After the holidays, when the Christmas celebrations are still fresh in your mind, you might enjoy going through these 13 questions. Taking a few moments to think about how everything went can help you capture good ideas and focus on the Christmas traditions you want to continue.
Because the holidays often involve so much advance preparation of food, gifts, decorations, etc., doing an informal review after the event might help you better plan ahead for the holidays next year, and enjoy future Christmas celebrations even more.
If you’re normal, your holidays probably comprised a mix of both happy moments and challenging times.
So perhaps it’s good if we take a quiet moment and ask ourselves… what went right? Was there a special or unexpected moment of happiness in your holidays?
13 Questions to Ask After the Holidays
If you’re inspired to take a look back at the past Christmas season, here are some questions to help you get started. Find a quiet spot, grab your notebook if you like, and consider:
1. What was your favorite moment during the holidays?
2. Was there a person who especially loved the gift you gave, or someone you blessed?
3. Whose generosity especially touched you?
4. Did you stay healthy and rested during the holidays?
5. Did you eat or drink about the amount you wanted to?
6. Did you stay within your spending budget?
7. What are you most thankful for this Christmas?
8. What meals, events, and plans worked well this holiday season?
9. Are there any annual traditions or gatherings that might need re-tooling?
10. Were you able to celebrate the spiritual side of Christmas to the degree you wanted?
11. Do you feel like you were able to give as your heart led you?
12. Were you able to minimize trash and waste as much as you would like?
13. Are there any things you would like to change or simplify about Christmas in the future?
Looking Ahead
Are there any steps you can take now to “pay it forward” to yourself and make next year’s holidays easier? This might mean giving away a bunch of unused decorations, organizing Christmas clutter, reducing the holiday wrapping paper stash, or updating the addresses on your Christmas card list.
You may want to jot a few notes to help you remember details a year from now. For instance, we had cheese and chocolate fondue on Christmas afternoon last year, and all agreed that it was the perfect casual meal.
So after Christmas, I made notes on the recipes about steps I can do ahead next time, and reduced the quantities a little bit so we won’t have as much left over.
Do you have any thoughts or suggestions to add? Drop a comment below!
Eliza Cross is the creator of Happy Simple Living, where she shares ideas to help busy people simplify cooking, gardening, holidays, home, and money. She is also the award-winning author of 17 cookbooks, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon.
We had a packed December accompanied by several losses in the past few months. Not much inclination to put up a tree, so we didn’t. Did a fresh swag on the front door, lights outside, lights inside, and strung bright red chili lights on a big houseplant. Added holiday linens and a few larger family decorations. Displayed gifts in the living room, played Christmas music, and lit a winter forest candle. Voila! Christmas spirit!
I love it, and I’m looking forward to NOT spending a day taking tree down and wrapping all the ornaments.
We found that what we really wanted this year was light. Light in the dark days of early winter. Filling the house with soft, twinkly lights was perfect for us. (No kiddos in the house this Christmas, I should point out.)
Kim, I LOVE your emphasis on filling your home with light while also simplifying. Brilliant (no pun intended)!! Happy new year to you and your family. xo
This was a very different Christmas for our family. Our oldest son(29) was supposed to go to Florida for the holidays but changed his mind as he has a new job and didn’t want to request the time off. Our youngest son(25) was supposed to be here for the holidays but had an opportunity to go to California and off he went. We are still celebrating as we will have our typical “Christmas” dinner on New Years Day. It pays to be adaptable and I hope to carry that trait into the New Year!
Here’s to adaptability!
Had a holiday filled with family. My youngest is shipping for boot camp next month and it was very nice to have him here. He wrote some very heartfelt letters to everyone. My Uncle, who was put into hospice and told he would not survive to Christmas 2016 is still with us. The gifts we did receive were modest yet thoughtful. I was happy to REALLY FEEL the spirit of Christmas this year and hope to keep that feeling into the New Year.
I love this audit! I was just trying to make myself notes about the best and worst things and take action. These questions really help with the process! Thanks!
I think it is always important to reflect on what went well, what didn’t, what to keep and what to do away with. Some years ago, after what I always refer to as “the Christmas from hell”…I determined that 1) I would give my husband the gift of no debt and 2) I would give gifts that you could either eat, drink, read or take a bath in–disposable and always the right size. I also don’t care if someone re-gifts. To ensure no debt, we started putting $20.00 a week into an envelope so in 50 weeks we had $1,000. when I saw $1,000 in cash, I thought, “I’m not spending that much money on Christmas!! So we are more thoughtful when spending cash, and…NO DEBT. I also never go to the local mall after Halloween!