How to Start Getting Organized for the Holidays
Does the thought of getting organized for the holidays scare you more than anything? Do you look around your house and feel overwhelmed at the enormity of the project? What if I told you that as of today, 10/23/2017, we have 9 weeks until Christmas and only four weeks until Thanksgiving. The holidays are nearly here and getting organized before the chaos of family, festivities, and decorating is one of the best time investments you can make. Never fear! We’ve created a very simple list to help you jump-start your organization efforts without getting overwhelmed.
Are you ready to start getting organized for the holidays?
We’ve laid out 4 steps to take in getting organized for the holidays. If you just do one of these items a week, you’ll be a regular June (or Ward) Cleaver by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.
Week One: Declutter Your Home
Decluttering your home will help you declutter your mind. You will be able to whip through chores faster. We have a great article about how to declutter your home if you’d like to go the extra mile and thoroughly sort through your home. However, since we’re getting down to crunch time, it may be beneficial to simplify this step. Most of us typically add decor and detail to our homes during the holidays. Putting items like extra furniture, vases, odds, and ends into a self-storage unit will help create “breathing space” in your home.
Week Two: Plan, then Place Your Decor
Your now decluttered home is ready to receive the festive upgrade we all love and adore. Take an inventory of both your Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations. Plan out what you’d like to use, keeping the Christmas items ready for a quick swap after Thanksgiving. Sort through decorations from both holidays. You never know if you have a broken item or need to replace something. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas goes by in a flash, so making sure you have Christmas items ready to go is key for getting organized. By completing this step early, you’re sure to save yourself from a decorating nightmare in the future. Even if you don’t plan to decorate for Thanksgiving and prefer to move forward with Christmas decorations, you’ll thank yourself for planning out your decor in advanced. Once you uncover what you want to use, you can place the decor out in your home over the course of several days.
Week Three: Meal Plan!
One of my favorite parts about the holidays is spending time with my family over what is sure to be the most delicious feast of the year. The meal portion of both Thanksgiving and Christmas tends to be complicated. Getting organized by planning the meal ahead of time will help you ensure you don’t leave anything important out. Start your list early in this week to help ensure you get everything from all sources. For example, do you need to get wine out of your wine unit? Double check the holiday hours of where you plan to go. Plan out when you will pick everything up from the store(s). The entire week leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually busy at the stores. Plan out your shopping trips, possibly breaking them up and collecting items as time permits. By planning both feasts at once, you can bulk buy canned or items that last. Also, don’t forget to share the love. If you’re having people over for the holidays, many like to contribute to the feast. Make sure you plan out everyone’s contributions to ensure a beautiful and well-rounded feast.
Week Four: Tidy Up Loose Ends and then It’s Show Time!
The house has been decluttered and decorated, the food has been purchased and is ready to go. Now’s the time to clean up any odds and ends that may have wiggled out. Get caught up on laundry, do your day to day tasks. It may be helpful to even hire a housekeeper during these hectic weeks leading up to the holidays. You’ve done a fantastic job the past four weeks, now it’s time to sit back and relax. Enjoy time with your family and cheers to you for being so Amazing at getting organized.
