There are 5 days left until Christmas and we are in the home stretch of this busy holiday season. At this point you may be running out of steam and struggling to find the time and energy to enjoy what’s left of the season. It’s not too late to implement some organizational strategies to help reduce stress and bring joy to the season.

Recently the Femmenation Radio Show with Debbie Whitlock featured Simply Placed founder Debbie Rosemont on a program about getting organized for the holiday season. You can listen to the entire program here. Debbie offered tips and strategies for getting organized for the holidays even at the last minute.

Here are some highlights of the program:

• Accept you can’t do it all. No matter what Martha Stewart and Pinterest may lead us to believe, no holiday can be perfect and you can’t actually do and have it all. Accept that and spend a few minutes making a decision about what is truly important to you and your family and make a plan to do those things. If making pie crust with your grandmother’s recipe is important to you, then make it a priority and do it. If you decide it’s not one of your high priorities, buy a pie and spend the time you save on what is important to you.
• Be a gracious recipient of help when it’s offered and ask for it when you need it. Most people want to be helpful and many enjoy sharing in the work and experience of holiday preparations. Use this to your advantage. Give voice to and be clear about what you need and enjoy the gift of other’s helping to make the holiday celebrations happen.
• Work in reverse to plan and prepare for holiday events. If you’re hosting a meal at 5pm, work back from that deadline to figure out and schedule what preparations need to happen and when. How much can be done ahead of time? What can you delegate? Share your schedule with others so they can help.
• Plan to take care of yourself. When you’re scheduling your holiday preparations make sure to schedule time for yourself. This may mean making sure you have time to dress before guests arrive or having time to exercise and blow off some holiday-related stress. You will enjoy the holiday more if you have taken care of yourself. When life is busy you have to schedule this time. Share your plans for self-care with someone who can help you achieve this important part of your holiday planning.
• When it’s all over, reflect on what happened in order to better prepare for next year’s holidays. What went well this year? What do you wish had gone better? Take a few minutes and make some notes for next year. Consider using the Simply Organized: Holidays Book and Workbook to make your future holiday plans.

Need more ideas for ways to better organize for your holiday season? Contact Simply Placed for a free 15-minute phone consultation or hands-on support.