by kathilipp | Nov 22, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
When was the last time you were searching for the perfect gift for your cousin that was coming over for the annual gift exchange – the one that was happening tomorrow? It’s happened to all of us at least once, or four times. This is one way to ENSURE your holidays will be stressful. We want to avoid stress this year so here is the plan.
Assignment:
- Make a list of everyone you will be making or buying gifts for (jot down a date of when you need to exchange or mail them).
- Keep notes next to each name of things you think they might like, need or really appreciate. Think about whether they would most appreciate a gift that you bought for them, or maybe they would love to donate toward a cause and you could do it in their honor? Whatever the case, take a few minutes and decide your plan of attack.
- Another thing I do ahead of time is window shop. I write down or take pictures of things so I can later add them to my list with their price. That way I don’t go nuts spending way too much. Then I go home and make up my real list including what I am buying and how much it costs.
Supplies:
The Get Your Christmas Organized Gift List
I actually take this one step further and create this list on a spread sheet because I have a budget in mind for each person. All of this is then stored in one place and when I am at the store I know that I can get what I intended and make sure I don’t spend too much doing so! This has helped not only keep me organized, but also keeps me from spending way more than I should have out of guilt, loss of time or impulse purchases.
The idea here is for you to be giving gifts from a place of joy, not last minute stress. Be smart, shop in stages so the hit on the budget isn’t so severe!
For more details: Get Your Christmas Organized page 48
Need more ideas for gifts? Check out what Evite says about how to ‘Find the Perfect Gift’.
Share Your Thoughts: How do you tend to get your gift list going? Do you plan it out or just shop and then worry about it later? Do you buy for everyone or just a select few? Share with us what gift giving traditions you have developed or adapted over the years.
by kathilipp | Nov 21, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
If you don’t plan your time, someone else will. During the holidays it is especially important to plan in advance so you have the time to do the things that are truly important to you.
I schedule downtime. Life can get very stressful over the holidays and I schedule time just to relax and wrap gifts with music playing or to kick back and read a book. The time leading up to Christmas shouldn’t be so rushed and stressful that you are totally exhausted and can’t enjoy the holiday. I schedule mini-breaks or downtime throughout the season. This is especially important if you have small children and their schedules are being disrupted.
The downtime is every bit as important as the parties and other social activities during the holiday season. I review calendars and make sure we find time to attend church, candlelight services, and other events that matter to us, I schedule downtime, and then everything else is worked into the time that is left or we choose not to do it. Go back to your Christmas mission statement and make sure everything you schedule fits into your mission. If it doesn’t, you can skip it this year. There’s always next year!
Do what gives you joy and don’t feel guilty for saying NO to everything else.
Assignment: Schedule Your Time for the Holidays
Gather all your calendars and spend fifteen minutes scheduling your commitments (personal, family, church, school, etc.). Now it is time to schedule in some fun! You may want to ask your family what they would like to do this year. Consider dropping things that no longer bring you or your family joy. You may also want to set aside some special time for just you and your spouse.
Once you have completed your calendar, be sure to hang it where everyone has access to it.
For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 44
Supplies:
1) a blank calendar for November and December (or download printable blank calendars for November and December here.)
2) School, church, work and personal calendars.
Share Your Thoughts:
How does it feel to have things scheduled out in advance? Did you eliminate some activities? What activities will you keep no matter what? When you think about the holiday season do you feel overwhelmed, relaxed, confident or frustrated?
Bonus Idea:
Do you love having a ton of different cookies for Christmas but don’t have time to shop and prepare for a more than one type of cookie? Have a cookie exchange party and invite your favorite people (and the best bakers)! Invite them with a Kathi Lipp inspired Evite. Check it and other fun Clutter Free Christmas party ideas here.
by kathilipp | Nov 18, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
Assignment: Create a Christmas Binder with Tabs
This binder is going to be your friend for the next few weeks. You know- the kind of friend that you count on to help you keep your sanity. This friend should reflect you but more importantly the vision you have for your family Christmas! Yesterday you made a list of what is important to you for the holidays, what it would look like for you if you started fresh this year. Use your mission statement and go from there. But don’t forget this is supposed to be quick and easy!
