Top 10 Tips to Get Organized for the Holidays

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Planning is essential to creating a stress free Christmas.  YOU are the one that has control over your holiday time and, with a little planning and organizing, it IS possible to avoid the craziness of the season and just enjoy all of the magic that Christmas has to bring.  A couple of years ago, I created some Christmas planning printables and use these each year to write down my plans.  The earlier in November that I can start getting ready, the better.  Time always goes quickly – especially through the holidays – so although it may seem early, Christmas will be here before you know it!

So… here are my top 10 tips to get organized for the holidays.  It probably still won’t be perfect, but I promise that it will help! 

 CHOOSE YOUR PRIORITIES

There are SO many activities and events that come up during the holidays that you cannot possibly do them all.   Sit down with your family and get everyone’s top activities that they like to do and write them down.   Schedule them into your calendar and then evaluate how your time is looking.  If things are looking too busy, see what activities could be cut. Remember that you will be able to enjoy those activities that you do choose much more if you are not run down and tired.  Pick and choose wisely and write them all down!  I put together a Christmas Advent calendar each year for the kids – they love reading what we are going to do each day and I love that it keeps me on track!  If you are looking for some fun and inexpensive ideas to do with your kids, check out this list.

SCHEDULE SOME DOWN TIME

I know it sounds crazy, but I actually schedule in times in our calendar for us to just stay home, relax and watch a Christmas movie or two.  The calendar can fill up quickly and running around from one activity or event to another is just plain exhausting.  One of my favorite activities is just snuggling up on the sofa and watching our favorite Christmas shows, and I would never want to miss this!  If you have little kids, I think it is even more important to take this down time.  Tired kids and busy holiday activities just do not mix – you are much better off to just a pick a couple of fun activities to do while they are rested than to feel like you have to take them to every Christmas parade and Santa viewing in town.

DON’T BE A SLAVE TO TRADITIONS

It’s always nice to have Christmas traditions that you look forward to every year, but don’t feel that you have to do everything the same way just because that is how you did it in the past.  As your kids get older or your interests change, you may grow out of a few traditions and that is okay.  It just opens the door for you to create some new ones!  Let go of that Christmas party that you dread going to every year, and take the extra time to do something new that you have always wanted to try {or just take a little more of that down time and hang out in front of your glowing tree!}.

TAKE CONTROL OF THE HOLIDAY GIFT GIVING

We have really tried to slowly cut down on the holiday gifts that we exchange each year.  It can get extremely stressful trying to come up with that “perfect” present for the person that already has everything and, honestly, all of the post-Christmas clutter can be kind of overwhelming too. Write down your list of who you typically give to and see if there are ways that this can be trimmed.  Can you do a family gift exchange rather than giving to everyone individually?  Is there a fun group activity that you can do together with friends instead of buying presents?

For those friends and family that are left on your list, start keeping your eyes open for gift ideas early.  Keep your list with you when you are shopping, so you can write down any ideas that you may have {even if you are not technically out Christmas shopping!}.  Exchange wish lists so you can look for gifts that your recipient actually wants and needs.  Remember that your children will likely remember all of the time spent together throughout the holidays rather than the gifts that they received, so don’t let the shopping take over your fun!

SET UP A HOLIDAY WRAPPING AREA

I highly recommend NOT leaving all of your presents to wrap for Christmas Eve.  If you can, set up a wrapping area somewhere in your home {or get a Rubbermaid bin to hold everything if not} for gift bags, wrapping paper, tags, ribbons, tape, scissors, etc.  Try wrapping things as you go or at least every few presents or so, so you are not overwhelmed by a stack of gifts.  Wrapping a few gifts can be fun and a good way to get some creative energy out!  Once they are wrapped, they can also add some pretty decor to your home under your tree, stacked in a corner, or tucked away in a crate until Christmas arrives.  If you do wrap presents early though, make sure you have written down what you have inside.  If you have multiple gifts, it might be hard to keep track!

TACKLE HOLIDAY CARDS EARLY

I must say that holiday cards are a bit of a hit or miss for me.  I usually do great getting about 75% of my cards out, but I kind of lose steam quickly {sorry to those of you that have received my cards in January!}.  I love getting cards with updated photos of the family, personal notes, or a family letter with the past year’s highlights, so I try to include these in our own cards.  If cards are just not your thing and not a priority for you, don’t do them!!

Remember that you don’t need to send a card to every single friend and family member that you know.  Make a list of who you want to send cards to – close family and friends, those that don’t live near you that you want to keep updated, special people who have helped you out through the year – and write out everyone’s address in one place.  You can keep this for future years so you will only have to do this once with some minor revisions each year.  Start early so you don’t have to rush and can spread out your card writing over a week or two.  If your kids are old enough, put on some Christmas music or a Christmas show and have them help you address the envelopes.

PLAN THOSE PARTIES

If you plan on entertaining over the holidays, you definitely want to start your planning early to avoid the last minute stress of running around.  Everyone is busy during this season, so you will likely need to get dates settled early if you want to get something coordinated {especially if you are inviting multiple families}. Look through your favorite recipe books and holiday magazines to come up with your menu and create a shopping list as you go.  Pinterest {of course!} always has some amazing inspiration so consider creating a board specifically for your party plans {or follow my Holiday Entertaining board HERE}.  You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to entertain, so plan for what you have time for. If a dinner party seems to overwhelming for you, consider having friends over after the dinner hour for some snacks and dessert instead, or even agree to meet out at a restaurant.  The important part is just being able to get together, visit, and have fun.

LET GO OF PERFECTION

I’m sure that you have heard the phrase “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, and there is no better place to apply this than to the holidays.  Just because it is Christmas time, doesn’t mean that your toddler will not have a melt down in the middle of the store.  It doesn’t mean that your house has to stay perfectly clean despite all of the Christmas crafts and holiday decorating that you are doing.  And it definitely doesn’t mean that your gingerbread house or fancy red velvet cake is going to look like as pretty as it does in your cookbook.  Life still happens – just try to soak in the holidays for what they are, enjoy the process, and not be as concerned about the end result.  Coming from a perfectionist, I know how hard this can be, but you can do it!

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

There is nothing worse than being run down or sick throughout the holidays, so you need to put yourself as a priority. I know that it can be hard to get yourself to bed when there always seems to be a big ol’ list of things to do, but plan a bedtime and stick to it!  Get done during the day what you have to get done and let the rest go {you can see how I stay organized with my little notebook HERE}.  Eat wisely when you can {because we all know that there will be some really yummy food at all of those parties!} and keep a water bottle with you wherever you go.  If you have a regular workout routine, try to stick to it.  If you usually read books to relax, find some time to continue to do this.  Whatever it is that you usually do to help keep yourself sane – keep doing it!

FOCUS ON THE MEANING OF THE SEASON

I may have left this one until last, but really, it is probably the most important one of all. Christmas may mean a lot of different things to different people, but no matter what your beliefs, I think that we can all agree that it is a time of celebrating, giving to others, being thankful for all of the blessings that we have, and spreading that Christmas magic that can only be found at this time of year.  Slow down and enjoy it.

So, what about you?  Do you have any good holiday organizing tips that you would like to share?  I would love to hear them!