We all know that organising Christmas can be an exhausting affair, but according to the vast majority of menfolk out there, we’re just exaggerating how stressful prepping for the festive season actually is.
According to a survey carried out by hotel chain Travelodge, a third of men reckon that they could do a better job at organising Christmas than their partner if they were put in charge of carrying out the festive preparations.
However, four in ten women said that they would not trust their other half to carry out certain Christmas tasks. These women also admitted that chances are, they’d probably get things done right the first time, in comparison to the men in their lives, who were likely to mess things up.
85 per cent of the women surveyed said that men didn’t understand just how much work goes into creating the perfect Christmas and that they definitely couldn’t wrap their heads around the amount of stress it causes.
The survey revealed that for 42 per cent of women, hosting Christmas Day is the most stressful job they undertake during the year. And two in five women admitted that part of their stress comes from the fact that they worry that their hosting skills will be criticised by friends and family.
So what are our biggest worries? Apparently we start feeling the stress when we think about how we’re going to entertain guests, what we’re going to feed them and if our partner or our children will embarrass us in front of company.
Would you trust your man to organise Christmas Day without your help?
Taking all of this into account, it’s unsurprising then, that the week leading up to Christmas is the worst week for getting a good night’s sleep during the entire year.
“The stress of Christmas can be avoided if people lower their expectations of it,” said Corrinne Sweet, a psychologist.
“I would suggest taking time out from a busy schedule and having a nap can do wonders if you’ve not had much sleep. People will also benefit from having some quiet ‘me-time’ every once in a while,” she added.
Almost half of us will miss at least 21 hours of sleep over the coming week and 45 per cent of us will live on just five hours sleep a night as we stay up late attending work parties and wrapping gifts. There’s also a high chance that we’ll get up an hour early each day this week in order to run some festive-related errands before work.
Do you find organising Christmas stressful?
