. Finish Up Before You Start Again

One of the more challenging aspects of the holidays is the confusion which ensues.  This is partially because we fail to finish up one holiday before we start the next.  While I am sure that you have been purchasing and stashing away Christmas presents for some time, I am speaking more about the unfinished business of leftover turkey, Thanksgiving decorations, sheets which need to be washed from your company, and the mess which is still in the family room from young children eating treats while TV was being watched.

I encourage you to spend this “transition” week wisely (while we are still in November and just beginning December).  Put away all the “Fall” decorations, clean up the house from your company, write your thank you notes (if you were the one who did the visiting), eat up or freeze the remaining leftovers, and in general, “finish” Thanksgiving.

As you do so, begin setting up for the next holiday.  Find your holiday wrapping paper, bows, gift cards, scotch tape, scissors, and set up a “gift wrapping” center in a corner of one room.  This will save you many hours of “setting up” and “taking down” as holiday gifts need your attention.  Get out your Christmas cards (which I encourage you to buy at the after-Christmas sales and keep with your Thanksgiving decorations so they will readily available).  Begin a written list of all the pressures which are sitting in your mind as you think about Christmas so those ideas will be safe until you can address them.

So, finish up and then begin again.  We still have almost four good weeks to complete our responsibilities for this next holiday.  Take it easy inside (so you don’t stress out) even as you work hard, and have a happy week!

Find more helpful ideas in “House of Order” Handbook.