How to stay organized these holidays... The holidays are here again and all the hustle-and-bustle that comes with them. Here are few tips on staying organized even as you have a fun time and usher in the new year with your family and friends.

1. 50 Tips and Ideas for Staying
Organized These Holidays
By: Claire Abdul-Azeez,
http://organizedproductivity.com

2. How to Stay Organized
These Holidays
• The holidays are here again
and all the hustle-andbustle that comes with
them.
• Here are few tips on staying
organized even as you have
a fun time and usher in the
new year with your family
and friends.

3. Time
Making sure that you organize your time and keep to your
schedules is crucial to truly enjoying this holiday
season.
Seriously, think about it. Once the holiday is over and you
are into the new year, you’ll be going right back to your
normal, everyday routines. To make the transition back
to normal life smoother and easier, its simply better to
stick to a reasonable schedule right now and prevent
your time management from becoming a hot mess.
Here are some tips to help you stay organized and in
control of your time and other areas of life this holiday
season.

4. 1. Plan in advance
Take the time to create a detailed plan for all
the activities you will be involved in, as well as
assigning dates to each. Be as specific as you
can.

5. • 2. Maintain normal schedules
Stick to your regular schedule, as you will be continuing
with it once the holidays with all their excitement are
over. Stick to your regular wake-up times, home chore
schedules, regular appointments, etc. That way, you
won’t have to try to “get caught up” in January.
• 3. Pre-plan and schedule dishes
Make a detailed plan of all the wonderful dishes that
you will be making. If you’re going to be dining at
friends’ or a restaurant or ordering takeout, write and
schedule that down as well.
• This way, you’ll know what your schedule looks like and
avoid over-booking yourself. You do have to fun after
all; it’s a holiday!

6. • 4. Shop ahead of time
Needless to say, staying organized (and sane) these holidays means doing
your shopping well in advance. This way, you’ll also snag special shopping
deals you might miss if you leave it too late.
• 5. Avoid peak shopping times
Even as you go for your holiday shop early, avoid the peak hours.. you
know, the weekends and evenings.
• Doing this will save you hours that you would otherwise have spent standing
in line with dozens of other frustrated shoppers.

7. • 6. Use your calendar
Use your calendar,
planner, or whatever time
management method
works best for you.
• Make sure to add new
events and activities to it
as you learn about them,
and keep it where you
and other family
members can see it easily.

8. • 7. Be selective with invitations
To really be on top of your time management
this holiday, you’ll need to say no to at least
some invitations.
• Saying yes to every event or activity will take a
toll on your time and likely leave you feeling
worn-out, not refreshed after the holidays.
• 8. Save some time for fun
Make time for some fun, rest, and relaxation
in your schedule.

9. AT HOME

10. • 9. Maintain your normal organizing
routines
Stick to the home organizing routines
you had before the holidays. Make sure
the daily chores and cleaning get
done, and avoid piling them up and
having them become a big deal later on.
• 10. Keep your pantry stocked
Goes without saying, you probably don’t
want to have to run out to the grocery
store in the middle of Christmas dinner.
I sure don’t.
• Make a master list of everything you
would use to stock your pantry normally
plus all the extra things you need to
celebrate. Purchase enough supplies to
last through the holidays.

11. • 11. Assign specific holiday to-dos to each family member
Get your family actively involved with keeping the home life
organized during the holidays. Assign them holiday-specific
tasks that they are responsible for getting done and
maintaining.
• Things like caring for the needs of your house guests,
receiving and displaying the gifts and cards your receive,
and keeping the holiday decor clean and in order are
individual tasks that you could (and should, whenever
possible) assign to family members to get them involved
with your holiday organizing efforts.

12. • 12. Freeze leftovers to avoid waste
Freeze your leftover holiday food in good
storage containers and you can use them once
the festivities are over. Christmas is typically a
time when a lot of food gets wasted but by
being prepared, you can avoid that.

