december 14, 2020

9 Worst Things to Do Alone on Christmas and How to Avoid Them

ArtPix 3D Editorial Team · Updated October 2026 · 7 min read

Working out how to spend Christmas alone usually starts with the urge to skip it: no tree, no plans, just wait for the 26th.

That plan rarely holds. An empty day fills itself with the worst options: the sad playlist, the phone, the couch until dark. Being alone on Christmas is not the problem. Drifting through it is.

Below are 9 of the most common mistakes people make when spending Christmas alone, each with the small move that replaces it.

Quick answer: If you are wondering what to do on Christmas alone, decide three things before Christmas Eve: the time you will call someone, the 30 minutes or more you will spend outside in daylight, and the one proper meal you will cook or order. Those three fixed points stop the day from sliding, and everything else can sit around them. Write the plan down, so you are not making decisions at the moment the mood dips.

Put up one small tree instead of skipping the decorations

It is tempting to skip decorating when nobody else will see it. But you will see it, first thing on Christmas morning, and a bare room on December 25 feels emptier than a bare room on any other day. You do not need the boxes from the attic. A tabletop tree around two feet tall, one string of warm lights and a handful of ornaments take under an hour and fit on a side table. Put it where you drink your coffee.

Make a playlist that lifts you and leave out the songs that make you cry

December radio is full of songs about being far from home, and on repeat, alone, they do exactly what they were written to do. Build your own playlist the week before: the songs you loved as a kid, the cheesy carols that make you laugh, or no carols at all if they were never your thing. Make a second, quieter list for the evening, plus a podcast or an audiobook for the stretch after dinner when the house goes still. Music changes the tone of a room faster than anything else on this list.

Get dressed by noon instead of staying in pajamas all day

A slow breakfast in pajamas is one of the best parts of Christmas morning. The trouble starts at 4 p.m., when you are still in them and the day has gone without anything to mark it. Set one gentle rule: dressed by noon. It does not need to be smart, only different from what you slept in. A soft sweater you like, the striped socks, the earrings you never wear on a weekday. Getting dressed is the signal that the day has started.

Cook a proper Christmas dinner for one instead of grazing on snacks

Chips and leftovers eaten standing up leave you tired and flat by evening. Cooking for one is less work than it sounds: a single chicken leg or a salmon fillet roasts in the time it takes to set the table, and a tray of roasted vegetables covers two more meals. Use the good glass and a cloth napkin. If cooking feels like too much, order from somewhere you like and still eat it at the table rather than on the couch.

Call people at set times instead of scrolling through everyone else's day

On Christmas Day the feeds fill with crowded tables and matching pajamas, and scrolling through them on your own is a reliable way to feel worse. Move the apps off your home screen for the day. Then turn the urge to connect into something better: arrange two or three calls in advance at fixed times, so you have something to look forward to and nobody is caught mid-dinner. Agree on the time zone first: a 7 p.m. call from New York lands at 4 p.m. in California, in the middle of somebody's cooking. Opening presents together on a video call works across any distance.

Get outside for an hour instead of spending the whole day on the couch

A few films on the couch is a fine plan. A whole day there is how the low moods get in. Plan one hour outside while it is still light: a walk round the neighborhood to look at the decorations, a loop of the local park, or a drive after dark to a street known for its lights. Take coffee in a flask and give the walk a destination, such as a bench with a view. If the winter blues are a regular visitor for you, these ideas to beat the winter blues work for the rest of the season too.

Fill the day with what you choose instead of extra hours at work

Extra shifts can feel sensible when nobody is waiting at home, and if work genuinely keeps you steady, take them. Just do not let them swallow the whole holiday. Part of learning how to celebrate Christmas alone is noticing that nobody else sets the agenda this year: the 1,000-piece puzzle, the film series no one else will watch, the dish your family would refuse to try. If you would rather be around people, ask a local food bank or shelter in early December whether it needs help over the holidays.

Send something to the people you miss early instead of panic shopping on Christmas Eve

Crystal Ornament Round from ArtPix 3D

Leaving gifts until December 23 turns a quiet week into a stressful one, and anything mailed that late may not arrive in time. Doing it early has a second benefit: choosing something for the people you miss makes you feel connected before the day itself. Our crystal ornament is a disc 2.36 inches across on a ribbon, with a photo of the two of you engraved inside the glass, so you hang on their tree even if you are not in the room. A pop-up greeting card can ride in the same order. It is the wrong pick for someone who never puts up a tree, and these Christmas gift ideas for friends cover the rest.

Tell someone you are struggling instead of pressuring yourself to be fine

Some years Christmas alone is a choice, and some years it follows a loss, a breakup or a move. If the day is hard, it is allowed to be hard: you do not owe anyone a merry one. What helps is saying it out loud to one person you trust, a friend, a sibling, a neighbor. If the low feels heavier than a bad day, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US. It is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, Christmas Day included.

None of these need to be done perfectly. Pick two or three, put them in the calendar before the 24th, and let the rest of the day be quiet. If sending something to the people you miss is on that list, our Christmas gifts gather the ornaments and keepsakes in one place.

Related from ArtPix 3D