The Joy Of December Downtime with Readly

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Anyone suffering from Christmas Overwhelm? We’re only part of the way through December but already, I can sense that feeling of having a lot to juggle. I mean, we juggle a lot already, right? But this month, add in Christmas present buying, card writing, turkey ordering and school nativity costume arranging. Then there’s remembering the Christmas jumper on the right day, contributing to the teacher Christmas collection, going to the school fair, buying PTA raffle tickets, actually posting the Christmas cards you’ve written (I once posted them on Christmas Eve – true story), and if you’re that way inclined, hiding an elf around your home every night.

Bearing in mind we don’t (news flash) get an extra four hours squeezed into every December day, despite the fact that we need it, it can be so easy to experience Christmas burnout.

So what’s the answer? If you’ve got kids young enough, you could just pretend Christmas isn’t happening. “What’s that, you’re wondering why there are so many twinkly lights around, dear? Oh, it’s just because it’s winter!”

But if that’s a bit Bah Humbug for you, I think the solution is to actively plan in some down time throughout December. There’s no point in battering your way through the month, ice skating one day, going to the Panto, the next, while recovering from your school mums’ Christmas night out, and ending the week feeling tired, anxious and miserable.

So I started the month by blocking out some days and evenings each week that I wasn’t allowed to fill with Christmas activities or admin – time to go to the gym, time to have a bath and an early night, time to just sit and read a book while I burn a relaxing scented candle.

I’ve also been planning in family December downtime. Snuggling up with the nine-year-old to watch a movie (she loves those cheesy ones like The Princess Switch) or sitting with her and reading magazines while we drink hot chocolate.

Readly makes it so easy to read magazines – the nine-year-old is a fan of The Beano (she loves Minnie The Minx) while I read the glossies – Elle, Red and Glamour are my current faves.

For £7.99 a month, you get access to thousands of magazines on your phone or tablet. It’s a bit like Spotify for magazines and it can save you loads of money if you like to read a few magazines every month. Readly can even be used on up to five different devices, which means the nine-year-old can read comics on her tablet while I read Glamour or Grazia on mine, at no extra cost.

It’s really easy to swipe through pages to find the article you’re looking for and you can download and save whole issues, to read when you’re offline, so it’s ideal for long journeys on trains or planes where wifi might be patchy or non-existent. Perfect if you’re going away this Christmas.

Fancy some December downtime yourself? You can get two weeks of Readly free of charge, to try it out.

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