't want to do, using up precious time that could be spent on something that you want to do.
“ By the time the big day comes, you can end up feeling stressed out and exhausted and not enjoying it as much you thought you would.”
So how do you achieve a clutter-free Christmas?
Is it possible to curate your Christmas to be one that you enjoy, that doesn't leave you feeling bloated by all the excess and clutter? I think it’s helpful to identify the things that may have made you feel bad in the past, things like:
Spending more money than you want.
Receiving gifts you don’t want.
Children’s gifts played with for 2 mins and then tossed aside.
Not spending enough time with the people that matter.
Overcommitting and taking on too much.
Overeating and piling on pounds.
Being left with a messy house for weeks after and struggling to find the energy and motivation to put all these things away somewhere.
Not getting outside enough and doing fun things.
You can then start working out what you can do differently this year. Here are some tips to a curated, clutter-free and relaxing Christmas:
Buy experiences instead of physical gifts (tickets / vouchers / memberships / subscriptions / classes / holidays). Things that you can do as a family are great.
Avoid buying things that people don't want or need by asking everyone to make a Christmas wish list.
Buy quality things built to last that can be reused or recycled.
Buy one main gift and avoid buying fillers (these are often the things that become clutter). If you want to fill out the Santa sack, buy practical things that are needed and will be used (socks, school uniform, sporting equipment.)
If you receive a gift you don't want, don't feel guilty. Send it straight to the charity shop and let someone who does want it get value from it.
Plan out your Christmas menu's, based on the number of people you are catering for. Only shop for what you need and avoid buying extra 'just in case.
Focus on love and connection. What things can you incorporate to make Christmas more fun and exciting, focusing less on the material?
Thinking about others at Christmas
It can be easy to get carried away planning our own Christmas's, but for some people, Christmas can be isolating. They may not have family nearby to celebrate with, or they may be going through a difficult period in life. Extending an invite can make a difference in how they feel, and make you feel good.
Giving to charities at Christmas is also a way to change the focus.
Many charities have special appeals at this time of the year. Below are a few of them:
Like so many things in life, less is more when it comes to Christmas. Will you be doing anything differently this year?