In today’s post we’re going to be talking about getting a jump-start on Christmas preparations, and more specifically, how you can be one of those people who are really good at Christmas!
I’ve had Christmas on my mind a lot lately. I always try to be organized and get everything done in advance as much as possible, so September and October are really busy Christmas months for me, even though you don’t see many Christmas blog posts out yet. I’m also working on something really fun for next year where I’ll be doing a series of monthly blog posts outlining tiny steps that you can take each month throughout the year to ensure an organized and stress-free Christmas, rather than trying to do it all in two weeks once December rolls around. I’m pretty excited about it because I think it’s really going to help me too. I’ve never sat down and put all my thoughts on Christmas preparations together in a whole-year kind of way before and I really like the way it’s coming together. There are certain things that I usually do in September that I’m realizing I could easily get done much earlier in the year, without much hassle at all. So keep an eye out for that!
Today I want to talk about those people we all know who are really good at Christmas. The ones who seem like they must be living in a state of constant inspiration or who must really have a lot of extra time on their hands. Who seem to know just the right thing to do to make all the aspects of the season come together perfectly for themselves, their families, and anyone who crosses their path during the Christmas season. These people definitely have a few tricks up their sleeve that makes it all seem too easy and today I thought I’d shed some light on what some of those tricks are. They might give you something to think about when it comes to the way you go about putting together your Christmas plans for this year, and for the years going forward.
Secrets Habits of People Who Are Really Good at 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.
They Follow 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 than 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 was a success! This might seem overly-planned to some, and kind of un-inspired to others, but having traditions really takes away a lot of the pressure to somehow figure out how to make everyone happy that 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. 🙂
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.
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 the holiday, 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.
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.
So those are some of my thoughts on being really prepared for a great holiday season.
What are your favourite things to get done early before the Christmas season really kicks in to full gear?
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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.