Christmas is in a week. Hopefully, everyone is done with their finals, the family is back together (or maybe you’re spending Christmas with friends and that’s cool, too), and everyone is ready for a break. It is a break, right? Or is it?

While I am sure we are all excited for the holidays to some degree, there is a bit of apprehension which comes with them. Maybe it is the pressure to find the perfect gift for everyone, whether it’s a friend, that distant relative you only see once a year, or the one person who has everything so you don’t know what to give. Maybe you are not looking forward to spending time with your loud, opinionated relatives whose views differ from yours. Maybe you have just lost someone, whether through a breakup, a fight, or death, and you just are not ready to face that time without them. Maybe you don’t want to host and attend holiday parties because it’s mainly people you’re obligated to see. Maybe you’re just on a diet and know you’ll be tempted by the delicious food.

Whatever it is, the holidays come with a pressure that make us dread the holidays while simultaneously being excited about finally being able to put up the lights and blast the music. So that’s why I’m here: to help you do holidays the right way.

Presents

Plan out your presents in advance. Yes, I know it’s too late for that this year, so remember this for next year. But don’t buy it too far in advance so you can still benefit from sales. Basically, have present ideas in mind before Black Friday and then take advantage of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales and discounts.

Also remember that if you’re going to buy something online and you wait until the last moment, it could take an extra week for your items to even be shipped, which does not even include the time it will take in transit to get to you. It might not get to you on time!

Eating

Diets just make you feel horribly ashamed whenever you eat holiday cookie or have an extra serving of mashed potatoes, but they won’t change anything. I totally understand wanting to not overeat and wanting to maintain/lose weight over the holidays, though. I propose you make a few healthy substitutes in your traditional holiday foods and exercise portion control.

Family

Ah, family. You love them, but sometimes, you can’t stand them. Yet, it’s the holidays, so you have to spend time with them. You don’t have to be miserable, though. Whether you’re a college student returning home, an adult visiting your parents’ house, or anyone being forced to spend time with extended family, there are a few things you can do to make it a little more bearable.

1. Accept the fact that you will always, magically, be younger than you are. Embrace it. You’re probably still 12 in their eyes and nothing is going to change that.

2. Avoid talking politics. No one wants to talk about those, even if the holidays fall in that time between the election and presidential inauguration.

3. If you’re going to be on your phone, use it to help socialize with the people around you, too. Show your grandmother pictures of your friends from college. Bond with your cousins over deciphering ambiguous texts your not-quite significant other has sent you. Snapchat your family (with their permission) and make them feel like they’re cool because they’re part of your social media, even if it’s for a few seconds.

4. Take a break if you need to. No, you can’t just spend two minutes with them and then disappear into your room, never to be seen again. But as an introvert, I know spending time with people, especially people you’re not super close with or are just annoying, can be tiring or frustrating. If you’re about to yell at their ignorance or feel the need to bolt because you can’t hear yourself think, then excuse yourself. Take a couple minutes to collect yourself and re-energize.

5. Remember that they love you and you love them.

Relaxing

It’s hard to find time to relax midst the whirlwind of everything and sometimes, you feel like you need a vacation from your vacation. You return to work or school even more tired than when you left. Take a little advice and plan your vacation (or holiday activities) to end a few days before your break does. Give yourself a day or two to ease back into things, catch up on sleep, and just breathe. Also, if you have work to do over the break, you’d better be doing it throughout break so those last few days I just told you to take off aren’t spent rushing around doing that instead of relaxing.

Happy holidays, everyone! Enjoy them!