13. • 13. Use an artificial tree
instead
Yes, I know we all love the
big, natural trees with their
lovely woody scent. But we
don’t all love the mess that
the pine needles make on the
floor or having to haul and get
rid of the once-fabulous tree
after a few days.
• Why not use an artificial one
which you can easily store
and re-use many times over.
This saves you money, time,
and energy. You should
consider it.

14. • 14. Set shorter, more regular cleaning schedules
I know the holidays are practically bustling with activity and that’s why
shortening your cleaning and organizing schedules during this time is a
good idea. That way, you can break your normal 30-minute cleaning
session into 3 10-minute ones in a day and fit them into your busy
schedule.
• 15. Turn excess cards into home decor
Find creative ways to display your Christmas cards that doesn’t involve
them being strewn all over the house. Make a garland out of them or
create a wall mosaic.
• 16. Stick to your budget
Yep, your holiday budget… a very touchy topic. Simply but, making one
and sticking with it is a good way to keep your finances organized these
holidays.

15. • 17. Delegate tasks
Don’t think you have to do all the holiday organizing on your
own. Delegate.. to your family, guests, whoever is on hand to
help.
• Come up with ways that they can pitch in. They’ll be
benefiting from the finished work, anyway so its only natural
that they should help.
• 18. Accept help
And if they offer to help with organizing before you ask, even
better. Don’t shy away from accepting help.

16. • 19. Organize to give/donate
Go through last years gifts, clothes, and
household stuff and look for ways to make
someone one else’s holidays bright by
donating items that your family no longer
needs.
• An added benefit is that you create space in
your home and lives to receive more this
holiday.

17. • 20. Use your lists to stay organized and keep them visible
Use your lists to stay organized these holidays. This is not the time
to rely on your memory. Yes, use your grocery list, holiday recipe
list, guest list, gift-recipient list… you get the point.
• Make your lists, use them and cross items off as you go to give
always yourself an idea of where you are at any moment.
• 21. Store your ornaments safely and creatively
Actually, this tip is more for organizing after the holidays.. but did
you know that shredded paper is just great for storing fragile
ornaments (and other things)?
• So next time you’re shredding in the office, remember to save some
shredded paper for ornament storage.

18. • 22. Shop your home
first
Before doing your
holiday shopping, take
time to shop your home
first. No doubt, doing
this will prevent buying
unnecessary stuff and
save you some money.
• 23. Take inventory of
your holiday supplies
And throw away or
donate any that no
longer fit.

19. • 24 Spoil yourself with a cleaning service
If you find that you really don’t have time for cleaning
and organizing at home these holidays, treat yourself
to a cleaner who’ll come in and handle some of those
tasks for you.
• 25. Or how about a laundry service?
What with all the extra laundry that you might be up
against these holidays, especially if you have house
guests, treating yourself to a laundry service is not a
bad idea for keeping your home organized this season.

20. • 26. Prepare your holiday recipes in advance.
Seriously, you don’t want to discover that your
time-tested Christmas dinner recipe is M-I-A
just when you’re ready to begin cooking.

21. Kids
• 27. Designate a kids area
You probably don’t want
your kids or their friends
running about and
making a mess in your
home just because it’s the
holidays.
• Give them an area that
they can call theirs, to
play in and entertain
themselves and they are
more likely to stay out of
the grown-up areas.

22. • 28. Let them
participate
Teach your kids the
importance and
benefits of staying
organized these
holidays and let them
participate. Give them
responsibilities, no
matter how little, and
reward them for
helping.
•
29. Teach them to maintain
Instead of having to clean and
organized a completely messed-up
home, teaching your kids to maintain
their surroundings goes a long way to
prevent that.
•
How do you that? Teach them things
like returning their toys into storage
after using them… clearing their
plates of food and putting in the
dishwasher after using them…
making their beds in the mornings..
and so on.
•
Not only do you teach them to
maintain your organized home this
way, but you also teach them the
importance and necessity of being
organized and help them grow up
with it!

23. • 30. Have them de-clutter as
they go by storing items
immediately
This is one way to teach your
kids to stay organized. Help
them learn the important habit
of returning stuff back to the
right place once they are done
using them.
• 31. Keep your precious
dinnerware safe with kid-safe
items
Use kid-safe tableware to avoid
having your precious, expensive
ones destroyed this holiday
season.

