 Yes, no. Hi, I'm Eileen and this is The Lazy Millennial. Today we're gonna talk about how to survive the holiday season without losing your mind. The holidays are great. In fact, today instead of my usual coffee, I am drinking eggnog. But getting ready for the holidays can be such a challenge. Usually my parents help, but adulting means letting go of their support. I don't wanna do that. Sir. Sir. No, no, no, no, no. Plain tickets and presents are expensive and there's never enough time. There are so many people to see and events to go to and stuff to buy, but for the sake of love, friendship and social capital, it all has to be juggled. One big, scary, inescapable fact of the world is scarcity. Most people think that this has to do with money and physical resources, but the most scarce resource of all is your time. So with all this pressure to see everyone and do all the things, how do I get the most value out of the limited time that I have back home? You know what, sweater? I know you were a gift from my aunt, but I don't actually have to wear you. There's this idea in economics called opportunity cost. Boring. I know. Basically, this just means that every choice you make is an opportunity that comes at the cost of all the other stuff you can't do at the same time. The holidays are the worst because there are endless demands on your time and balancing all your obligations is tough, but dude, it's okay. Take a deep breath. Holidays are about what you value. For me, that's family and Christmas Eve mass and the food and the desserts and breakfast and the whole 48 hours of food, but I also want to spend a little time with friends. And since I know that going in, I can make sure everyone's okay ahead of time with me ducking out for a little while. The thing about opportunity cost is that it's everywhere all the time. Thus, FOMO. There is no single answer on how to handle all of this. Everyone's values are different, so you do you, but maybe knowing these trade-offs are unavoidable actually makes it easier to prioritize. Knowing we have limited time actually makes it more important to make the most of it. Okay, family, here I come. Sweaters for everyone. Happy holidays, everyone. Thanks for watching the lazy millennial today. Leave a comment below and let me know how you make tough choices when you have too much going on. And if you want to learn more about how opportunity cost affects all our lives, check out the Foundation for Economic Education's free online course, economics in one day, available at courses.fee.org or don't and the Grinch might steal all your presents.