It’s Time To Get Organised For Christmas
It’s the time of year when we need to start thinking about getting organised for Christmas – whether it be sorting our Christmas Card list, tracking what present you’ve bought for your friends and family or learning how to relax this post has something for everyone.
So, the festive season is finally upon us – well, it must be as I’ve seen the Coca Cola advert on TV!
Christmas can be a daunting time for a variety of reasons but trying to stay on top of everything Christmas related (present buying, send cards, food shopping) as well as our everyday tasks can get a bit much.
He’s making a list and checking it twice!
There’s a reason Santa makes a list, it helps get all of the clutter out of your brain and into some semblance of order. Below are a few things that can help you organise your Christmas so it’s hopefully slightly less stressful!
You can organise these online using a tool such as Evernote, or go the old fashioned route and use a ring binder to keep track of everything.
Countdown Calendar
Print yourself out a calendar for December and note down important dates such as:
- Last post date for overseas Christmas cards
- Last post date for local Christmas cards
- When you need to order your turkey by
- When you need to pick up your turkey
- Expected delivery dates for online goods
This helps to ensure that you don’t end up in a last minute panic as you’ve forgotten to post that card to Australia or order your turkey.
You can use my Free FlipPlan Calendar to print out a plain monthly calendar or link it to your Google Account to get all of your events in one spot and print it out in A4/Letter size or a nifty pocket foldable format.
I also have a free December Happy Planner & A5 printable too
Christmas Card List
Don’t just rely on your memory, write down who you need to post cards to and who to give cards to.
You can also note down the names of people you receive cards from in a spreadsheet, that way you won’t forget to give someone a card next year.
If you want a paper-based solution you can download my A5 & Classic Happy Planner sized printable
Present List
It sounds obvious, but quite often we end up going to the shops or browsing online without any idea what we’re buying someone, hoping that divine inspiration will strike us.
Listen out during the year. People are always saying “Oh, I must get….” or “That looks nice…”
Write a note of these items so you have a head start at Christmas. There are even Apps available (Santa’s Bag on IOS and Christmas Gift List on Android) that’ll help you keep track of who wants what.
If you want a paper-based present list you can get my Happy Planner and A5 printable below
Looking for present suggestions? Checkout my “12 Gifts For Procrastinators and Productivity Gurus”
Recipes
Print out, pin or add interesting festive recipes to Evernote so that they’re all in one place and you’re not madly running around trying to find Aunt Edna’s special stuffing recipe.
Keeping recipes altogether will also help you write out your shopping list.
Check out my choice of 10 Quick and Simple Christmas Recipes here
Food shopping list
This seem obvious, but if you write this down earlier in the month (or even before) you can start picking items up which helps spread the cost. Long life items like pickles, frozen items and alcohol can be bought well in advance.
You can use my Christmas Food Planner below to keep track of what you’ve bought
You can also use my Weekly Shopping List Planner as a starting point for your shopping list
Receipts
Keep these all in one place so that if something’s broken or the wrong size you know where the receipt is so the item can be returned/exchanged easily. Quite a few stores (in the UK at least) are now offering a gift receipt so the recipient can exchange the item rather than having to confess to you they’ve gone up 2 trouser sizes
Coupons
In the run up to Christmas, stores will do quite a lot to get your custom. Check online and in your local paper for coupons and voucher and then save these in one spot so you’re not going to miss out on a bargain.
Christmas Day Timeline
This is the item that I live by on Christmas Day. I write down when items have to go into/come out of the oven, what time I should start prepping what veg, spot a spare few minutes so I know that I can lay the table. It’s a life saver!
Writing all of this down on such a minute level may seem a bit OCD but it means that I don’t forget to do anything, it’s all ridiculously organised and I can actually enjoy the process of cooking Christmas lunch rather than running around like a headless Chicken (or should that be turkey under the circumstances?!).
If you want to use something a bit more robust than a bit of paper to organise your time you can use the following daily planners to help you plan your time:
Relax and Enjoy
Don’t forget to figure out your work routine too, you don’t want to be booking yourself solid just before or after Christmas or you won’t have time to wind down, check out my “Five Tips To Switch Off Over The Christmas Holidays” to ensure that you can enjoy the time you have with your family rather than worrying about work.
Now that you’re super organised, have everything planned out, written down and sorted, you can enjoy the holiday season safe in the knowledge you won’t forget anything.
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