I don’t care what you say, it’s totally fine to start listening to holiday music now

The “right” way to spread holiday cheer has become the subject of many a meme. While some ride the yuletide in the festive fervor of Buddy the Elf (Mariah Carey! Syrup! Cinnamon-scented pine cones! Sugar!), others guffaw from the sidelines with Grinch-like disdain. I fall proudly on the former group: Today is November 7th, and you better believe I’ve been cranking the She & Him Christmas album for a full week already *and* stocking my Amazon cart with red, green, and gold galore.

However. This year my childlike wonder for the most wonderful time of the year was crushed like a precious, delicate snowflake. One clinical psychologist Linda Blair, PsyD, citing research, told Sky News that blaring yuletide cheer too early negatively impacts mental health. “People working in the shops at Christmas have to learn to tune it out—tune out Christmas music—because if they don’t, it really does make you unable to focus on anything else. You’re simply spending all your energy trying not to hear what you’re hearing,” she says in the news clip.

So here’s my question: How in the name of Father Christmas am I supposed to trim the tree and untangle twinkly lights and build The Empire State Building out of Legos without the dulcet tones of Bing Crosby, Michael Bublé, and Zooey De Chanel? Am I supposed to just queue up the top 40 and act like I’m not screaming inside? All so I can pretend that I’m not overjoyed by the fifth rendition of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer?

A resounding no, because I found time-tested research that has my back. A study—which was published in 1989, has recently been making the rounds across the web in rebuttal—and it found that hanging your holiday decor ASAP not only boosts your mental health, but also makes your neighbors perceive you as more sociable, according to Today.

So, cue up the holiday Hallmark marathon and channel your inner Frosty…or don’t. Either way…#science.

In less mellow dramatic holiday news, here’s the best time to book your flight home and why you might want more sex this time of year.