New research reveals overwhelmed Britons are skipping and simplifying their holiday joys and traditions with more than half (53%) saying they feel overwhelmed and lack inspiration.
The study, conducted by Microsoft, highlights that when the festive preparations become too much, the main things that people cut back on are decorating the home (69%), shopping for thoughtful gifts (65%) and prepping the food in advance (58%) whilst some do without personalising gifts and cards (29%), finding new recipes to enjoy (29%) and looking for activities such as festive markets (29%).
Holiday preparations can be time consuming, with half (49%) of us starting the work in October and by December, 26% of us are spending between 4-6 hours a week in planning for Christmas. It’s no surprise therefore that almost a third (28%) spend their holidays doing the same thing every year, but 29% want it to be less stressful and more creative.
Whilst Britons value family time (49%), and feeling relaxed (39%), three quarters of Brits (75%) say their festive highlight is seeing a loved one’s reaction to a personal gift, and 66% of us value the importance of thoughtfulness and personalisation most. However, this overload and lack of time during the holidays means this is what people are skipping out on most. No wonder over half of us (57%) wish we had more time to make the festive period more personalised and meaningful.
To help overcome these hurdles, 55% of people cite they are already using AI or would like to use AI to help them with their festive planning. The top tasks that Brits would use AI for this Christmas are for finding unique gifts (43%), keeping on top of tasks (42%) and finding exciting new recipe ideas (41%).
And, to help motivate people make their Christmas more magical than ever, Microsoft has partnered with Harpreet Kaur Thakrar, to provide a set of tips and advice to help people get more creative and inspired this holiday season.
“Running my own business means that I don’t have much time to go the extra mile during the holiday season. This year I’ve been using AI to help me find new recipes and fun things to do with my loved ones, and it is transformed the way I’m approaching this year’s festivities, making them more thoughtful and personalised than ever before”
Harpreet Kaur Thakrar
Top Tips from Harpreet Kaur Thakrar for Creating a Memorable Christmas if Time Isn’t on Your Side:
- Focus on Meaningful Traditions: Instead of trying to do everything, prioritise one or two meaningful traditions so it doesn’t take up too much time or feel overwhelming. For example, having a Christmas movie night, or decorating the tree all together.
- DIY Gift in Bulk: Personalised gifts can be incredibly meaningful, yet simple and quick. Batch-making DIY gifts such as baked goods can cut down on prep time, gifting multiple people, whilst adding a personal layer with individual names. Stuck on inspiration? Use Cocreator within Copilot+ to bring personalised baking designs to life, making each gift unique.
- Make a Moment for Wrapping: Some people find wrapping a chore – but multitask with something you enjoy such as watching your favourite festive film. Putting in the effort and wrapping gifts creatively makes people feel special. Try using fabric instead of paper and incorporate different ribbon, twine, and sprigs of foliage to add a creative touch.
- Personalise Your Christmas Cards: With Copilot+ PCs, you can craft quick, unique and heartfelt messages for your cards from wording to design ideas. The Image Creator feature allows you to design beautiful visuals, while Cocreator in Paint helps you generate custom images based on your prompts.
- Harness the Power of Personalisation: Use technology such as AI powered tools to get quick, personalised gift suggestions based on your loved one’s preferences and past purchases Perfecting your prompts can help you get the most accurate and thoughtful recommendations. This will save you an abundance of time browsing, ensuring your gift is thoughtful and comes from the heart.
- Get Everybody Involved: Delegate tasks so everybody can play their part – people like feeling they have a role, and it will save you time. For example, tell your dinner guests to bring a dish each – it will be fun and get more of you involved.
- Creativity in the Kitchen: Not only can your Copilot+ PC generate new tasty recipe ideas that fit your preferences, but it can also help you create a detailed shopping list and provide step-by-step cooking instructions. Copilot can provide a variety of options to inspire your culinary creativity and impress your guests, working to the time you have available.
- Discover Local Events: Use your Copilot+ PC to discover local holiday events, like light festivals and Christmas markets. Simply ask Copilot to find events nearby, and you’ll get an up-to-date list of activities perfect for enjoying with your family and friends. It can help you with directions, timings, all personalised for your family interests.
- Decorate Your Home: Transform your home into a winter wonderland with Copilot’s decorating tips. From DIY projects to the latest trends, Copilot provides creative ideas to make your home festive and inviting Copilot+ PCs enhance this experience with features like Restyle Image in the Photos app, allowing you to create high-quality decorations and visuals.
Microsoft’s latest research represents a groundbreaking and significant step forward in AI-integrated computing, following this year’s launch of Copilot+ PCs. Head to Microsoft.com and discover more.
