Christmas is once again upon us! The trees are up, decorations at the ready and you are presumably thinking about going home for Christmas. Before you pack your bags or start fantasising about your mothers Christmas pudding, there are some crucial things to remember.
Make sure you have everything on this list covered so you can unwind, stuff your face and saviour this magical time of year.
- Make sure you are up to date on work
- No need to over pack
- Don’t forget to pack all your presents
- Turn everything off
- Empty your fridge
- Be cyber-safe when leaving
- Forget about work for a few days
- Try not to become a complete slob
- One last check before going home for Christmas
Make sure you are up to date on work
As exciting as it can seem to be finishing work for the Christmas period, you should still try to stay ahead of your responsibilities. No one wants to spend Christmas stressing out about reports when we should only be worrying about eating our body-weight in turkey.
We can’t think of anything worse than returning to work with a week-long hangover, and finding yourself buried under a pile of work. Getting ahead will allow you to go home for Christmas and have a truly relaxing time.
No need to over pack
How much to pack before going home for Christmas ultimately depends on how much time off you get. Whether you get a few days or a few weeks off, be sure to bear in mind that there will be a washing machine where you are going. With this in mind, do you need to take your whole wardrobe home for Christmas?
You will be especially thankful for this tip when you are watching an army of poor souls dragging their suitcases through busy stations. By packing less, you will be the envy of everyone on your carriage.
Don’t forget to pack all your presents
In stark contrast to the previous tip, we are now encouraging you to load up your luggage. Although, rather than filling up your baggage with clothes you don’t require, why not load it full of presents you’ve bought friends and family.
Make sure you make a note of everything you buy with a gift list. If not, you could end up forgetting grannies gift, and what a disaster that would be. Travelling back to collect it might not be an option, and posting it later may be expensive. So, if you take one thing from this list, remember your gifts!
Turn everything off
With so much spinning around in your mind before going home for Christmas, be sure to remember to switch everything off! Central heating? Off. Lights? Off. Wifi? Off.
The last thing you want when you return home is a mountain of scary bills on the floor when no one has even been home over Christmas. Worse yet, imagine getting to your family home and having a sudden panic that you have left the gas on the cooker and you are 150 miles away.
Empty your fridge
No one wants to return home after a pleasant, relaxing Christmas to find a carton of milk that’s spoilt and looks more like a carton of cheddar. Make sure you completely empty your fridge before returning home for Christmas. If not, the smell that will greet you on your return will be revolting. You may find yourself spending all of next year trying to get rid of it.
Be cyber-safe when leaving
One common mistake people make when returning home for Christmas is they post about their trip on social media. We can’t stress this enough: DO NOT announce online that your house will be empty for days, maybe weeks.
Christmas time is one of the busiest years for burglaries because the criminals know people go home. Try not to make it easier for them by letting the world know you won’t be there.
Forget about work for a few days
Christmas is a magical time of year, so relax and enjoy being back home. Try to wash any impending deadline or reports that need to be in for the new year.
Set aside a few days between Christmas and New Year to go over anything bothering you, if it makes you feel better. Still, make sure you are not distracted and enjoy your quality time with family. After all, you may not get a chance to see them again for a while, and don’t want waste your Christmas fretting about work.
Try not to become a complete slob
We all know how easy it to return home for Christmas and turn into a clone of our teenage self. Just because your adoring parents are happy to have you back, it does not mean you have free licence to do nothing at all.
Try to make every effort to fall back in line with how your parents want you to behave at home. You have no doubt both changed slightly in your time away. In this case, just wash your dishes, clean your dirty pants and don’t expect your parents to wait on you hand and foot.
One last check before going home for Christmas
Just before you go home for Christmas, double-check you have all your essential bits and pieces. These include your purse or wallet, train tickets, laptops, presents and your mobile phone.
It seems obvious, but with so much on your mind before returning home, it can be easy to forget trivial things. You do not want to get on the train only to find out you left your laptop with all your work saved on it. This stuff does happen, so don’t let it be you.
Thinking about travelling home for Christmas and want a load of fresh laundry waiting for you when you return? Laundryheap can solve all your laundry pressures over the festive period.
