Christmas Projects: Taking One Step at a Time

Christmas can be planned as early as January while the memory is still recent. Apparently, making a few tentative decisions in January can set you in advance come November. By setting goals early in the year, you can take advantage of sales and hidden moments of time. For example, if you think you’d opt to make clothespin ornaments the following year (because you saw several cute ones at the recent fair), you can purchase the clothespins at the wholesale store when they are plentiful. When you think you will be giving your aunt’s family an afghan for next Christmas, you’ll be able to buy the materials at the January sales and start working on it whenever you sit down to watch TV.

The day after Christmas we all have good plans for coming year. Some of us fulfill them; others don’t.  It doesn’t make us right or wrong, but it affects our available options. When your home and parts of your life are in order, you will have additional time for Christmas projects. But who does? Even if it is mid November already, and neither is the refurbishing caught up nor the fall cleaning finished, you can still have fulfilled holidays, but you wouldn’t have as much stress-free time during the weeks prior to Christmas.

Of course, there’s more to Christmas than the tree and the gifts. Christmas can overwhelm us. What should you do to cope? Obviously, Christmas can’t be cancelled from your calendar or from the life of others around you. The solution is to fragment the task into big chunks, then into bite-sized portions. To visualize a clear mental picture of the whole season, create several types of lists. Have an overall plan by specifying interim goals and deadlines, while keeping up with your regular routine. You’ll want to cut the Christmas project into pieces by streamlining housework, gift shopping, baking and food preparation, kids’ activities, decorating, volunteering, and memorable traditions.

After every Christmas, take a break in order to evaluate, assess and come up with provisional plans for next year. As you practice better management principles, you could achieve a successful season that builds good relationships, breeds compassionate attitude, brings peace and friendships, and lingers with warm memories.