Holiday Organizing

The holidays can be a wonderful time, but also a hectic time consumed with parties, gift buying, baking, running errands, and generally going full steam. If your holiday season leaves you feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and drained of energy, keeping organized and planning ahead can help you enjoy the season.

Planning and Preparing

• Holiday card list: Many families love to send an annual holiday card. Instead of going through your address book or saving envelope labels, create a list of recipients on your computer. The list can be a simple MS Excel spreadsheet of names and addresses. Alternatively, addresses can be input as a set of labels using the mail merge in MS Word. Keeping your card list electronically will save you time next year, and allows for easy edits in case someone’s address has changed.
• Gift list: Creating a list of gift recipients can help you stay organized and avoid the last minute gift rush. Pick a date each year, such as the day after Thanksgiving or December 1st as the time to start working on your gift list. In addition to names and gift ideas, you may want to include a budget item next to each recipient. Ideally, create your list as a spreadsheet so you can easily update it. You can also keep a rolling tally of how much you have spent. With an electronic list you will have the template from year to year, and can also keep a list of what you give each year; this avoids the situation of giving Uncle Kevin the same tie or CD each year.
• Gift center: You bought the toy your child wanted when it was on sale in October, and a special gift for your mom during summer vacation, but where are they now? If you purchase gifts during the year, or can’t find gifts you know you bought, establish a dedicated “home” for gifts. Use a clear box, such as the Sterilite ClearView boxes as your gift center. Keep your gift center in a closet or attic, and each time you purchase a gift, add it to the box. When it’s time to think about holiday gifts, open the gift center and see what you have – you may discover that you already have gifts for several people on your list!
• Wrapping center: Wrapping gifts involves many different supplies such as wrapping paper, tissue paper, bows, gift tags, tape, and scissors. Searching for these items or purchasing duplicates can waste time and money. Keep all needed supplies in a wrapping center – a box, bin, or wrapping paper holder, such as the Rubbermaid Wrap N’Craft. If you like to buy wrapping paper or bows on sale after the holidays, having a dedicated wrapping center can help you avoid purchasing three rolls of the same kind of paper, but not having any gift tags.
• Holiday recipes: Many families like to make special recipes for the holidays. In my family it’s gingerbread cookies, spiced nuts, and fruitcake. To easily find your holiday recipes each year, keep them in a dedicated spot: a colored folder, special section of your recipe file, or in clear sheet protectors in a binder. Keep the recipes in a place that makes sense to you: with your regular cookbooks, or with your holiday decorations for example. If you also make special food gifts each year, keep these recipes together in a separate file. If you find a recipe for a candy or cookies in a magazine in September that you’d like to make, cut or print the recipe out and place it in your file. When you're ready to get cooking, you'll be all set.

Holiday Mail

• Catalogs: During the holiday season your mail may be consumed by catalogs. To keep it under control, when you get a new catalog, toss the old one. Keep only the catalogs that you really like, and place them in a dedicated spot, such as a basket by your bed, and go through them regularly. When you see an item you want, mark the page with a sticky note. This will save time when you are putting together your gift list.
• Reducing Junk Mail: If you don't want to receive all of these catalogs in the first place, you can register with the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service and place yourself on their 'do not mail' list. DMA members are required to remove all registered names from their mailing lists. Registration costs $1, and your name stays on the list for five years.
• Holiday cards: This time of year your mail may also overflow with holiday cards. Instead of piling cards on your desk or kitchen counter, put them in a basket or display them using a decorative holder.
• Invitations: Have a lot of invitations to keep track of? When you receive an invitation, immediately record all the information from the invitation in your planner (paper/electronic). If you don’t use a planner, clip all the invitations together in date order with a magnetic clip and keep them in an area you’ll see, such as on your fridge or in your office.

Post-holiday Organization

• Decorations: Store decorations, ornaments, and lights in clear plastic bins with labels. Pack heavy items on the bottom of your containers, and light items on top. Keep like items together: ornaments in one box, outdoor decorations in another. If you find your lights are tangled and ornaments broken, consider purchasing storage containers designed specifically for holiday decorations.
• Keep it all together: Store all your holiday items together—decorations, ornaments, and outdoor lights—in a dedicated spot in a closet, attic, or garage.
• Unwanted gifts: After the holidays do you end up with some gifts that aren’t your style or that you’ll never use? A key to controlling clutter is to only keep things that you use or enjoy. Give yourself permission to donate or recycle gifts. If you have kids who receive a lot of toys, this is a great time to sort through the old toys to see if any can be packed away or donated.

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