The Christmas Overwhelm
Why the Season Feels So Much - And How to Make It More Fun
Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year…
but for many of us, it’s also the most overloaded.
The pressure starts early: perfect plans, perfect gifts, perfect memories, perfect families, perfect food, perfect festive spirit. Add in end-of-year deadlines, social expectations, family dynamics and a diary that expands like a snowball rolling downhill - and suddenly “festive cheer” feels more like “festive fear”.
If you’ve ever thought:
“I love Christmas… but also, it’s a lot,”
you’re not alone. And you’re not wrong.
Let’s talk about the gap between Christmas in our heads and Christmas in real life - and how to make this season a little lighter, kinder and (importantly) more fun.
The Christmas We Imagine
The imagination version of Christmas looks like a John Lewis advert:
candlelight
cosy jumpers
your favourite song playing softly
everyone getting along
a clean kitchen
hot chocolate that somehow makes itself
We picture a calm, grateful, connected December.
We expect ourselves to “feel festive”.
We assume families will be harmonious.
We imagine traditions unfolding effortlessly.
It’s a lovely fantasy - and totally normal to want it.
The Christmas We Actually Get
Reality is… well… messier.
✨ Families disagree.
✨ Kids melt down.
✨ We overspend.
✨ We overcommit.
✨ We forget presents and buy last-minute tat from the coop station.
✨ The nice jumper never arrives on time.
✨ The turkey is still frozen.
✨ Someone always says something they shouldn’t at the dinner table.
✨ By the time Christmas Day comes, we’re too exhausted to enjoy it.
And in the middle of it, many people quietly think:
“Is it supposed to feel like this?”
Here’s the truth: Christmas isn’t broken - our expectations are just unrealistically high.
But the good news? You can reset them.
So How Do We Make Christmas More Fun - Not More Work?
Here are some realistic, human, pressure-free shifts that actually help.
✅ 1. Pick Your “Big Three”
You can’t do all of Christmas.
But you can do the parts that matter most.
Choose:
3 things you want
3 things your family actually cares about
3 things you can happily let go of
Suddenly December becomes manageable.
✅ 2. Declare At Least One “Lazy Day”
A full day with no plans.
No hosting.
No expectations.
Pyjamas.
Films.
Leftovers.
A walk if you feel like it.
This alone can change the entire tone of your Christmas.
✅ 3. Stop Trying to Make Everyone Happy
It’s impossible.
Truly.
Someone will not like the presents.
Someone will be late.
Someone will comment on the roast potatoes.
Your job is not to manage everyone else’s emotions.
Your job is to create moments of joy where you can - and let the rest be what it is.
✅ 4. Wrap the Presents… Badly
Hear me out.
The pressure to wrap beautifully is peak unnecessary stress.
Lean in.
Wrap badly.
Use gift bags.
Stuff things with tissue paper.
Label with a Sharpie.
Embrace the chaos.
Nobody actually cares.
✅ 5. Switch “Perfect Traditions” for “Easy Traditions”
Traditions shouldn’t feel like admin.
Examples:
– Movie night
– A neighbourhood walk to see lights
– Bacon sandwiches on Christmas Eve
– A family board game
– Hot chocolate in the car while listening to cheesy music
Small, simple moments → big memories.
✅ 6. Say No With Kindness (and Zero Guilt)
You don’t have to attend every drinks, every dinner, every catch-up.
This is a season of giving -
including giving yourself boundaries.
Your energy is worth protecting.
You’re allowed to choose what you have capacity for.
✅ 7. Let “Good Enough” Be the New Christmas Standard
Good enough tree.
Good enough food.
Good enough hosting.
Good enough mood.
Good enough gifts.
Perfection isn’t festive - it’s draining.
Good enough is joyful, human and sustainable.
🎅 The Moco Coaching View
Christmas is not a performance.
It’s a collection of moments - and the moments that matter are rarely the ones we plan for. They’re the spontaneous ones, the silly ones, the unedited ones.
If you strip away the pressure, the comparison and the mental load, you get something much better:
✨ A Christmas that feels like yours.
✨ Not Instagram’s.
✨ Not the movies’.
✨ Yours.
And that’s the one you’ll actually enjoy.