Feeling stressed about the upcoming Christmas season? Here’s super practical and easy tips to get organized, simplify gifts, and make your holiday season run like clockwork, year after year.
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DOES THE CHRISTMAS SEASON STRESS YOU OUT?
Don’t worry. You are not alone.
Instead of the most wonderful time of the year, it becomes the most worn-out time of the year.
I was there, too, my friend. Until our family made a huge shift in the way we “did” Christmas. I’m sharing what we learned and practical tips you can implement in your home so you can have a happier holiday.
After many years of feeling out of control when it came to Christmas shopping, celebrating, decorating, I knew there had to be a better way. I knew that Christmas could be more joyful and peaceful. And wasn’t that what Christmas should be about?
Of course, it’s not realistic to sit around by the tree twiddling our thumbs the entire December (or is it?), but really, the madness needed to stop.
RELATED: Join the popular “7 Steps to a Simpler Season” self-paced workshop
HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR SEASON ONCE AND FOR ALL….
I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago on Christmas Eve when I went to the store to get a few more “things.” I thought it would be a quick trip, but after hours and hours of fighting traffic, crowds, and lines, I returned home to an upset husband and a family who had been waiting around all morning to spend the day together. I’m not blaming the bad day on them, though.
I was stressed from running errands and to this day, I don’t even remember what was so important that I needed to go out and get. Those morning-turned-afternoon errands did not set a great tone for our Christmas celebrating. I made a promise to myself that I would never go shopping again on Christmas Eve.
That one simple decision led me to a complete overhaul of our Christmas celebrations! I learned that it was okay to say NO. And to simplify. And that buying more stuff isn’t what Christmas is about.
So how can you simplify Christmas? Keep reading and you’ll find out!
PRACTICAL TIPS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR CHRISTMAS SEASON
1) CREATE A CHRISTMAS BINDER
My first tip for a simpler Christmas is to create a Christmas Binder.
There is no need to recreate the wheel every December. By creating a Christmas binder, you can keep all of your lists, traditions, favorite holiday recipes, favorite food ideas, budget, expenses, gift lists all in one place.
So…what if you had all of your Christmas ideas in ONE place?
You will save hours of planning each year, I promise!
SUPPLIES YOU NEED:
Here’s what you need to create a Christmas binder:
- Christmas Binder Kit – 50+ printables, gift tracker, calendar, budget worksheet, section dividers, and recipe cards (you get this kit FREE to all 7 Steps to a Simpler Season workshop members. click here to join)
- 1″ or 2″ Heavy Duty white binder
- page protector dividers
- recipe card sheet protectors
- 8.5 x 11 sheet protectors
HOW TO CREATE YOUR HOLIDAY BINDER
Once you have your holiday binder supplies, you’re ready to get busy creating your binder!
You’ll notice that the Christmas binder printables include many different binder sections including: gift lists, calendar, recipes, traditions, and more.
Step 1 – Make a place for everything
Your first step is easy! Place all the printables inside the sheet protectors. Then add them to your binder!
Step 2- Start with one section
Choose one section to start with. A good one to start with is recipes. Pull out all your favorite Christmas recipes from your cookbooks, recipe boxes, in your inbox, or on your phone.
You can definitely keep a copy of these holiday recipes in those places, but you will want to make a new copy of the recipes for your holiday binder.
2) CLEAR THE CLUTTER
It’s inevitable that stuff will be coming into your home during the holiday season. Neighbor gifts, gifts from friends, gifts from grandparents, Santa, siblings, and more. So much stuff!
Right after Thanksgiving, take a few days to declutter your home. Throw out broken toys, worn-out clothes (or clothes that you never wear), ripped books (that are only half there), and expired food.
Also, don’t forget to get rid of any broken Christmas decorations or those that you don’t use anymore. There not doing any good in a box! Only decorate with the holiday decor that inspires you and helps you create the feeling in your home you desire.
3) LIMIT THE GIFTS YOU BUY
Really? You’re probably wondering how to limit the amount of gifts to buy. I go into tons of details about this in our online Simplify Your Season workshop here and how our family cut our gift list down in half…and guess what? We’ve been happier!
Basically, we changed our family’s expectations, focused on memory-maker gifts, and let go of guilt, among other things!
OTHER WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR SEASON!
These few steps will make a HUGE difference in the way your season turns into!
But…
If you want to learn how to declutter the rest of your Christmas and simplify the way you approach gift-giving, traditions, expectations, decorating, and more, join our self-paced online Christmas workshop- 7 Steps to a SIMPLER Christmas!
WHAT YOU GET IN THE WORKSHOP:
- 7 simple lessons, each focused on a topic that will help you simplify your holiday season!
- Self-paced material- you can choose to do one lesson per day or go through them all at once.
- Printable workbook to help you identify areas of stress and what to do about it!
- Step-by-step directions and printables so you can create your own holiday binder that will keep you organized year after year
- 60+ free printables!
- Lifetime access to all course materials and lessons
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS COURSE:
“So fun! And now we’re ready for the holidays!” – Melissa Griffiths, Bless this Mess
“I can’t tell you how awesome this 7 Days planning this is. We are loving it! This is what got me and my husband on the same page when it came to Christmas.” – Lisa J.
“I love all the printables! It is so fun–can’t wait to go print all these other fun resources out!” – Hollie B.
Stop feeling overwhelmed with the craziness of the Christmas season!
A small investment now can make all the difference in your Christmas season. Get a head start now!
2 comments
I love this! I’m so excited to try it!
I hope it helps you! It has saved me!