For any of you that have read my blog, you might have picked up on something. I love to plan! I especially love a plan with lists, lots of lists. And with the holidays coming up, I thought now would be a good time to share my holiday plan with you. You can begin this anytime. But, I recommend starting the first week of November. And of course, don’t feel like you need to follow this exactly. Use it as a guide to your holiday planning.
November Week 1
This is my cleaning week. I try to spend 15 minutes each day de-cluttering. I also use this time to make, you guessed it, my lists! I plan my Thanksgiving and Christmas menus. This includes my Christmas cookies. Then I make a list of everything I need. I also decide what I can get ahead of time and what needs to wait. If you want to go a step further, you can decide when you want to buy those items. Then pencil that time into your planner.
November Week 2
Now is when I start implementing my plans. I shop for the non-perishable things and place any orders I need. And I start gathering my supplies. I pull together all my wrapping paper, tags, bows, ribbon, and tape. Then I get together all my Christmas cards. I actually have two lists for these. A list of handmade cards I want to send and a list of premade cards. I make sure to put these close to the TV so I can start working on them in the evenings. I would love to say that by now I have all my handmade Christmas cards made. But usually I am behind on this and trying to catch up.
November Week 3
If you were not having fun in Week 1 and 2, get ready. Week 3 is all about shopping and decorating. This is the week I start making the inside holiday ready. And if you want, you could even start outside decorating too. I also shop for gifts and start wrapping them. If I am lucky I can also start pulling out any gifts I bought during the year and wrap those. Then I continue with my Christmas cards when I have time. De-cluttering also continues this week.
November Week 4
Celebrate! Not only did you make it to Week 4, you made it to Thanksgiving. Do your guest cleaning and prep work early in the week. Then take time to be in the moment. Remember, holidays celebrated imperfectly still bless your family. And I can assure you, if you are lucky enough to celebrate with family this year, they would rather see you than a cellphone taking photos. Take the day off from social media and enjoy the time with family and friends.
From here, you can repeat this plan for the month of December as you count down to Christmas. I usually continue my de-cluttering and cards. I also try to have all my gifts wrapped and ready to mail in Week 2. Week 3 is all about Christmas baking. And then Week 4 is all about celebrating.
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