How you stay organized during the holiday season
This is the most wonderful time of year when stress levels are at an all-time high, family and friends are clamoring for your attention, and your to-dos pile up to a mile high. But it's also the time of year when staying organized is vital. Whether you're tackling holiday shopping or trying to finish last-minute holiday errands, having a system in place can help prevent that overwhelmed feeling from turning into something worse. Whether you're a "left brain" or "right brain" person, you can use some tips to help you stay organized and on top of everything this time of year.
Spread your holidays between now and New Year's Day - We must ensure we finish the work before taking a break. But try to do only some things at a time. Instead, spread out the tasks and do them as they become essential. For example, tackle this month's Bills of Materials on Jan. 5 and get your supplies ordered before. Or if you have a short-notice party to attend, do a few urgent tasks now that will give you more time later in the year to finish those longer-term (and daunting) expenses such as personal taxes. Keep your lists and schedules as detailed as possible - Being thorough with your paperwork will make tracking what you've done easier. It's also better to have this information in one place rather than scattered notes all over the house. A few pieces of paper in a binder or file cabinet can help you stay organized during the holidays. This is especially true if you're a home-based business that works from home and takes care of things like payroll, taxes, etc.
Get help from a tech-savvy friend: There are many great tools available online that you can use to help you keep track of things and stay organized. A straightforward example is Evernote. This free web-based app allows you to store notes, images, website links, and other items as "notebooks." You can use it on your computer or mobile device (as long as it has an internet connection). This is a perfect tool for home businesses that must capture all the information related to their business.
Another helpful app is called Engauge Digitizer, from Digital Reasoning. With this app, you can create a visual dashboard with all the key metrics you need to measure your business performance. This way, you can easily manage everything in one place and see what's going on with your company at a glance.
Break down your holiday shopping into categories: Whether it's gifts for family members, friends, or business associates, it can be overwhelming to keep track of everything. To prevent the stress of doubling up on gifts (and to avoid forgetting anyone), break down your shopping into convenient categories. For example, you could make your shopping category "Friends" and list everyone who fits into that family. Then divide each category by gender, age, hobbies, or even a particular gift you want to get them. This way, when you're out looking for something they'd like, you have an idea of what they might enjoy and can narrow down the options. Just like shopping, the worst thing you can do is to try and do all your holiday tasks in one day. Don't combine errands or plans with a manic rush of getting last-minute jobs done. Instead, please take it to step by step and tackle each as it comes up. If something's important enough to hold off on until the end of your list, then do that item first. Finally, keep yourself from trying to do too much at once. While it's a meaningful holiday season, you're still entitled to a little "me time."Life is too short to be stressed out over everything from now until January. Just go easy on yourself, and don't feel guilty if you don't get everything done this time of year!
I hope this blog post was helpful, and I'll see you next week!
Happy Holidays!