Identify two holiday edits

One to add joy, one to reduce drain

The Edit Your Life podcast launched in 2015 with an intentional duality in approach. Editing things out of your life is essential to make space for the things you care about and reduce drains on your time, physical space, and mental energy. Editing things in to your life is a crucial counterpoint. It’s a process in which you articulate that your priorities, values, and joy matter.

That you matter.

I think about lifestyle editing all the time, and the need to edit amplifies predictably around certain times of year, such as the beginning and end of the school year if you are a parent or caregiver, and most definitely around the holidays. The to-do’s ramp up, as do emotional triggers and annoyances.

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Sidebar: If you are in a challenging season and need permission and/or encouragement to engage in healing, listen to this wonderful conversation with Jor-El Caraballo. He does incredible self-discovery work and it also turns out that he loves baking, so basically, he is a unicorn.

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The good news is that we can make change every single day in tiny yet impactful ways. And we’re not even at the midway point of the month, which means you have plenty of time to tackle this week’s homework. Here’s what I welcome you to consider, including personal examples.

Edit #1: Add joy (prioritize yourself)

As I mentioned earlier, I love the intentionality of choosing to edit things into our lives, especially in a world where there are so many demands on our time. I feel like all of us could use more joy, so I invite you to edit in something joyful this month. Ask yourself, what would feel energizing and fun for me this month?

Here is my joy edit. This weekend I am beyond excited to sit down and make my holiday cookie plan. For me, this joy edit is actually several joy edits rolled into one:

• Jotting down the list of recipients always makes me feel happy and grateful. And I’m really happy that this year we are expanding the list to include folks in our community—for example, the staff at our local garage, our amazing city library staff, the incredibly kind and patient woman who grooms James every 6-8 weeks. (She worked with us instead of turning us away when James started having seizures when they ran the blow dryer.)

• I love talking about recipes with my family. I peruse recipe options (old and new), and talk with Jon and my kids about the plan and see what lights them up. We usually shoot for 7 to 8 recipes and it is always fun to see which cookies make the cut and which don’t. Each person gets one top pick that definitely makes the cut and then the rest is up for debate!

• Exploring new recipes is a source of joy for me, and I already know that my pick will be these striped peppermint shortbread cookies. It was a total mood boost when I saw this recipe last month and I can’t wait to add them to our holiday cookie boxes.

• I love being a chaos Muppet in the kitchen. I love figuring out then executing a plan based on cookie prep steps and oven temperatures. There is music and mess and the occasional kitchen mishap and it is glorious.

• I love dropping off the cookies. We need more happy connection points with humans in the world.

• There is also a “cookie joy tail.” I usually make way too many cookies and they freeze beautifully. So even after making a lot of deliveries, we always end up with lots of cookies in the freezer that my family delights in following the holidays.

Edit #2: Reduce drain (draw boundaries)

There are so many things one could edit out during the holidays (holiday gifts are a big one). Choose your own adventure! If you need tactical inspiration, check out Katherine Goldstein’s holiday “don’t list”. Editing out the sources of drain is a way to draw boundaries around your time, space, and mental energy. Boundaries are a wonderful thing.

Here is my drain reduction edit. I believe that it is possible to edit holiday gatherings in a caring and compassionate way. Earlier this week, when I found myself getting cranky about the “scope creep” of different people’s holiday needs, I knew it was time to take action. After talking through holiday preferences and logistics with our kids, and batting around different ways to show up with care in ways that also respect our space and traditions as a family, Jon and I made a holiday travel plan, communicated our plan, then went about our work week.

Add joy, reduce drain. You’ve got this.

❤️ Christine

This week’s episodes

If you aren’t yet subscribed to Edit Your Life, search “edit your life” wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts, or you can hit the play button in the embeddable players at the Edit Your Life website or below. Here’s what went live this week.

If you’re looking for a cozy, delicious, and joyful addition to your holiday cooking and baking, in this week’s Mini Edit, I share six fantastic recipes from my recipe binder.

I will share more about this soon, but this conversation with Sarah Hart-Unger effectively convinced me to approach planning with a fresh, joyful mindset. I just set up my 2026 planning practice this past week and it left me feeling optimistic and happy!

Here’s part of one of my holiday cookie spreads from 2023!