Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 1: What is Your Christmas Mission?

by kathilipp | Nov 21, 2017 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 0 comments

Assignment: Create your holiday/Christmas mission statement

In order to enjoy a peaceful holiday season, you may have to let go of some things you’ve always done. It’s time to focus on what brings you and your family joy. Make a list of what you normally do around the holidays, as well as what you’d like your holiday season to look like.

After your list is complete, circle or highlight what is most important to you and your family. Next, cross out what you can let go of this year. Once you’ve focused on what you’d like your celebration to look like, grab your index cards! It’s time to write your Christmas mission statement.

Remember to stick the cards somewhere visible to help remind you of your Christmas plan.

For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas (page 22)

Supplies: two or three index cards, a marker, My Holiday Mission Statement form (found in the back of Get Yourself Organized for Christmas)

Share Your Thoughts:

Now that you have your Christmas priorities straight, how do you feel? What did you decide to eliminate? What gets top priority? Where did you post your Christmas mission statement?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Your Holiday Mission Statement is a way of pre-deciding what’s important to you, so you won’t stay up all night Christmas Eve making the perfect bows for your presents when your family would prefer a well-rested mama who remembers to turn the oven on for Christmas dinner. (Not that any of us has been there … )

And join us over on the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group where we encourage one another and stay accountable as we become Clutter Free!

Thanksgiving is coming up too! If you are hosting, grab your downloadable copy of Get Yourself Organized for Thanksgiving for just $.99 in the Shop.

For more tips on being true to your future self, get your copy of Overwhelmed: How to Quiet the Chaos and Restore Your Sanity.

Eps #277 Loving My Actual Christmas with Alexandra Kuykendall

by kathilipp | Nov 7, 2017 | Christmas, Clutter Free, Podcast | 0 comments

Loving My Actual Christmas

Following the formula of her popular Loving My Actual Life, Alexandra Kuykendall shares her own personal experiment to be completely present in her life as it is during the holiday season. Reflecting on hope, love, joy, peace, and relishing the season, she shares practical advice on common Christmas stressors such as finances, schedules, and extended family. With her signature candor, Kuykendall encourages you to go easy on yourself, remember what truly matters, and find joy in your own imperfect Christmas.

Loving Christmas just seems like an obvious thing but when we get right down to it, Christmas can be a HUGE stressor. Are you trapped in your Christmas traditions with seemingly no way out? Listen in as Author/Speaker Host Kathi Lipp discusses decluttering our idea of Christmas with Author Alex Kuykendall and her new book: “Loving My Actual Christmas”. Alex shares how to manage our expectations without them managing us and listening in on other’s expectations, too. Reboot your Christmas this year – adjust the traditions but keep what is important to you and relish the experience of Christmas.

***Bonus***
Answer this question in the comments below to be entered to receive 1 of 3 copies of “Loving My Actual Christmas”: If you could change one thing about your Christmas celebration this year, what would it be?

FREE DOWNLOAD

Loving My Actual Christmas Planning Pack

Getting a jump on the Christmas planning is the perfect way to really enjoy the season without the stress. This planning pack is a great resource to organize your finances, gifts and even plan your holiday parties with ease. Thank you to Alexandra for offering these to our listeners for free!

Meet Our Guest

Alexandra Kuykendall

Alexandra Kuykendall is the author of Loving My Actual Life and The Artist’s Daughter and is the co-host of The Open Door Sisterhood podcast. A popular writer and speaker, Alexandra has been featured on Good Morning America and Focus on the Family‘s daily broadcast. She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, Derek, and their four daughters.

Eps.#275 – Creating a Clutter Free Christmas

by kathilipp | Oct 24, 2017 | Christmas, Clutter Free, Podcast | 0 comments

Listen in as host Kathi Lipp and co-host Erin Macpherson help us prepare for Christmas without all the clutter. Sometimes traditions are for a season. Let go of the stress this year and get purposeful about your peace this Christmas.

We kick off our Get Yourself Organized for Christmas team fun on November 21. So order your book today for just $5 with coupon code CFChristmas2017. Check out more info at our Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and join us while we enjoy our holidays, rather than stress through Christmas!

Meet Our Guest

Erin MacPherson

Erin MacPherson lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Cameron, her sons Joey and Will and her daughter Kate. She is the author of “The Christian Mama’s Guide Series“, a staff writer for Dun & Bradstreet and a freelancer for publications like Thriving Family Magazine, MOPS MomSense, FamilyLife Magazine, Daily Guideposts and BEMag. She blogs about her life, her kids and her faith at ChristianMamasGuide.com.

