Stress-Free Holidays: 5 Tips to Celebrate the Season with Joy

To experience the holidays with peace and tranquility, it's important to prepare in advance across several key areas. We've gathered 5 practical ideas and tips for smart organization, cost-effective shopping, and preparations that will let you enter the holiday season with a clear mind and a happy heart.. Before anything else, remember that the holidays are a gift from above. Take a break from the endless rush, look up to the skies, and thank Hashem for the great privilege to celebrate the holidays in Israel (and anywhere in the world) in good health. Nothing should be taken for granted.

1. Plan Ahead – The Key to Relaxing Holidays

One of the main causes of stress during the holidays is the burden created by poor planning. Early planning can significantly ease your experience:

• Create a Task List: Make a detailed list of everything you need to do before the holidays—from shopping to cleaning the house and preparing holiday meals. Be as detailed as possible and don't leave anything in your head. Know the saying: "paper endures all"? Use it to clear your mind of all thoughts, plans, and pressures—write everything down and calm your mind.

• Distribute Tasks Over Time: Spread the tasks over several weeks before the holidays. This way, you avoid a last-minute task pileup. It's a natural human tendency to leave everything for the last minute, but try to space out your tasks in a way that makes life much easier. Deep cleaning, for instance, can be done in advance, leaving the "regular" cleaning—like mopping and dusting—for the last day.

2. Smart Shopping for the Holidays

Holiday expenses can be high, but with smart planning, you can save a lot of money:

• Smart Shopping List: Prepare a detailed shopping list based on your needs. A good list begins with detailed meal planning. Write down everything—from spices to vegetables, meats, and disposable tableware if needed. Leave nothing out.

Early Purchases: Some products can be purchased well in advance when prices are lower. For example, household items, dry cleaning supplies, and frozen foods like meat, poultry, and fish. Often, these items become significantly more expensive closer to the holidays. Shopping early with a calm mind (and avoiding crazy supermarket lines) can save you hundreds of dollars. Don’t wait till the end. Buy in advance whatever you can—clothes, food, table decorations. The stores are stocked with holiday goods as much as a month beforehand—don’t wait till the last minute. You can also buy the four species beforehand. In various cities, special four species markets open up several days before Sukkot, allowing you to buy a quality set at your leisure.

Take Advantage of Deals: Check for promotions and discounts in different stores and compare prices before you buy.

3. Getting Your Home Ready for the Holidays

The house is where we spend a lot of time during the holidays, so it's worth dedicating time to proper organization and setup:

• Thorough Cleaning: As mentioned, thorough cleaning should ideally start two weeks ahead. Dedicate each week to a different part of the house. This way, you avoid exhausting last-minute cleaning. No one wants to arrive at the holiday table tired and worn out.

• Reorganizing: Now is the perfect time to reorganize the house. Remove old or unnecessary items, make room physically for new things, and spiritually for new and exciting beginnings.
• Holiday-Appropriate Decorating: Invest in decorating your home with accessories suitable for the Tishrei holidays. Scatter apples and pomegranates throughout the home, add festive flowers in green, yellow, and red. If the kids bring beautiful decorations from kindergarten, give them pride of place and hang them in prominent areas.

4. Preparing the Kitchen for the Holidays

The kitchen is the heart of any holiday, so it's important to prepare accordingly::

• Organize the Fridge and Cabinets: Make sure you have enough space in your fridge and cabinets for the food you plan to buy and prepare.Here you can find an excellent guide on how to do it.

• Holiday Menu Planning: Think ahead about the dishes you want to prepare, and make a list of the necessary ingredients. This way, you can shop responsibly and avoid missing items on a cooking day.

• Prepare Dishes in Advance: Some dishes can be prepared and frozen ahead, making the actual holiday day much less work. Preparing Simanim? Most can be made and frozen in advance. Baking challah and cakes for the holiday? These too can be prepared ahead and frozen.

5. Preparing Sukkah Decorations in Advance

This year (5784), we have a whole month from the start of the school year until the holidays begin—plenty of time to prepare sukkah decorations with the kids calmly. Make sukkah chains and other decorations with them. You can find great ideas here.

To avoid last-minute pressure:

• Start preparing the sukkah decorations now. Cooperating with the kids, this can be a fun and bonding activity..
• Convenient Storage: Keep the decorations ready in a convenient and accessible place, so it's easy to hang them as soon as the sukkah is set up..
• Reuse: Don’t forget to check if you have decorations from previous years that you can refurbish and reuse, saving both time and money.

Calm preparations for the Tishrei holidays are no dream. With proper planning, cost-effective shopping, and home organization, you can enter the holiday season with peace and joy.

Have your own tips? Share them in the comments.