8 Tips for Christmas Time Management

Posted by Ian McKenzie

Written on November 5, 2008

Image by EverySpoon via Flickr

Posted in Productivity

Set an artificial deadline. Start your planning earlier and have it finished by December 1: the shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking, etc. If that seems too early for your taste, go with December 15th or 20th so you have a few stress-free days before Christmas.
Trade tasks. Hate baking, love to shop? Find someone among your friends and family who likes to do the opposite and trade the task you dislike. They do all the baking, while you handle the shopping.
Hold a cookie swap. Rather than trying to fill your pantry by baking a wide variety of cookie recipes, get a group together for a swap. Each person bakes several dozen of one type of cookie and then trades with everyone else.
Get the family involved. Holiday preparation should not be a one-person job. Give everyone in the family specific tasks to complete. Older kids can help with baking. Give younger children plain kraft paper and art supplies and have them make personalized wrapping paper.
Hire a cleaning service. Rather than having to worry about scheduling time for a top to bottom cleaning of your home, splurge on a cleaning service. Then, you’ll only need to worry about small touch-up cleaning through December.
Arrange child care. If you’re going to be doing things that require babysitters, booke them early. This is another area where you can trade with friends or family. They babysit for you one night and you look after another.
Make sure the holiday wardrobe is ready. If you have special clothes for the season, get them ready before December. Make sure the clothes still fit. Get them cleaned and repaired as needed.
Don’t run out of gas. In your car, that is. If you have a two-hour drive to Grandma’s for Christmas dinner and the tank is empty, you may have trouble finding an open gas station on Crhistmas day.

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