For More Details: Get Yourself Organized for Christmas – Page 28
Supplies: a 3 ring binder, tabs, (optional) colored pens, plain paper to decorate a cover sleeve to slide in the clear pocket.
Maybe you have an old binder lying around that contains your child’s old science fair project. Maybe you were on a committee for church a few years back and you can recycle one for a new purpose! Maybe you will take out a blank sheet of paper and decorate it and then slide it into the clear sleeve of the front cover of the binder. Maybe you make a fun label for the outside. Whatever you end up creating, make it SIMPLE.
Next get some dividers for the different categories. Get one for Cards, Recipes, Budget and Receipts, etc. Then place them in the order that makes sense to you. Keep a copy of the mission statement in the front however, to remind yourself of the core values and what matters most to your family.
Go to evite.com for some great planning ideas. Did you know that there are tabs on there that give you tons of tips, ideas and ways to get your planning started? (it looks like Pinterest) Click this link to take a look.
Then set a reminder on your phone or an appointment on your calendar to do a binder check weekly. This check will ensure you are USING it after you took the time to create it! It is so important for you to not get overwhelmed. Use this time to store away any needed items to keep yourself organized. Put that receipt in the receipt section now because when you are in a hurry later, it won’t happen. Doing a simple task now will keep you from feeling crazed later!
Share Your Thoughts:
Where did you get your binder? Is it newly repurposed? What tabs did you put inside? Did you list out your Mission Statement and enclose it?
by kathilipp | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
Assignment: Create Your Holiday Mission Statement
In order to have a peaceful holiday season, you may have to let go of some things you’ve always done. It’s time to focus on what is bringing 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, and cross out what you can let go of this year. Once you’ve focused on what you’d like your celebration to look like this year, grab your index cards and write your 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: 2 or 3 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 mission statement?
FROM OUR PARTNER EVITE:
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by kathilipp | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
When was the last time you pulled out from under your bed the wrapping paper container only to find that you are pretty much completely out of wrapping paper? Umm, how did this happen?!? And then realize that you know that you saw some recently… Oh yeah! You run upstairs to the spare bedroom closet to find the missing wrapping paper, only to discover it is a bag full of bows. Geesh! You can’t win. This only happens to me when I need it now!!
Assignment: Designate an area, one place for all of your wrapping supplies – think of it as your Christmas Headquarters! Maybe it’s your bedroom, an office, or a closet. Wherever it is, clean up the area and make space to store the extra supplies.
3 Reasons you need to be organized this year:
- Organizing saves TIME- when you take the time to get your space organized you save loads of energy not looking for things you thought you had (ie: the above scenario). Searching around for tape, scissors paper bows etc. can tire a girl out. For real. Save yourself the flight of stairs!
- Organizing saves MONEY- when you make a list of what you have and what you need you are more prepared. You don’t go off to the store for more scotch tape, only to find you have three rolls in another room! You really could have used that $6.00 for your son’s school field trip!
- Organizing saves STRESS- when you have everything you need all when you need it in one location, this keeps you sane. You stop running around like a chicken with her head cut off. It’s a busy enough time of year, we don’t need to make it worse by saving things for the last minute. This causes stress. Stop it!
The best thing you can do to ensure you have a holiday free from stress is to plan ahead. Take the time now before life gets crazy busy, and get your space ready. Really, this will make the whole process much more enjoyable! (I just realized that I need to add tape to my next shopping list because that is one item that just won’t stick around like I need it to! I’m off to store later anyway, might as well get it now!)
Share Your Thoughts:
Where will your space be located? Is it in a kid free zone or just where you have room – maybe the dining table?! It’s ok if it is- no judgments here! 🙂 I don’t think kids care that much, do you?
This year we’ve partnered with Evite to bring organization to your party planning and holiday celebrations! Check out the Kathi Lipp and Evite partner page for some great party ideas and the evites you need to invite your favorite guests!
If you haven’t purchased Get Yourself Organized for Christmas yet, click here!
