Festive Brits typically spend nearly three hours wrapping Christmas presents, two-and-a-half hours decorating the house, and over six-and-a-half hours shopping for gifts each year, a study has found.
A poll of 2,000 adults who celebrate the season reckon they spend more than 41 hours – or nearly two full days – preparing for December 25th.
The most time-consuming Christmas activity is searching for the perfect presents for loved ones, with a total of six hours and 42 minutes spent scouring the shops and online.
And when the gifts have been selected, it takes an average of two hours and 41 minutes to wrap them all.
Making sure the house is spick and span ready for guests takes up four hours and 12 minutes, while getting the decorations up amounts to two-and-a-half hours – with 40 minutes spent decking out the tree alone.
And for those buying a new tree, they will spend around 21 minutes mulling over their options for the perfect centrepiece for the living room.
The research was commissioned by Samsung, which has partnered with Fearne Cotton to reveal her secrets on how she plans for Christmas, and what she enjoys most.
She said: “Christmas tends to really kickstart for me once I’ve had my first mulled wine, that’s when I really feel it’s happening, it’s on – it’s the taste of Christmas.
“My favourite Christmas thing is to watch a Christmas film with the kids, that’s a blissful moment.
“We watched a Boy Called Christmas last year, and just loved every second of getting really cosy under a blanket.”
When discussing the prep for Christmas dinner, Fearne added: “My husband is a really good cook, so he tends to do all of the meat, the turkey, and all that jazz, and then we share the veg, and I do the pud.”
The study also found over half (54%) said the perfect tree should be tastefully decorated.
And 35% want a Christmas tree which isn’t wilting by the time the 25th December rolls around, while 30% want to ensure theirs is wide and bushy.
When it comes to getting in the festive mood, decorating the tree is the top task to feel Christmassy – followed by wrapping and shopping for gifts.
More than four in ten (41%) also start to feel festive when they are making plans to catch up with friends and family throughout December.
But when it comes to welcoming people over the festive season, the average adult will spend as long as four hours and 12 minutes tidying the house – and over Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, more than three hours is spent in the kitchen cleaning up.
But 48% recognise their family makes more mess over the festive season – with 41% admitting they would rather be hosted than host at Christmas.
The research, conducted via OnePoll, also found two in five (41%) rely heavily on their smartphones to get ready for the festive celebrations.
Fearne, a brand ambassador for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip4, also spoke about using technology at Christmas.
She said: “The most obvious, brilliant thing we can use tech for is connections with other humans – whether its chatting to someone on the other side of the planet, or texting one of your best mates.
“I think it’s integral if you feel lonely at Christmas that you do reach out and talk to other people that you know are there for you and want to have a friendly chat and make you laugh, or just sit there and listen to you.”
More than a quarter (28%) also use their device to do their shopping on-the-go, while 28% make a multitude of to-do lists on their phones to keep on top of their tasks.
And 16% rely on their smartphone to make the ultimate Christmas playlist.
Fearne added: “I love Christmas songs. I don’t even get bored of them, I listen to the same ones every year.
“I think Mariah Carey, all though totally obvious and a cliché, is still the best, but I’m no stranger to a Rat Pack Christmas album – a whole album listening to Frank crooning away with Dean, yes please.”
Annika Bizon from Samsung said: “As Fearne mentions, one of the best things we utilise our technology for is maintaining those all-important connections with loved ones.
“Whether you’re contacting someone on the other side of the world, or wanting to message your friends on Christmas Day, the power of technology enables us to do that seamlessly.”
