6 Tips To Getting Yourself Organized For A Joyful Christmas

Baubles Glass For Top-of Christmas Tree

The Christmas season should be a joyful time for family and friends, but for thousands of people, it’s a time of stress. Often, reducing Christmas stress is just a matter of organization. Elizabeth D. Clark, author of "Be-Organized," has 6 simple suggestions to help you have a joyous Christmas season.

  1. Do your Christmas baking early. Then, take inventory of what goes into the freezer and check it off when it comes out. You can keep more organized during the year, too, by keeping inventory of your precooked meals and baking.
  2. Wrap gifts as you buy them. To make wrapping fun and easy, keep a full set of everything you need in one elongated, plastic gift wrapping box. Here’s a starter list for your gift wrapping box: wrapping paper, tissue paper, ribbon, bows, gift tags, scissors, tape, and a variety of pens.
  3. Play detective so you know your family’s and friends’ wants and needs. That way, when your department store has a summer sale, you can buy those fluorescent green plaid pajamas and matching gaudy slippers that you know your Uncle Joe will love.
  4. Infuse some fun into Christmas by starting many new family traditions each year. If you have young children, reading a Christmas story to them each night before bedtime is one fun tradition. Or, watch a special family movie together, such as The Sound of Music.
  5. It’s tempting and fun to let Christmas turn into a Stress & Cholesterol festival. Avoid poor eating and binge eating by eating regular healthy meals that include fruit and vegetables.
  6. Christmas is a time of sharing, so why not share the work of making Christmas dinner? When you invite your guests, consider asking each guest to bring one small item, perhaps a green salad or a dessert. Recruit a “volunteer” for potato and carrot peeling or for setting the table (which, of course, can be done hours before the feast).

Elizabeth D. Clark has been a writer and editor since 2000. She is the author of the "Be-Organized" ezine, established to inspire people to change their lives by becoming organized. To learn more about organizing and to receive your own "Be-Organized" ezine, simply go to Santa-Letters-From-Santa and click on free ezine. Elizabeth may be contacted at info@santa-letters-from-santa.com or elizabethc8888@hotmail.com.