5 Best Ideas to Stay Organized During Holidays
How many of you start from scratch each holiday season, even though the tasks and activities that occur each season are about the same? Why reinvent the wheel when you could get a head start on the holiday planning and organization by applying these 5 best ideas to stay organized during holidays.
Simply rinse and repeat!
The first year you start to implement a plan may take a bit more time because you are setting up the system or organization, but you better believe that each and every year and season thereafter, you holidays will run smoother and with fewer hiccups because you started with an actual plan of action that worked the year before.
Create A Checklist
Even Santa has a list that he’s checking twice each holiday season. It’s no surprise because he’s responsible for delivering presents across the globe. If a simple checklist is how Santa stays organized, you know it’ll work for you too. This is one of those easy ideas that gets forgotten because it is so simple that we gloss over it, but I promise that it’s also extremely effective.
Digital Task Manager
Whether you’re using a digital app such as Apple Notes or a dedicated task manager such as Things 3, the key to a great checklist is to allow time for a brain dump. No need to saddle our brains with random tasks. Let all the ideas floating around in your head transfer to an outside source.
Our brains are meant for
- higher thought,
- meaningful connections and
- creative pursuits,
which computers are are ideal to store and capture.
Let’s turn these lists in our heads into lists on our devices so that we can actually make room in our brains for higher thinking.
Putting Pen to Paper
Many think that putting pen to paper is old school or primitive, but it’s just as effective or more so than doing a brain dump to a computer. Studies have shown that the act of writing something down affects the way we process the information compared to typing it out because of the part of the brain that is used for handwriting.
After creating the checklist, organize the checklist by grouping similar tasks together. By grouping the similar tasks, later when we are spending time going through the checklist we can batch the tasks up in an efficient manner which saves time and energy.
For example, if you’ve got a gift shopping list, write out all the gifts you plan to purchase and where you plan to purchase them. This will help you group the shopping by location. You’ll save money on gas by making just one stop to the specific store and pair trips based on where the shop is in your city.
For example, if you’ve got a gift shopping list, write out all the gifts you plan to purchase and where you plan to purchase them. This will help you group the shopping by location. You’ll save money on gas by making just one stop to the specific store and pair trips based on where the shop is in your city.
Create A Budget (and stick to it)
We are in the thick of gift giving season and that usually means an increase in expenses for many families. Start out with a budget on how much you are willing and able to spend on gifs. Then write out your list of those you plan to give gifts to and determine a budget for each individual.
I also encourage adding a buffer into the budget to account for items that cost a little more than planned. Don’t forget to consider taxes, packaging and shipping into the cost of the gift.
Gift Giving Budget
Here’s a sample budget that would work really well for budgeting presents.
Complete the Google form by adding the names of the gift recipients in column B. Then follow with a short description of the gift item in column C.
This is optional, but I like to add the location of where I plan to purchase the gift in column D so that I can group my shopping by location.
Columns E, F and G is where you assign a budgeted amount, with actual amounts and the calculated difference between the two. This will help to see where you are over and under budget at a quick glance.
Vacation and Travel Budget
The holidays are usually synonymous with visiting friends and family. If holiday travel is in your plans, creating an actual budget and sticking with it will make a big difference in keeping your holidays organized. Keeping your travel organized will also aid in reducing the overwhelm and stress that goes along with holiday travel.
The Vacation and Travel budget works in a similar manner as the gift giving budget, with some small differences.
To account for traveling with your family I’ve included the option to add a multiplier in the budget. Traveling together means you have group costs and individuals costs. Identify these easily in the Google Sheet by noting the quantity.
For example, for a family of four traveling by plane, you likely have four airfare. Use the quantity column to add 4 as the multiplier.
After all your budgeted items are listed you can at a quick glance, identify what your budget looks like and see any areas that are over and under budget.
Create A Plan (in advance)
Taking the extra time to plan out your holidays is well worth the effort because you create the marching orders during a very hectic time. Instead of being frazzled with all that there is to do in a short amount of time, wondering what to do first and then next, you rely on the plan that was created in advance.
Schedule Events
As discussed with creating a checklist, you have options for creating a plan in a physical calendar or a digital one. Once you have decided on the format for your calendar, start to add the major events on the calendar.
These are what I call rocks on the calendar. Events such as the
These are what I call rocks on the calendar. Events such as the
- actual holidays,
- birthdays, and
- travel dates
Schedule Rest and Recharge Days
With the remaining open and white spaces, schedule in your tasks such as shopping days and rest and recharge days. The rest and recharge days will help you tremendously so that you don’t over fill your calendar and you increase the chances of being fresh and energized to complete all the tasks at hand.
Looking for a simple calendar to print out? This can easily be done with your computer on the calendar app that is likely already installed. Check out this post for instructions on how to do this with a Mac computer.
Create A Gift Wrapping Station
Set up a station in an empty corner of your home or at the end of a counter top or table. This is where you will designate your gift wrapping station. A fast and even surface is a must, ideally at waist level so that you take care in minding your back. In the past I’ve used the floor, which is perfectly fine, but I would always hobble with an achey back afterwards.
A little bit of planning on the front end can easily avoid the unnecessary aches and pains. Another idea is to use a folding table (that you likely have stored away in the garage) to use as a temporary station. It easily tucks away and it’s sturdy enough to get the job done.
Gather Supplies
Gather up all your gift wrapping supplies, such as:
- wrapping paper
- gift bags
- tissue paper
- gift tags
- ribbons and bows
- tape (double and single sided)
- scissors
- pens and markers
Easily keep these items organized by corralling them all with a turntable or shoe box.
Assign Tasks and Accept Help
The holidays are a busy and often chaotic time.
Many wonder why this is, but it’s no surprise when we are attempting to stuff a bunch of holiday specific tasks on top of an already busy schedule. The routine day to day schedules continue to happen during the holidays which makes adding anything extra challenging to add to the calendar.
This is the time to take a good look at your calendar and make realistic judgements about what you can and should do. If the extra holiday tasks seems like a lot (and they are) solicit the help of family members instead of taking it all on yourself.
Divide and conquer by assigning tasks whenever possible. Want to participate in the school canned drive fundraiser this year? If you have older children task them to take charge of these efforts in collecting non perishable goods. It’s one less thing on your list and you help develop confidence in your children.
Common Holiday Tasks
It’s easy to see the extra events that show up on our calendar when we compile them in list form. Here are common holiday tasks the plan for and schedule:
- canned goods drive
- toy drives
- holiday party goodies
- holiday lights
- holiday decorations
- organize gift exchanges for home and office
- party planning
- holiday meal planning
- neighborhood potlucks
- holiday cookie exchange
Conclusion
Even though the holidays bring extra chaos along with the cheer, a little front end planning helps keep the holidays organized.
Apply at least one of the 5 best ideas to stay organized during holidays and you’ll get closer to actually enjoying this time of the year.
Interested in giving the gift giving budget and vacation travel budget a try? Download either or both budget templates below.
Southern California based Professional Organizer, Sandy Park, owner and founder of Tidy with SPARK shares her joy of organization with her clients.
She serves clients in Orange County as well as the hundreds of thousands of followers on her combined social media platforms.
Connect with Sandy through her website or by connecting through her social channels.