236: A More Meaningful Christmas: How to Reduce Holiday Stress and the Mental Load
Christmas is supposed to be a meaningful time of year, but for many women, especially working mothers, it can also bring an overwhelming mental load. Between family traditions, school activities, shopping, baking, hosting, travel, and everyday responsibilities, it's easy to spend the season trying to check everything off the list instead of actually enjoying it. In this episode, Stephanie Mitton shares practical strategies for making the holiday season more manageable. Drawing on her own experience as a working mother and business owner, she explains how starting early, creating a master list, setting priorities, sharing responsibilities, and scheduling both preparation and downtime can help reduce stress. This episode covers: Why starting your holiday planning early gives you more choices and less stress. How to create a master list of traditions, activities, gifts, and responsibilities. How to decide which family traditions are meaningful and which ones you can let go. The difference between must-dos and nice-to-haves. Why disappointing people sometimes means making the right decisions for your own family. How scheduling tasks, setting a budget, and sharing responsibilities can reduce the mental load. Why protecting time to rest is just as important as planning holiday activities. The goal isn't to create a perfect Christmas. It's to create a holiday season that reflects what matters to you and the people you love. You deserve to enjoy the season too, rather than spending all of it making sure everyone else has a wonderful time. Your challenge this week: Take 15 minutes, start your holiday list, and schedule a conversation with your family about what really matters this year. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Episode 174: Holiday Hacks - Simplify Your Festive Season Without the Overwhelm - https://goodpods.com/podcasts/women-dont-do-that-wddt-329048/vault-episode-174-holiday-hacks-simplify-your-festive-season-without-t-103225790 Christmas Reflections - https://www.womendontdothat.com/post/christmas-reflections How do I do it all (or do I)? - https://www.womendontdothat.com/post/how-do-i-do-it-all I'll Never Be a Pinterest-Perfect Halloween Mom - and That's Okay - https://www.womendontdothat.com/post/i-ll-never-be-a-pinterest-perfect-halloween-mom-and-that-s-okay WHERE TO FIND WOMENdontDOthat: Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/womendontdothat Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/womendontdothat/ TikTok- http://www.tiktok.com/@womendontdothat Blog- https://www.womendontdothat.com/blog Podcast- https://www.womendontdothat.com/podcast Newsletter- https://www.beaconnorthstrategies.com/contact Web: www.womendontdothat.com YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/@WOMENdontDOthat LATEST BLOG: WOMENdontDOthat listener survey: Help Shape the Future of WOMENdontDOthat - https://www.womendontdothat.com/post/womendontdothatlistenersurvey HOW TO FIND STEPHANIE: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemitton/ TikTok- https://www.tiktok.com/@stephmitton Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/stephaniemitton/ Beacon North – www.beaconnorthstrategies.com/ Academy – https://www.beaconmentorshipacademy.com/ NextGen - https://www.beaconnorthstrategies.com/nextgen Twitter/X- https://twitter.com/StephanieMitton FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Contact us at hello@womendontdothat.com SUPPORT: Producer: Duke & Castle Editing: Amaral Media Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.



