Six Steps To An Organized Christmas
Brought to you by Joan Kosmachuk, Professional Organizer
and Personal Life Coach

There’s nothing like the onset of the Christmas Season to highlight those areas of our life that lack organization. If you struggle with time management or budget issues throughout the year, it will be even more difficult to juggle the extra demands on your time and money during the holidays. Spare beds that need to be dug out for guests, fridges and freezers that need to be cleaned out to accommodate extra food, or piles of paperwork on the dining room table will suddenly scream for your attention before you can relax and enjoy the festivities.

The 6 steps in this month’s newsletter are designed to help you deal with these challenges with as little effort as possible. A month before Christmas is probably not the time to try to fix things at the source, but it is the time to note what the real issues are and to make a plan for the New Year to deal with those areas of organization that plague you. Plan to gift yourself with a hassle-free Christmas next year. In the meantime…

1. Plan your Christmas spending
Take a good look at your finances and decide what you can honestly afford to spend this Christmas season. Once you have your dollar figure, make a Christmas budget that includes any gift purchases, wrapping paper, postage, entertainment, dining, extra groceries, decorations, travel, charitable gifts, increases in monthly bills, or any other expenses that are unique to your celebrations.

Once you’ve determined your budget, plan your shopping and activities accordingly. Many people recommend using your debit card (not credit card) for purchases or taking out just enough cash for your gift buying so that you are not tempted to overspend. If you do plan to pay for Christmas on your credit card, make sure you budget the funds to pay it off early in the coming year.

Gift to yourself: Plan to get your finances organized in January 2007 so that you can set next year’s Christmas budget right at the start and contribute to it throughout the year.

2. Plan your time
Start by setting a date with your December calendar. The reality is that you only have so many hours in a day. If you’re already struggling with managing your time and tasks these extra Christmas preparation tasks and social events, even the enjoyable ones, can tend to feel burdensome if you don’t plan for them.

Just as you did with your finances, you need to set a realistic budget of time for Christmas festivities. Take a look at your calendar and block off the time you’ll be working, sleeping, and otherwise committed. Then look at the time you have remaining and choose the activities/events that are most important to you and your family. Write these on your calendar. Make sure you include any preparation time that is required for these events such as shopping for gifts or food, cooking or baking time, set-up and clean-up time, phone calls or emails, travel time to events and so forth. If your natural tendency is to underestimate the time it takes to get things done, allow yourself twice the time you think a task will take. This will allow you to take a more relaxed approach to the holiday, and you’ll be more prepared for the “unexpected” to occur.

Gift to yourself: If time management is one of your areas of struggle, consider hiring a personal coach in 2007. A coach can assist you with finding a time management system that works for you.

3. Plan your menus and grocery shopping
Now that you’ve determined if and when you’ll be feeding family and friends (or contributing a dish to another event) it’s important to figure out what you are going to serve. If you aren’t inclined to culinary endeavors, keep your menus simple and purchase prepared or catered foods. Make sure you write out our menus ahead of time so that you won’t forget anything when it comes time to preparing your meals.

With your menus in hand, now is also the time to plan for all the extra ingredients you’ll need to have in the house. Whether you are trying a new dish or planning to stick with traditional fare, review your menus and recipes and make note of every item you need. Next, check this list against your pantry inventory and check off those things you have in stock already. The remaining items will comprise your Christmas shopping list. Place any meat or bakery orders well in advance. Plan to grocery shop early for non-perishables and shop during off-peak hours to avoid the crowds.

Gift to yourself: If you rely on the same basic menu from year to year, type up your menus and corresponding ingredients on the computer. Next year, all you have to do is make any changes/additions and print it off for your trip to the store.

4. Plan your gift giving:
Knowing your budget will help to set the spending limit for each person’s gift. You should also set a deadline for purchasing your gifts. Asking friends and family for their wish list can help to take the guesswork out of deciding what to buy. Choosing a single theme (ie. a book or pajamas for everyone on your list), shopping from a single store, or shopping on-line on your lunch hour are all ways to reduce the amount of time spent wandering busy malls in the evenings or weekends. Alternatively, give experiences rather than things. Movie passes, a family membership to the local zoo, piano or art lessons, are gifts that can be enjoyed throughout the coming year and can often be purchased over the phone or on-line. For the person who has everything, consider a donation on their behalf to a charity they love and support.

Gift to yourself: Make up your own Christmas wish list and share it with your family and friends. Be as specific as possible by noting color, size, store location or website. This is a way to ensure that you get things you actually want/need.

5. Plan to get your house in order
This is the time to assess what rooms in the house need a major intervention in order to be ready to receive your guests and/or provide a pleasant retreat for yourself and your family. Go through your home room by room and note what tasks need to be done. At a minimum, you need to have a clean kitchen with clear counter/table space for food preparation; a clear table for serving; a clean, comfortable and uncluttered area for overnight guests (if applicable) and an uncluttered space for exchanging gifts and visiting with family and friends. You may also want to clear side tables to accommodate drinks/food, and provide extra seating options in the areas where you’ll be entertaining the most.

Ideally you’d want to take the time to thoroughly organize the extra stuff in each of these rooms. However, for now, settle for categorizing your clutter into separate containers in preparation for dealing with these items later. Get several bins or boxes for the “stuff” you need to quickly get out of sight and designate a closet or unused room for their temporary storage. Categories may include paperwork & files, craft/hobby items, photos, books, clothing, broken things, garage sale or donation items, sports equipment, non-Christmas decorations, work supplies etc.

Once you’ve contained your clutter, then you can tackle the cleaning. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or delegate some of these tasks to others in your household or to a professional. Once these tasks are done, add those fun, decorative touches that will make your home a welcoming place to celebrate. (See my November newsletter for tips on an organized approach to decorating for the holidays).

Gift to self: Make a plan to get your home organized in 2007. Imagine what a delight it would be next Christmas to have a place for everything and everything in its place.

6. Plan to Celebrate:
Sometimes in the busyness of the season it is easy to think about how much easier it would be to just skip Christmas this year – at least to give up all the trappings. And yet, we are a people who so quickly forget. Without the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas, it would be easy for us to carry on with our day to day lives and not remember the birth of Christ and all that means to us. And without the celebrations, it would be so easy for the story of Christmas to be forgotten altogether. The other danger is to get so caught up in the “doing” that we forget the reason we are doing it at all. Whether its celebrating with friends and family, your church community or a quiet day apart for spiritual reflection, together let us remember Jesus’ birth which brought to the world a Savior – forgiveness of sins and a new covenant in His blood. Let us keep our traditions, our memorials that will declare to the next generation – Jesus is born!

If you need help with getting organized this Christmas and/or other organizing or time management solutions, consider getting professional input by hiring a professional organizer or personal life coach. To hire the services of Joan Kosmachuk, please email your request to info@simpleeffects.com or call 617-784-0707.

If you found the information in this newsletter to be of value to you, please feel free to forward it to your friends and colleagues; you'll be helping them simplify their lives.