As we get older, it seems to get harder to get excited for Christmas. When we were younger, getting excited was a no-brainer. Presents! Family! Christmas movies and music! Parties! Waiting for Santa! All these things and more were enough to make Christmastime the best time of year.

But now we don't enjoy some of those things as much as we used to. Christmas is just an over-commercialized commodity anyway, right?

Well, I believe we all deserve to feel as excited for Christmas as we used to. So here are some simple ways for the less enthusiastic people to get into the Christmas spirit this holiday season.

1. Decorate

There is no need to go crazy with garland everywhere or a Christmas village sprawled out in your living room – sometimes it's enough to just have minimal decorations to get you into the Christmas spirit. Start small with decals on your window, a wreath on your door, or Christmas lights around your bed frame. Put a jar of candy canes on your coffee table. You can get to the Christmas tree and the Santa figurines later, once you feel more comfortable and excited for the holiday.

2. Listen to Christmas music

I know that Christmas music can often be too cheesy or annoying for some, so what I suggest is to make a playlist of the songs that aren't so annoying, and play them in the background while you're doing something else. I would suggest some old school Mariah Carey or one of the Christmas albums from the a capella group, Pentatonix. It's probably best to leave out something like “Dominic the Donkey.”

3. Watch Christmas movies

This might be one of the more obvious options, but I would actually suggest this one with a bit of a twist: ditch the feel-good movies and watch the funny ones instead. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a classic example. Grab a snack, a cozy blanket, and laugh until you forget about anything that's holding you back from enjoying the holiday.

4. Bake something

If you like to bake, or even if you don't, make some sugar cookies or experiment with gingerbread. Use cookie cutters shaped like Christmas trees, wreaths, stockings, and other Christmas-y shapes. Make some shaped like snowmen and decorate them with icing. That would be even more fun with other people.

5. Read Christmas books

By this, I don't mean the picture books about Santa and his elves that you might read to a 4-year-old. I mean fiction (for adults, perhaps) that is set during Christmastime. I recommend John Green's collaboration with fellow authors Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, Let It Snow. It's a collection of three short stories that all intertwine and take place around Christmas. If you don't mind young adult fiction, these stories are short enough for you to get through quickly, but fun and heart-warming enough to satisfy your hunger for the Christmas feels.

6. Watch "Vlogmas" on YouTube

Speaking of feeling the Christmas feels, another good way to do that is to watch someone else getting into the Christmas spirit. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. If you're not too familiar with the many types of videos on YouTube, there is one called a vlog. This is similar to a blog, but in video form – hence “vlog” – in which the person films their life and kind of narrates it to the camera. Around Christmas, some YouTube vloggers participate in what's called “Vlogmas,” which means that the person uploads a vlog every day in December leading up to Christmas. If you watch someone who really loves Christmas and spends those 25 days doing really Christmas-y things, you might notice that you begin to get as excited for Christmas as they are. It's like living vicariously through them. For example, I like to watch the YouTuber Zoella. On her vlogging channel, MoreZoella, she is currently participating in Vlogmas. Her house looks like Christmas threw up on it. It's amazing.

7. Shop online

While you're on the Internet, why not shop around a little for your loved ones' Christmas presents? It gets really busy in the stores around this time of year and, honestly, the Christmas promotions can make for a sensory overload. There's Christmas music playing, signs everywhere wishing you a happy holiday, Christmas colors in every aisle, and the Christmas section looks like the North Pole if it were on drugs. And don't get me started on the amount of people at the mall. Let's skip the traffic and shop at home! There's cooler stuff online anyway. Try Etsy for fun, personalized gifts.

8. Put on an ugly sweater

Nothing feels more like Christmas than an oversized sweater with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on it. Ugly sweaters aren't even considered ugly anymore. What have you got to lose? Even if you're just sitting at home in your ugly sweater, you'll still feel fabulous and positively festive.

9. Treat yourself

I don't want to overuse the very funny joke from Parks and Recreation, but the holiday season is about the gift of giving, right? So why not give to yourself? You've worked hard this year. Treat yourself.

10. Take a trip on the nostalgia train

If you're at home for winter break, or you're just home for Christmas, dust off the old boxes in the attic and/or basement and break out the memories. You might see some Christmas memories in there. If your parents were like mine, they might even have some old home videos from Christmas day. Choo-choo! All aboard the nostalgia train!

11. Get a new outfit for Christmas Day

Besides treating yourself, nothing can make you feel better than looking good. If you'll be attending any kind of celebration on Christmas Day, Eve, or otherwise, get yourself a fierce new outfit to show off to your family and friends.

12. Wish for snow

If you're in New England right now, you know how weird this December has been. And by weird, I mean the weather has been beautiful. But no matter how much we like the 50 degree weather, it just doesn't feel like Christmas without snow. In my opinion, there at least needs to be frost on the windows for it to feel like Christmas. And while we don't exactly have a magical weather machine that will make it snow for us, like in the Disney Channel Original Movie “The Ultimate Christmas Present,” we do have our imagination. If it doesn't snow before Christmas, I guess we'll just have to make do with that.