24. • 32. Reward them for
organizing
Have your kids helped with
organizing around the
house? Reward them. This
will be a good reason for
them to do so in the future.
A sort of positive
reinforcement to build
good organizing habits in
them early on.

25. Guests
• 33. Create your guest list
Know who you will be expecting this holiday, and
when. Avoid last-minute stress situations and not
enough seats on the dinner table.
• 34. Encourage house guests to stay organized
Are you having house guests over? Get them
involved with keeping the home organized. Do
things like providing clear and adequate storage
in their rooms, keeping them aware of your daily
routine, and accepting their offer to help.

26. • 35. Factor in pickup times
If you are the one who has to pick them up, be sure to
factor that into your time schedule to avoid any delays
or an overbooked schedule.
• 36. Have them bring some of the food
If you will be organizing dinner for family and friends,
ask your guests to pitch in by bringing some of the
food. This reduces the time and effort you have to
spend making the meals. Unless, of course, you
absolutely adore that sort of thing and don’t mind
doing it all yourself.

27. Holiday trips
• 37. Plan ahead
Planning ahead for your holiday trips
reduces the stress caused by last-minute
to-dos and could save you money as you
take advantage of special offers.
• 38. Create a last-minute checklist of things
to do
By last-minute, I’m not referring to creating
your checklist at the last minute. Rather I
mean creating a checklist of last-minute
things to do before you head out on your
trip.
• This could be stuff like checking that all
your lights and electronics not in use have
been turned off, your security system is
switched on, your pet has been taken to
the sitter, and so on.

28. • 39. Pack individual suitcases for
each family member
A good tip is to pack individual
boxes for each family member
when travelling. That way,
unpacking and settling down
when you arrive is easier and
everyone has immediate access
to their stuff.
• 40. Confirm and re-confirm your
hotel and travel arrangements
Make sure to re-confirm your
arrangements just before your
trip to avoid unpleasant
surprises.

29. Gift-giving
• 41. Do your research
Do proper research when planning for your
gift-giving. This way, you’ll avoid buying repeat
items or giving the same things you did last
year.
• You’ll also be able to take advantage of special
offers and save some money.

30. • 42. Wrap in batches
Set apart a specific time to wrap all or most of
your gifts. Doing them in batches this way is
way more productive than wrapping each
time you buy one or a little at a time or lastminute or not at all.

31. • 43. Use a family master list
Use a master list to organize your family’s giftgiving. This will make it easy to see any duplicate
items and organize your family’s gifts budget.
• 44. Recycle
You probably still have some leftover material
from the last holiday season. Shop your house for
wrapping paper, gift bags and other stuff that you
can use for this year’s gift-giving before you go
out and spend on another set.

32. • 45. Have a station for gift wrapping and
storage
Don’t just do these activities
whenever, wherever. Create an area – even if’s
just a storage box full of wrapping supplies –
where the family’s gift wrapping can be done.
Then have a designated area to safely store
them till it’s time to mail or open them.

33. • 46. Store leftover materials
Store your leftover materials for
use during the next holiday season.
• 47. Assign wrapping paper to each
family member
A helpful idea is to color-code your
wrapping wrapper and assign one
color or design to each family
member. This makes it easier to
identify who has what, in case of
tags falling off.
• 48. Use gift tags
To make differentiating wrapped
gifts easier.

34. • 49. Plan for unexpected giftgiving
Keep a supply of general gifts
like a box of chocolates or
candles to give in
“emergency gift situations”.
• 50. Use an online cardsending service
Don’t have time to buy and
sign greeting cards for
everyone on your list? Use
online card-sending services.

35. • Did you enjoy reading this
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love by sharing it with your
friends through the links
below. Thanks!
Claire Abdul-Azeez
http://organizedproductivity.com
• Click to visit my blog
http://organizedproductivit
y.com for more organizing
and personal productivity
tips today.