We’re just barely put away the Halloween costumes, and already the big box stores are putting up Christmas decorations and starting to play holiday music over their sound systems.
If you’re feeling a bit rushed, you’re not alone.
Holiday festivities are wonderful, but they can also skyrocket your stress level. This year, I wanted to give you some holiday preparation tips to help you slow down and savor these special moments with your family and friends.
Let’s dig in.
Try to Plan Ahead as Much as Possible
Nothing ratchets up stress levels like last-minute holiday preparations, so the best tip I can give you is to plan ahead as much as possible.
We’re currently at the beginning of November, but it’s not too late to plan ahead for this year!
I recommend deciding what your holiday plans will be in advance, and setting your budget for gifts, decor, entertaining, and meals.
After that, start making lists!
I recommend using notes apps, like Evernote or Notes, to create and update your lists. Both programs have desktop and mobile apps, so your lists will sync automatically between the two platforms, and you’ll be able to keep everything at your fingertips on your phone or tablet while you are out and about.
Another thing you can do to plan ahead is start decluttering early to make room for your guests, decorating efforts, and holiday cooking. Everything will be easier when you don’t have to wade through tons of clutter to get around! Here are some quick tips to help with the decluttering process:
- Make room in your pantry by throwing away expired food, or donating items you know you’ll never use (like that can of kidney beans that has been sitting in your shelf for six months!)
- Clean out your coat closet and donate gently used coats, hats, gloves and scarves to a local charity or homeless shelter.
- Make room on your bookshelves by giving away books you don’t need. You can donate books to libraries, thrift shops, or bookworm friends.
- Thin out your sheets and towels, and repurpose or donate the linens you’ll never use.
- Clean out medicine cabinets and toss old or expired cosmetics, lotions, and over-the-counter medicines.
- Go through any piles of stuff that might be accumulating on counters and tabletops, and sort things into a few small storage baskets that can be easily put away before guests arrive.
Preparing for Holiday Decorating
Pinterest is my favorite site for new holiday decorating ideas. If you don’t already have an account, it will only take 30 seconds to sign up!
Start checking out Pinterest early (or start brainstorming ideas) and decide what you’d like to do for your holiday decorating. Then, estimate approximately how long each part of the process will take (Christmas tree, outdoor lights, etc.). If you need to recruit extra help or gather special tools for any of your decorations, make sure to line that up in advance.
Looking for something additional, affordable ideas for decorating? A new home decor line called “Hearth & Hand” arrived at Target in November! This new inexpensive line was created by Chip & Joanna Gaines (from the HGTV television show Fixer Upper), and includes holiday decor. A portion of the proceeds from this line will also go to helping families in need.
Once you’ve got your house decorated, take pictures of your décor! Then you won’t have to wrack your brain to remember how you set everything up when you decorate next year.
Simplify Your Shopping Efforts
Gone are the days when family members gave you dog-eared copies of the Sears catalog as their Christmas wish lists. These days, we might get an email from a son or daughter with links items on Amazon, instead!
There’s often a lot of shopping involved in the holiday season (including groceries and gifts). Now there are several easy-to-use shopping apps can help you organize your Christmas shopping right on your phone.
Shopping apps let you import recipients, create wish lists and shopping lists, and set budgets and track spending for your lists.
We like Santa’s Bag and The Christmas Gift Lite (which are both available only for Apple devices) and Christmas Gift List (available only for Android).
We also discovered the Shopper app, which is available for Apple and Android devices. Using Shopper, you can:
- Order your shopping list according to your pantry or the store aisles.
- Sync your shopping lists with family and friends.
- Store your own recipes, and find new recipes online – then transfer ingredients directly to your shopping list.
- Save money with lists of coupons from top brands.
- Scan barcode items directly onto your shopping list.
- Track multiple lists & multiple stores (grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, etc.).
Making Sending Cards Easier
Now is the time to decide what you’d like to use for your family holiday card. Do you want to use a family photo? If you can’t get everyone together for a family photo, you can also use a collage of pictures from the year.
Do you want to include a family letter? If so, who will write the letter?
No matter what kind of card you’ll be sending, make sure to build time into your schedule for buying and signing cards, collecting addresses, and affixing postage.
Check out these two posts from our Picture This Organized archive, to help with this process.
How to Prepare for Overnight Guests
If you’re planning on hosting overnight guests during the holidays, consider hiring a cleaning service to help you prepare. This shortcut will save you time and energy – just make sure you book your cleaning service in advance, because many companies get busy during the holidays.
You can still host guests even if you don’t have a formal guest room. You can order an air mattress in advance, and stash it away in a closet when you’re not using it. We like the Insta-Bed air mattress/headboard combo.
Want to give your guests an extra special touch? Create a small gift basket of local items, or leave a photo frame with a pic of your guests for them to take when they leave. You can also stock the room with bottled water. You can order these items in advance, so you’re not scrambling for them two days before your guests arrive.
Tech Tools and Programs for an Easier Holiday Travel Experience
Holiday travel can be stressful, but there are a few shortcuts and tech tools that can help make it smoother and more pleasant. Here are a few ideas:
- Access your boarding pass on your mobile phone, so you don’t have to fumble with paperwork when you get to the airport.
- Sign up for TSA Pre-Check or CLEAR to speed up your airport experience and decrease the amount of time you spend going through security. If you want to sign up for either of these programs, start researching them early. They may require paperwork or a visit to the airport during the signup process.
- Download the WAZE app (Android or Apple) on your phone to help you navigate road trips and traffic.
- Simplify your packing PackPoint, a travel packing wizard that gives you a checklist of travel essentials based on the trip profile you enter.
With the right planning and tools, traveling away from home for the holidays be easier, so your family can focus on being together.
Don’t Forget to Take Care of Yourself!
Lastly, don’t forget to take care of yourself during this holiday season.
The best way to decrease your stress level during holiday entertaining is to emphasize present over perfect. Enjoying being together is far more important than every detail looking like it came straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting!
During the holidays, remember that you will need a little extra margin in your life. Richard Swenson, M.D. defines margin as “the space between our load and our limits. It is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between breathing freely and suffocating.”
Build a little extra margin in your life by making sure you don’t overschedule yourself or try to pack too many tasks into your days. Here are some excellent tips from Michael Hyatt about how to restore time reserves into our lives.
Take time to rest and rejuvenate, instead of going non-stop during the holidays. Settle into your recliner or couch with a good book, or treat yourself to a massage, manicure or pedicure.
If you plan ahead using the tips in this post, and take care of yourself during the holidays, our hope is that you have a nourishing, comforting celebratory season.
Happy holidays from all of us here at Picture This Organized!