Home Organization Tips

My plan is to stay focused and remain organized so that when the big day finally arrives I can enjoy it, instead of running around like a lunatic.  How am I going to do that, you may ask?  Well, I’m going to follow an easy tip sheet that I prepared during the last holiday season (when things could have been a bit more in control).  I encourage you to follow the same guidelines, to keep your own sanity as well.  We can compare notes afterwards, and see how well the plan worked. 
 

Tip 1: Don’t move on to Step 2 without completing Step 1 in its entirety.  This means, don’t leave your kitchen messy while you go out shopping for gifts.  Don’t leave dishes soaking overnight, when you’ll likely be too busy the next morning to clean them up.  Don’t get into bed at night without making sure that all of your purchases are put away properly, because it’s always overwhelming to wake up to a pile of things to do.  Completing one task before moving on to another will help you stay in control of your to-do list, and have time to do everything that you need to do. 
 

Tip 2: Cut your shopping trips 15 minutes shorter, to make time for wrapping your gifts immediately when you get home.  Not only will this prevent you from spending hours wrapping presents during the final crunch when you’ll need to be baking the cake or mopping the floor, but you’ll always know when you are short on wrapping paper, so that you can buy more before the stores are closed (or before they run out).  Additionally, keeping your presents wrapped from the get-go will serve as an additional roadblock to nosy children who may snoop around to find their gifts. 
 

Tip 3:  Prepare your menu at least two weeks in advance, so that you will be able to buy all of the necessary ingredients before you start cooking.  Everyone can relate to the inconvenience of running to the store in the middle of the food preparation because you ran out of brown sugar or forgot to purchase cranberries.  Not only can such delays ruin your recipe, but they can cause you to waste hours of precious time in the grocery store fuming with frustration.   
 

Tip 4:  Cook ahead and freeze what you can.  There’s no law that says everything must be cooked on the day of the big holiday dinner.  Not only will this mentality prevent you from enjoying the day, but it may preclude you from properly cleaning the house and setting the table as crisply as you would have liked.  And let’s face it- the pleasure of eating a fresh pumpkin loaf will be diminished significantly if you are trying to hide the toys that inadvertently got stuck under the dining room table.  Avoid the stress and mess of last minute food preparation by preparing one or two items from your menu every day in the 7-10 days before the holiday.  Then, by the time the big day arrives, you will have only to take care of last minute preparations, such as carving the roast or giving the house a quick once-over.   
 

Tip 5:  Let other people help.  There’s no reason why spouses and children can’t get in on the cleanup act.  Encourage your children to clean their rooms in the days preceding the holiday and to make special efforts to keep them clean, so that when Grandma comes, everything will be in order.  If their rooms are already clean, your children will have more time to help you by setting the table or straightening the playroom when the time comes for everything to be perfect.  Allow family members to share in the cooking.  Sure, it would be amazing if you could prepare everything yourself (and clean up, and serve, and wash the dishes) without wilting.  But there’s no reason to refuse a genuine offer to help when it comes from a family member.  After all, just as you take pleasure in the holiday preparations, so too can your family members can enjoy the process by helping you with the preparations.