Episode #231 – Get Your People Plan Together (Holiday edition)

by kathilipp | Dec 20, 2016 | Christmas, Hard Stuff, Overwhelmed, Podcast, Relationships | 0 comments

People Plan Options

In this podcast, they talk about three options that can help you when it comes to pre-deciding how you will behave:

Personal Manifesto – Creating a “personal manifesto” sets up a code of ethics that helps you pre-decide what you need and want and how to ask for it. (Kathi and Cheri’s manifesto can be viewed here)
Acknowledgment – Acknowledge a pattern and discuss it. Perhaps the person is willing to change or you can change your reaction to their actions.
Leave – Don’t subject yourself to disrespectful behavior.

Kathi and Cheri run through multiple scenarios to help you pre-plan your responses and help you deal with the overwhelm.

Overwhelmed: How to Quiet the Chaos and Restore Your Sanity

Our new book is NOW AVAILABLE! And only until midnight on December 31, we are offering some amazing freebies. Check out all the details here.

Have you endured the Christmas Party where someone just pushes your buttons and you want to scream? Or the family dinner where Aunt Myrtle points out all the things wrong? We all have challenging people in our lives. Sometimes we can be the challenge. This is when a people plan can help. Pre-deciding how we will behave when we are in those challenging situations helps us be the best person we can be. Kathi and Overwhelmed co-author, Cheri Gregory, discuss various situations where a “people plan” can turn challenging events into less overwhelming situations.

Free Download

Kathi & Cheri’s Personal Manifesto

Creating your personal manifesto is an amazing way to pre-decide how you are going to handle certain people or situations. Check out Kathi and Cheri’s and even a few of our favorites from those that sent them in that have already read Overwhelmed.

Meet Our Guest

Cheri Gregory

Cheri Gregory is a teacher, speaker, author, and Certified Personality Trainer. Her passion is helping women break free from destructive expectations. She writes and speaks from the conviction that “how to” works best in partnership with “heart, too.”

Cheri is the co-author, with Kathi Lipp, of The Cure for the “Perfect” Life and the upcoming Overwhelmed.

Cheri has been “wife of my youth” to Daniel, her opposite personality, for twenty-eight years and is “Mom” to Annemarie (25) and Jonathon (23), also opposite personalities.

Cheri blogs about perfectionism, people-pleasing, highly sensitive people, and hope at www.cherigregory.com.

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 21: Your Personalized Special Project

by Kendra Burrows | Dec 4, 2016 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 0 comments

personalized special project

Your personalized special project

This one is up to you! What is something you have always wanted to do this time of year but just never had the time? Today is the day to do that thing. Whether it’s a craft you want to make, a tradition you want to start, or time you want to spend with certain people.

If you can’t think of something, there are some great ideas in the book to give you a jump start. Because these projects have gotten you organized and totally prepared this Christmas, consider this a gift to yourself for all of your hard work. Enjoy!

Assignment: Do that one extra special thing

Think of your own special task that you have wanted to do for years but have never had time for. Today is your day to do that thing.

Doesn’t it feel great to have everything done, ready and finished so you can really enjoy those last few days of the holiday season with your family?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

When you see others’ decorations and trees and well-behaved children (ahem!), or when you read those family Christmas letters, remember that you can either envy or enjoy, but you can’t do both. Let’s abolish overwhelm by choosing to enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 110

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 20: Get Your Christmas Table Stuff Ready

by Kendra Burrows | Dec 3, 2016 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 1 comment

Christmas table

Decorating your Christmas table

When was the last time you served a beautiful Christmas dinner on a nicely decorated Christmas table with your favorite poinsettia table runner, nice silverware and glasses, pine cones to decorate each place setting, and Thomas the Tank Engine napkins?? (Huh?!? Uumm, yep, it happened). Check out the full story in the book under “Project 20 Tablecloths, Napkins and Foof, Oh My!”

For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 106

Well, my friend, today we are not going to let that happen to you, no sir-y we are simply finding all of our table decorations and linens and getting them ready all in one spot.

Assignment and Supplies:

Find your napkins (the ones you intend to use), tablecloth (wash it if there are spots), runners, napkin rings, plates, silverware and stemware or glasses.

**Note** if you are striving for simplicity this year and are going the shabby-chic method of paper or plastic, make a list of the things you need to purchase and where. (There is some cute stuff out there these days that make a table look great. Don’t feel bad about it, remember your goal of simplicity). Embrace it!

Share Your Thoughts

Share with us! When did you have your party all set only to discover the teeny tiny thing of having no ______? What did you do?? This year, join us in our vow to be prepared! Plan today what you will need for tomorrow.

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Have you ever noticed that, “How does the table look?” and “Doesn’t the table look pretty?” are two entirely different questions? One encourages critique while the other invites celebration. Avoid the overwhelm in your household by asking for the feedback you want.

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 1: What is Your Christmas Mission?