Time Management During the Holiday Season

As the holidays approach we become more pressed for time. With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and the added pressure of the holiday season, it’s no wonder why this is such a stressful time of the year for everyone. All the shopping, gift giving, cooking, holiday gatherings, decorating and cleaning. Whew!! If you are not careful during this time of the year you can over extend yourself on every level.

During the holiday season it can be difficult to fit all we have to do into the allotted time we have. The secret to managing your time is about prioritizing the important things, delegating tasks and learning to use your time efficiently and effectively. Not as easy as it sounds! You can reduce some of the stress of the holiday with good planning and time management skills to help you survive the holidays and enjoy this joyous season with family and friends. Try these tips to help you create more time and lessen the stress of the holiday season.

•Plan ahead: Don’t wait until December to do all of your shopping and decorating. This will only create a large amount of stress. Schedule specific days on a weekly basis starting as early as late October or the first week in November.
•Create a to-do list: When you write things down you can determine their order of importance and cross them off the list once they are done. It will give you a sense of accomplishment.
•Stop procrastinating: We tend to procrastinate when we have a lot to do or when we feel a task is too big for us to handle.
•Try “chunking”: Break down the big task into smaller manageable ones.
•Prioritize: Prioritize and do what is most important on your list first.
•Ask for help and delegate: Ask your family members, husband and children for help. Delegate minor task such as sending out holiday cards, gift wrapping, decorating, cooking prep work and cleaning. While they are helping you out, you can go take care of important tasks that only you can.
•Schedule extra time for interruptions: Remember that life happens and we sometimes get hit with unexpected things and interruptions. When managing your time, allow for at least 1/3 of time for these interruptions.
•Don’t be a perfectionist: Do what you can and don’t worry about the rest.
•Shop on-line: Shopping on-line at your convenience will help you save time from running from store to store. Take the extra time you save by shopping on line to relax or do something fun with your family.
•Eliminate trivial tasks: Practice the art of intelligent neglect, eliminate trivial tasks that aren’t necessary for you and yours to enjoy the holidays.
•High energy time: Consider your high energy time and do all major tasks at the time of the day you work your best.
•Gift card and certificates: Save time by purchasing gift cards and gift certificates. You can easily buy them anywhere in any amount and people like them. Purchasing gift cards and gift certificates will save you lots of shopping time. You can use the extra time you saved to work on other tasks or do something special for yourself or with your family.
•Gift wrapping: Wrap gifts as you purchase them to save on the time you’ll spend wrapping all the gifts at once. You can also opt to have them wrapped at the store at time of purchase or delegate that task to someone in your household. Doing either of these will save you time.

Learning simple holiday time management skills will help lessen your holiday stress and give you time to sit back and enjoy the holidays with the ones you love.