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

by kathilipp | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free | 4 comments

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?

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Prep Day 4: Designate an Area (Christmas Headquarters)

by kathilipp | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free | 2 comments

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:

1. 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!
2. 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!
3. 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!

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Prep Day 3: Find a binder

by kathilipp | Nov 13, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free | 3 comments

Assignment: Find a used 3 ring binder or purchase a new one.

Getting organized for Christmas doesn’t happen overnight. But following the steps in Get Yourself Organized for Christmas will get you on your way in 25 days. One item you will need to keep all your Christmas information together is a binder.  It doesn’t have to be new.  It can be one your children used at school or one you used before.   It should be a 3 ring binder and if you want a special cover, you will need one that has a plastic covering with a slit to insert a printed sheet.    These look nice, but are not necessary.   I recommend the 2 inch binders so you have lots of room for everything.  If you have to purchase you can pick them up at your local Walmart, Target or Dollar Stores.

Supplies:  3 ring binder, pens, My Holiday Binder Cover

Share Your Thoughts: What kind of binder did you purchase or find around the house?   Did you download the cover?   Are you ready to Get Yourself Organized for Christmas?

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Pre Project 2: Grab a Friend

by kathilipp | Nov 12, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free | 0 comments

Today is the day! It’s time to get yourself that accountability partner who has been saying the same thing as you, “This year, I’m going to be ready for Christmas BEFORE Christmas Eve”. We know, she is your friend because she too struggles and is not afraid to admit that. Those are the BFFs we want to take with us on this challenge! Those are the girls that we think we have fooled into believing that we are better than we REALLY are. Those girlfriends are the best ones because they know the real us- they can’t actually be fooled… so, we give up the thought and embrace them as sisters in love… and join with them because together we will tackle this as a team.

Assignment: Grab a Friend

So here’s what you are going to do- choose one of these ideas to get you started;

1. Get on your social media platform of choice and mention Christmas and how you are ready to get it planned before it plans you. See who responds…See who is READY and ask them to dive in with you!
2. Call up your long lost BFF (you know the one you have been meaning to call anyway) that girl that knows you and knows what you need (whether it be a swift kick, or a loving hug) and ask her to join you on this journey. Reconnect through this challenge.
3. Pray that God place someone on your heart that could use a friend. Maybe she is struggling to get organized, maybe she is not quite ready to admit she could use some help. Don’t worry about who it is, leave that up to God. Ask that He help you AND help her, and then wait.
4. Try steps one or two after some prayer time. You never know how God works.

Now, the next part is crucial. Decide how you are going to check in with each other and how often. Make it a commitment. Make a plan. You know the saying “either you are failing to plan or planning to fail”. Just decide that is ok to ‘fail’ but don’t not plan because then you will fail. Since we know there is no such thing as perfect we can deal with a little failure or falling off the bandwagon, but what we don’t want to do is set ourselves up for failure by having no plan.

Share Your Thoughts: After you two have connected and decided to join us, come share with us!  Who will be your accountability partner?  How did you connect with them?  What is your plan for accountability?

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas!