Organizing for the Holidays to Minimize Stress
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Do you have your holiday plans organized yet? The gifts, the food, the events, the decorations, and card sending (if you do that)? I know some people put their tree and decorations up right after Halloween. Some people, not naming any names, leave all their gift-buying until December 24th and end up over-spending. The more organized you can be for the holidays the less stressed you will be.
Keep Your Holiday Plans Simple...
The last couple of holiday-seasons were very low-key for most people. In-person family gatherings and events were almost non-existent. Whether you have a large family or a small one, simplifying things can dramatically reduce your stress.
What are the three most important holiday activities for you?
- Is it the big meal where family and friends get together for a turkey or ham dinner?
- Maybe going to Church on Christmas Eve?
- Baking all kinds of treats?
- Decorating the tree? Or your home?
- Singing Christmas carols or listening to Christmas music?
- Watching the excited children opening their gifts from Santa?
- Or just seeing the pleasure of other people opening their gifts?
You can get your free Holiday Checklist Below...
Making Holiday Lists...
Every year I like to make lists:
- Cards and letters to send to relatives and friends that live far away.
- Food to buy for get-togethers.
- Baking to do. (Although I don’t bake much.)
- Gifts to buy. and
- Gift ideas for others to give me.
At this stage in my life, I am either very hard to buy for, or very easy, depending on your outlook. If I want or need something I will usually just go and buy it. I don’t need much because I have already been blessed with so much.
Preparing your home...
Before you start decorating, having people over for the holidays, or accumulating more stuff you might want to do some prep for your home. In other words, declutter and clean. If you have been decluttering throughout the year you can skip this step. You might want to do a little deeper clean with some things. Double check your special dishes, and wine glasses and wash off the dust if necessary. Dust and vacuum before you put up the decorations and the tree. You also might want to check your pantry for expiry dates on supplies. Then you will know what needs to be used up first and what you will need to buy.
Schedule your events and things to do...
A few years ago, I made a special holiday planner to keep organized. You can use any planner or calendar to keep track of your deadlines and events though. Break things down into simple steps and prioritize.
- When do you need to mail cards and letters by? I like to do this early so I can forget about it and then focus on other things.
- Do you need to do any baking for church or school functions? Make sure you have the supplies for when you need them.
- Perhaps you like to put decorations up by a certain date and your tree later (especially if you get a real one).
You can watch my Holiday Planning video below.
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