It’s the busiest time of year, Holiday season. The fact that there are less than two months of the year is mind-blowing. This crazy season can be overwhelming and stressful. From Holiday parties to hosting to traveling, it can all be a lot. These 7-holiday organization tips will keep you sane.

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Holiday Organization Tips:

1. Pantry

If you are hosting any Holiday this upcoming season, the one area to get organized in your home is the pantry. Food is the main focus of gatherings, and having everything organized and accessible will make hosting a breeze.

• Empty The Pantry

The best thing to do is to take everything out of the pantry. Seeing what is there first will allow you to make a better plan and prevent duplicates. You are able to see what is expired and can toss it.  Knowing what is already there, makes the grocery list easier.  Chances are there’s something there you forgot about and can use it.

• Sort & Purge

Once everything is sorted then you can decide how to organize it in the pantry. Creating zones will make it easy to manage.  Keep the categories broad such as breakfast, baking, snacks, produce, etc.

Keep Holiday items such as appetizers, snacks, or main course meal items together in a bin or on the same shelf. This will help you find items quickly.

• Organize & Label

Containers and bins are the easiest way to organize the pantry.  Use bins you love looking at and blend them nicely together.  Black, white, and tan always look nice together.

Label the bins and containers, this will minimize stress. It’ll guide you to the place you need to be.

2. Meal Planning

The second home organization tip is to plan out meals.  This minimizes stress and guesswork is eliminated. It’ll help you eat a little healthier during this time. It’s easy to indulge in foods that aren’t as healthy. When this happens, our moods are affected.

Creating a meal plan around the week of Thanksgiving or Holiday parties ensures all the items and ingredients are there.  Nobody likes making that last-minute run to the grocery store, especially on the day of Thanksgiving when the hours are limited.

Meal planning doesn’t take long. This free PDF is something I created years ago and use to this day (I’m a paper and pen gal). It’s a weekly meal planner, planning for 7 days is not as strenuous as planning for 14 days or even 30 days. All you need is one hour each week. Start with writing down the dates, then work backward based on the events.

3. Schedule

Having a schedule of events written down where everyone knows what’s happening makes it easier to manage stress during the Holidays.

This whiteboard calendar has been our go-to for years and is part of our family command center. A visual of the upcoming events keeps you organized.

Reviewing the calendar every week or every few days ensures nothing gets missed and there’s no last-minute rush to find a gift.  COVID is non-existent at the stores, there are drones of people everywhere now, and things fly off the shelf as they used to.

4. Lists

There are a million and one activities happening at once and double that with the thoughts in our heads. Writing it all down lowers stress levels and prevents those forgetful moments.

Post-its are a great way to organize lists. One can be for kids’ to-do, another for home to-do, and so on and so forth.  Post-its are portable and allow you to organize lists by color.  I keep a stack of Post-its in my car, in my purse, and on my nightstand.  It allows me to quickly jot down reminders.

The downside to lists is that they can go on forever.  To prevent this downward spiral, schedule the lists in your calendar by category.  This holds you accountable and helps you manage it efficiently.

5. Holiday Cards

Picking out invitations or birth announcements can be overwhelming.  The options are endless and there are so many decisions to make from the style of the card to the font.  Plus, getting them out in a timely fashion can be stressful.

We’ve been using Shutterfly for the past few years for a few reasons.

• Beautiful Designs

The designs are modern and cute.  You can save all your favorites and compare them, which makes it choose one because they are side-by-side.  The filters allow you to customize your search based on color, size, picture, theme, occasion, etc.  They make it easy to narrow down the selection.

• You can upload the photo you want to use to see how it will look on your card

This is a great feature. This really helps in the process of deciding which picture to use because the one you wanted to use may not look that great on the card.

• Mailing List Option

You can save addresses which makes it much easier to mail out.  This feature does cost a little more but it’s worth the time you can save.  You can also have the return label printed and have them mailed out for you too.

6. Gift Preparation

The Holidays bring gifts from Santa to grandparents to friends and family. It’s what kids look forward to all year long.  Managing gifts can be a full-time job especially if you have a child that has a birthday during this season as we do.  At times, I feel like a UPS warehouse manager.

• Gift Budget and List

Having a plan for gifts helps you stay on budget and makes sure a gift is purchased for everyone you wanted to give something to someone. In the past, there’s always someone that I’ve had to run out and get a last-minute gift because I completely forgot about them.

• Wrapping Supplies

Gift preparation isn’t just about who and what you are buying. It also involves making sure there’s wrapping paper, gift bags, tape, ribbon, bows, etc. Having a dedicated area for all of the wrapping supplies will make it easier to wrap gifts because you know what you have.

There are a few gift wrap carts that I love.  The first one is from The Container Store, it is a bit pricey but it lasts and has the space available to store the various sizes of wrapping paper rolls, gift bags, etc.  The second one is from Honey-Can-Do, it’s not as big as the Elfa one but a fraction of the price and gets the job done.

• Gift Management

The last thing to think about for gift preparation is how to manage it all. If you have younger kids, you’ll want to have a secret area for all the gifts.

Having a dedicated location for all the gifts makes it easy to manage. Use a Post-it note or Sharpie to write which gift brings to whom. Batch process wrapping gifts, pick a time to wrap a handful of them. This prevents panic of the “Oh my gosh, I have so many gifts to wrap, I’m going to be up all night!

7. Self Care

The last and most important Holiday organization tip is to take care of yourself. Health is wealth and that really matters especially during this busy season.

Getting 30 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week helps lower stress levels and clears your head. I’ve yet to meet someone that says they don’t feel better after a workout.

Some other self-care options include meditation, journaling, or prayer. It can include getting a massage or your nails done.

Sleep is also crucial during the Holiday season.  The older I get, I realize the importance of it.  If you’re not rested, you’re not your best self.  Staying hydrated and knowing your triggers will help as well.  When you know your triggers, it helps manage your emotions.

Conclusion

Determine what is important to you and use these 7 Holiday organization tips to manage stress.  As the song goes “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” It really is, it doesn’t have to be stressful.