Are You Wishing Time Would Stop Before Christmas?

We are at the point now that Christmas is within the counting ability of my kindergartener. In fact, it is so close he is counting daily and I think he can smell Santa coming. It is the point when all your preparatory orchestrations either come to a beautiful finale or the percussion comes crashing down into a symphonic cacophony.

Congratulations if you are reveling in the efforts you have made so far. I raise my eggnog to you. Enjoy!

However, if your eggnog expired last year, then let’s prepare together to make this Christmas memorable for the right reasons.

First of all, I am a firm believer of getting your thoughts out of your head and down on paper or the computer. Your head is just not a good place to store things or prioritize them. Your first step is to write down EVERYTHING you think you need to do between now and Christmas. I mean everything. If it helps to create categories such as family, work, gifts to give, home care, events to attend, etc., go for it. 

Next, take that list and scour it for anything you can either cross off because it really isn’t that important or delegate to someone else.

Finally, take a calendar or day planner and fill those activities into the days that you have before Christmas. Do they all fit? Do you need to pare down again? Be realistic about the constraints that you have. Consider the time it takes to complete the activity, your stress level and any family involvement. See if you can’t take another five items off, just because. Consider it an early Christmas gift to yourself.

What is left? Are you still struggling? Tell me about what you are facing between now and Christmas and we can work out a solution together.