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In today’s post, we’ll reveal some of the clever, unexpected tricks of the trade that people use to make planning for Christmas and holiday preparations seem so effortless.
Everyone knows someone who just seems to float effortlessly through all the planning and preparations that go into making Christmas magic happen. I always try to be organized and get everything done in as organized a way as much as possible, but it has definitely taken me some time to learn how to make it all come together in a stress-free way in the weeks leading up to Christmas morning. I’m definitely not a complete natural when it comes to planning for Christmas. Today I want to talk about what I’ve learned over the years through trial and error, and from talking to those people who seem like holiday magic comes together for them in the blink of an eye. Despite how it may seem, these people don’t have endless bank accounts or a lot of extra time on their hands, but they do have one or two merry little tricks up their sleeve that they rely on to make sure they never get into a last-minute panic trying to do all the Christmas things at once. If you’re starting to work on your Christmas plans, consider trying a few of these little tricks to make things run more smoothly this year and every year.
Secret Habits of People Who Are Really Good at Planning for Christmas
They do the Same Thing Every Year
Christmas is just like anything else. Practice makes perfect. When you do something over and over again in the same way, whether it’s your morning routine of getting the kids out the door with their teeth brushed and their homework signed or whether it’s your after-dinner kitchen clean-up routine, you get better and better at it the more you do it. These people treat Christmas in the very same way. They don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Whether they know that once November hits, they’ll spend every weekend at the mall shopping for gifts and planning their decor, or whether they go on a big once-a-year shopping trip in July where they get every gift purchased, they find a routine that works for them, and they stick to it. Making a holiday tradition of the preparations, whether it’s doing your Christmas decorations at the same time every year or baking the exact same Christmas cookies, makes the lead-up to Christmas day easier and more filled with holiday cheer.
The tree decorating trick I use every year for the Christmas holiday: How to Make a Bow Christmas Tree Topper
They Follow Christmastime Traditions
Traditions are wonderful little things because they allow you to know that success and fun times for all will be built right into your Christmas plans without you needing to create them or hope that something magical will happen to make everything work out perfectly. Creating a tradition is as simple as thinking of something that you think might be fun to do, giving it a try, and then repeating it the next year if it is a success! This might seem overly planned to some and kind of uninspired to others, but having traditions really takes away a lot of the pressure to somehow figure out how to make everyone happy, which can build up during the holidays. Everyone knows what to expect, and everyone gets better at it every year. I think a lot of people now feel that insisting on following traditions is kind of a stuffy way of doing Christmas, but our family’s traditions are the things that my kids ask about over and over again as the holidays approach, so I know we’re doing something right there. 🙂
Start a new holiday tradition: How to Make Those Amazing Paper Snowflakes to Decorate Your Home
They Do a Little Bit All Year Long
I think this is where some people get thrown off. When you think of doing a little bit all year long towards your Christmas preparations, you often think that means doing a little bit of shopping all year long, but this isn’t necessarily the case. If you’re someone who loves going out in November and doing a few big shopping trips while you listen to the Christmas music blaring in the stores and see the town all decorated for the holidays, you may think that preparing in advance just isn’t for you, but you might be wrong! So much of what goes into putting a lovely Christmas together is mental, and if you can do that mental heavy lifting earlier on, little by little, then it’s easier and less stressful. Plus, you get to really focus on enjoying yourself when you get to the part of the year where you get to spring into action. I’m personally someone who does do the shopping throughout the whole year, but you can also make lists, gather ideas, add things to your online shopping carts, and plan plan plan all year long, making your life so much easier (and more fun) in November and December.
Affordable but elegant festive decorating ideas: Simple Christmas Decor Ideas Using Things You Already Have
They Don’t Try to do it All
This is a big one. It’s easy to get all excited about all of the different fun things that you could do for your holiday celebrations, but thinking that you should do them is really just setting yourself up for failure. Think quality, not quantity. People who are really good at Christmas are selective about what they choose to do for the Holidays. They plan to do what they know they can do well, then they stick to the plan.
If things get off-track: 5 Reasons Why Your Christmas Decor Doesn’t Look Quite Right
They Get Done Early to Leave Room for (Responsible) Spontaneity
Spontaneity before your urgent and important tasks are taken care of is often just another form of procrastination. Not always, but often. Going out for a drive to look at Christmas lights so you can put off getting started on your wrapping yet again – that’s procrastination. Going out on a whim because everything is done and you have some spare time is the stuff that Christmas magic is made of. One year we decided to buy an extra tree for the dining room, along with all the ornaments to go with it just a few days before Christmas. We were done everything else, we had time to bring a little extra sparkle into our lives, and everything on sale! It was fun.
Start early and leave more time for fun next year: What to Stock Up on During the After Christmas Sales
So those are some of my thoughts on being really prepared for a great holiday season.
What are your favorite tricks to make everything go as smoothly as possible over the Christmas season?
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.