Peace of Mind Organizing

Changing up holiday gifts this year

8 November 2021

I’m a big proponent of letting the holidays be easier by planning ahead. This year it’s more important than ever to plan ahead for holiday gift giving. That’s because supply-chain issues might make last-minute shopping even more stress-inducing than usual if the items you want to buy are not available. Plus, the postal service is slowing down delivery so you’ll need to get packages in the mail extra early.

So if you haven’t already, I encourage you to give some thought to what you want to give the people on your list and then buy the gifts now. If that doesn’t feel great, I have a radical idea.

Consider not giving gifts to everybody.

Take a look at the adults on your list. Are there any people you could propose not exchanging gifts with this year? It doesn’t have to be a permanent arrangement. You could use the weird time we’re in as an excuse to give it a try. (And if you’re like me, you’ll stick with it.)

If it feels too difficult to suggest no gifts, maybe you could propose sharing an experience with someone on your list, rather than exchanging physical gifts. A walk in the park together, for example. Or a long phone or Zoom call. Or play an online game together. (I’ve been playing online Scattergories with dear friends every week for a year and a half and it’s been amazing.) Another option, of course, would be to give a donation in the gift-recipient’s name to charity they support.

The 2021 holiday season has the potential to be extra stressful for last-minute shoppers. But it doesn’t have to be. Here’s my advice:

• Buy your gifts now or
• Decide not to buy gifts at all

To me, that feels so much easier. I exchange gifts with very few people and I have such an easy holiday season. If this resonates with you, I encourage you to give it a try!

Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash

Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays

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