How AI Creates More Time, Space, and Joy During the Holidays

How AI Creates More Time, Space, and Joy During the Holidays.

How AI Creates More Time, Space, and Joy During the Holidays

December is one of the most wonderful and overwhelming months of the year. Often, I don’t realize how burnt out I am until the holidays are over and I’m left exhausted. This year, I wanted to do it differently. I wanted more time, more space, and more joy — and that’s exactly what intentional AI tools have helped me create.

There’s the joy, the gathering, the traditions, the food, the pressure, the planning, and the never-ending lists that somehow grow twice as fast as the days get shorter. Every year I watch people push themselves to the edge trying to create the perfect holiday experience, and every year I remind myself that perfection isn’t the goal. Presence is.

This year, I leaned into something that has quietly become my greatest source of calm: automation. Not the cold, rigid kind that feels like you’re handing your life to a robot, but intentional systems that reduce mental clutter and give you more space for the things that actually matter. For me, AI has become the tool that helps create that time, space, and joy I’ve been craving.

When people think of AI, they imagine something technical or intimidating. To me, it’s simply a tool that helps me make room for joy. And during the holidays, that matters more than ever.

Using AI to Simplify Holiday Meals

I love to cook, but the holiday season turns cooking into an Olympic sport. One minute I’m planning appetizers for a neighborhood gathering, the next I’m figuring out how to feed my own family between events, travel, and school schedules.

Instead of juggling recipe tabs, grocery lists, and half-remembered ideas, I started letting AI help me plan my meals. I plug in what’s in my pantry, any dietary needs, and how busy the week looks. AI builds a simple plan, generates a grocery list, and even helps me map out prep steps so I’m not scrambling at 6 PM wondering what I forgot.

It’s not about losing control. It’s about freeing up the energy I used to spend decision-making so I can actually enjoy cooking again. Check out my Grocery List Builder GPT! Click Here. Not sure what to make? Check out my CuliNerd GPT that shows you recipes based on what you have on hand AND how much time you have. Click here for CuliNerd.

Supporting My Agents with Less Stress

December is a heavy communication month—for agents, for clients, and for me. Between class reminders, how-to guides, tech updates, and end-of-year planning, I used to spend hours staring at a blinking cursor, trying to make my point clearly without overwhelming anyone.

Now I draft everything with AI first. I write out my thoughts, messy and unfiltered, and let AI help me shape them into something clean, kind, and easy to understand. From onboarding emails to resource guides, it helps me communicate faster and with more clarity. I still edit every word to make sure it sounds like me, but the time saved allows me to show up for my agents in a more present and thoughtful way.

Using AI to Keep a Running To-Do List

Another place automation shows up for me is in the simplest daily task: managing the never-ending to-do list. December has a way of expanding that list without warning. Gifts, errands, work tasks, school events, receipts, forgotten groceries, packages, volunteer commitments, and all the little things that seem to appear out of nowhere.

The truth is, most people don’t need a fancier planner. They need a place their brain can rest.

The ChatGPT mobile app makes that easier than anything I’ve tried. Even if you’ve never used it this way before, setting it up only takes a few minutes.

Where to Get the ChatGPT App

iPhone users can download the official app here:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chatgpt/id6448311069

Android users can download it here:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.openai.chatgpt

Always verify that the developer is OpenAI to ensure it’s the real app.

Once you download it, sign in with the same account you use on your computer so everything stays synced.

Setting Up a Reminders Project Folder

Inside the app, create a new chat and name it something simple like “Reminders,” “To-Do List,” or “Personal Tasks.” This becomes your dedicated project space where everything lives in one place.

From there, you can tell ChatGPT exactly how you want the system to operate.

Training ChatGPT to Keep a Running List

AI works best when you give it clear instructions up front. You can start with something like:

“I want this chat to act as my running to-do list. Every time I send you a task, please add it to the list in a single ongoing section. Keep the list organized by priority, and whenever I check something off, remove it and update the list.”

Once this instruction is set, you can use this chat like your brain’s dropbox.

Examples include:

• Add: Buy teacher gifts• Add: Prep onboarding email for new agents• Add: Pick up wrapping paper• Mark off: Grocery shopping done• Show me my list

ChatGPT updates everything in real time without you rewriting or reorganizing anything.

Using the App Throughout the Day

The true benefit is capturing tasks as they happen. Using voice-to-text or a quick message prevents small tasks from building into mental clutter.

“Add: Review Gemini prompts for December.”“Add: Book haircut for Hope.”“Add: Prep class outline.”

Because you consistently tell AI where to store the information, nothing gets lost.

Why It Works

The holidays demand so much of your mental energy that even simple tasks can feel heavy. A running, always-updated list means nothing slips through the cracks and your brain doesn’t have to hold everything at once.

This system isn’t about being more productive. It’s about being kinder to yourself.

Creating Moments of Ease for Hope

Hope is nine, full of energy, and at the age where the holidays feel magical. My goal in December is always to make sure she gets the best of me—not the stressed version rushing from task to task.

Using AI to simplify the behind-the-scenes work gives me more time to enjoy movie nights, baking sessions, and the tiny traditions she will remember long after the decorations come down. She doesn’t need perfection. She needs presence. Automating the noise helps me give her that.

Choosing Systems Over Stress

Technology should never take away from your life. It should give something back.

For me, using AI during the holidays isn’t about efficiency for the sake of checking more boxes. It’s about reclaiming time, space, and joy. It’s about cooking with love, teaching agents with clarity, being present with my family, and giving myself the grace to slow down.

Automation doesn’t make the season less human. It makes it more intentional. And in the middle of the holiday rush, that’s the kind of self-care we all deserve.

Wishing you a season filled with moments of calm, connection, and the space to be fully present with the people you love.