Treat Yourself to an Organized Happy Holiday

In our book, Halloween marks the beginning of the holiday season. Before the carved pumpkin begins to sag, it is time to make plans for Thanksgiving, then Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza arrive followed by New Year’s celebrations which present another chance to resolve to do better next year- to get a handle on the celebrations before the celebrations handle us.

Don’t wait to make that New Year’s resolution. Here are a few tricks that will let you treat yourself to a happier holiday season. Take a few simple steps now that will help you save time, money and your sanity.

1. Label sections of an expanding folder for each holiday. At the front of the folder place a calendar with October, November and December.
2. List the activities you expect to do for each holiday. (make costumes, clean guest room, make cupcakes, plan church pageant, purchase synagogue tickets, buy gifts) and give each activity a completion date.
3. Review your lists and make sure you have not overscheduled your time. Get help if you need it and eliminate some activities if you need to.
4. Review your calendar daily to evaluate your progress and determine if you need to adjust your expectations or your activities.
5. As you complete an activity check it off the list. Also retain receipts, coupons for items you want to buy or ideas, patterns and recipes in the appropriate section. This saves time searching for that perfect decorating idea you know you saw in some magazine (or was it the newspaper?) last month.

You will probably be surprised at the extensive list you end up with, especially if you have school activities, work activities and worship activities along with family and social obligations. Knowing what you have to accomplish is the key to getting it done. It allows you to allocate time and resources that are necessary to accomplish the task without getting overwhelmed. It also allows you to take advantage of downtime to accomplish tasks that do not have to be done at the last minute, and to save money by purchasing things you know you need when they are on sale.

An organized approach makes holidays more happy than harried.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransition.net