#6 Volunteer at a Food Bank – For many people this is a season of giving and yet many more have little to give. If you have often wanted to volunteer at your local food bank, consider giving them a call and slotting in over the holidays.
# 5 Decorate a Gingerbread House with your children – No children? Why not buy a kit and invite your nieces/nephews or the neighbours to come and help you decorate it.
Welcome to the Winter Solstice. Happy First Day of Winter. Now the days in the northern hemisphere get longer – yeah! Sorry to the folks down under who will now start to get less daylight each day.
To our friends honouring their Jewish faith, Happy Hanukkuh.
Archive for Christmas
The month of December is a challenging one for many people. As an organizer and blogger, I offer my clients and readers suggestions for easing the burden of multiple commitments and a fast paced society by organizing space,time and “stuff”.
Laura over at OrgJunkie has reminded us all that it is important from time to time to sit back, take stock and remind ourselves of what is really important in our lives at the end of the day. I commend you to her post When You’re Not Enough from December 9.
I hope that my posts would never lead you to feel that you are not doing enough in your life. If you are spending time on your top priorities, then clear the rest of the clutter and give yourself breathing space to do a great job at it. If your are wondering why you are doing what you are doing, then step back and take stock. What really is important? Enjoy putting your time and energy into that.
#14 Gift Wrapping – Maybe you like wrapping gifts at the last minute and scrambling at the 11th hour. On the other hand, maybe you wish you could have all your holiday gifts wrapped and waiting for their recipients while you relax and calmly enjoy your friends, family and holiday festivities.
If you fall into the first group of people you are reading this blog because you think I’m an outstanding writer and due for an award. I’m guessing that’s not the case for most of you and you really would like to get a grip on the season.
OK – Book a date in your calendar to wrap presents. Now book a second date. It always takes way longer than you think. Check that you have a copy of your favourite movies to watch or music to listen to while you wrap. Pull out all your wrapping supplies, gift tags and ribbons. Is there enough? Replenish only if necessary. Get ready for that calm enjoyment of the season.
The countdown continues. Hope you’re still with us! Only 2 more weeks ’til Christmas:
#16 Empty your Gift Cache – Many people purchase gifts year round and keep a cache of them in their home. This is an excellent idea if you have the money to tie up in a gift cache and the space to store it. If you have neither, this is not an idea for you. One of the challenges of such a cache is remembering what’s in it and remembering to shop at your own cache store before shopping retail again. If you store your cache in a box in a cupboard, this might be the time to lay it out and use up some of the contents. If you don’t need to worry about little eyes (or big ones) searching for Santa’s stash try laying out the gifts on a shelf or book case. Then reviewing and using up the items is litereally like going shopping in your own home.
#15 Gather up Friends who will be Alone this Holiday Season – Not all of us have a home full of family or friends and a calendar full of Christmas dinners to attend. The reality is that many people or new to their neighbourhood or city, can’t afford to go home, live alone and may be alone during the holidays. Whether or not you are one of this group, why not gather of a few friends who are and start your own tradition of a Christmas or holiday dinner with them.
…and the list continues.
#20 – Organize your Baking. Are you doing any bakin this holiday season? Get your recipes out and pick the ones for this year. Now take out your calendar and book the day(s) that you will be baking. Check your pantry for ingredients and prepare your shopping list. Go back to the calendar and book in the time to shop.
#19 – Organize your Childcare. Do you have children home over the holiday season? Did you happen to notice that the kids are off school for a full two weeks (longer if you are in an independent school). Do you have activities prepared for the kids to do during the full two weeks or are they going to sit in front of the video games, computer or TV for two weeks straight. Are your working? Do you have adequate childcare or babysitting booked for the days that you are working or going out?
#18 – Organize you Christmas Cards. Many people have given up on holiday greeting cards. Other people have gone back to sending out this timely message of good cheer and greeting around the holiday season. By now you know the first step. That’s right, get out your calendar and book the time to write them. Follow up by finding the cards from last year (or five years ago) that never got sent i.e. don’t buy more until you have used up what you have! This is a great time to review your address book or contact file and update or clear it out.
Can you remember where the holiday decorations are?
Do you have to search for them everytime you want to use them?
Are all your Christmas decorations stored in the same room?
Are they stored in the house or in the garage?
If they are stored in the garage, are they in waterproof boxes or bags?
Are they stored in containers?
Can you easily identify the containers from the other storage boxes/containers you store in the same place – like a red lid for example?
Are the containers labeled?
Are similar items stored together i.e. are the Christmas tree decorations together in one /boxcontainer?
Are the linens stored in dust proof containers or will you have to wash them again before you can use them?
Are the heavy containers stored low so that they can’t fall on you when you take them off a top shelf?
