Organized A to Z Blog

Make Your List, Check it Twice: Make December Nice! – Part 2

December 15, 2009

Contributed by Organized A to Z partner, M. Colleen Klimczack, Certified Professional Organizer, Peace of Mind Professional Organizing

Meeting Common Holiday Challenges

Gift purchases: Set your timer, just do it!

· Have you started? Are you lost in the middle?

· Decide what you’re buying for folks, by the items, wrap them and send them. Stop dawdling, just do it!

· Make your shopping list as specific as possible. Decision-making is the hardest, most time consuming part of organizing.

· Once you make a decision, write it down. For example, if you know you’re getting your son a White Sox jersey, don’t write down on your To Do list “Gift-Daniel.” Write down “Daniel – Sox Jersey, size M”. This enables others to help you, and it reminds you what you are looking for when you get to the store, etc.

· Carve out the time to make your purchases. The Internet is a wonderful thing this time of year. I love seeing the UPS guy walking up my walk! If you need to physically go out and shop, determine when your stores are open and carve out the time to do your shopping.

Wrapping gifts: Requires gifts are purchased, so this comes after “Shopping.” Set your timer, then…

· Set up your wrapping area (folding card table, guest room bed, who knows?!)

· Assemble your tools: wrap or gift bags, tissue paper, tape, ribbon, scissors, tags, and a pen.

· Go buy tools, if you need to.

· Wrap. Just do it! And do it again tomorrow and the next day, until you’re done.

· I tend to wrap my gifts long before Christmas. It gives me a chance to make sure I have all the gifts I need, add batteries or accessories, and leaves me time to pick up something else if I need to.

Read more of Colleen’s “get through the holidays” tips by visiting this blog tomorrow!

Colleen provides her clients with some Peace Of Mind about their homes, schedules, paper, families and lives. Her areas of expertise are the home and home office, small businesses, paper and time management, attics, basements and garages, closets and kitchens, and kids and families. She offers a wide range of organizational services, from presentations to products, small business mentoring to maintenance plans. She is a member of The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), The Chicago Chapter of NAPO, The Evergreen Park Chamber of Commerce, and Faithful Organizers, a group for Christian Organizers.

Filed under: Holidays/Special Events,Organizing Tips,Uncategorized