Planning

This past weekend I was talking to my husband about sending out Holiday Cards. It hit me that I hadn’t even started to think about them.

As I thought about why I haven’t been consistent with cards the past few of years, I realized there are several reasons for it.

Technology:

• It’s so easy to post a holiday greeting on Facebook for friends and family. But this is an impersonal way to wish people a happy holiday – Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Season’s Greetings, etc. It feels like copy and paste cheer.
• An easy but more personal greeting is to email a holiday card or text a greeting. These may be a generic GIF or a personalized message.

Organization (or lack of it):

• I haven’t been organized with my holiday planning for several years now. As a result, I’ve created more stress and guilt for myself.

Time, Cost, and Effort:

• Maybe it’s the cost of the cards and stamps (am I being cheap?) or the time and effort involved in buying the cards, stamps, addressing the envelopes, signing the cards, and then mailing them (am I being lazy?).

After reviewing all these reasons, I realized my biggest issue is simply a lack of planning and organizing. That is probably the main reason why I’ve let some holiday traditions slide.

Over the past few year I’ve “fallen off the wagon” with organizing, planning, and decluttering. That is one of the main reasons I’ve written so little on my blog or Facebook groups and pages. It’s hard to write about decluttering and organizing when I’m not practicing those habits myself.

So I decided the best way to get back on track was to revisit the holiday eBook I wrote years ago. I also looked up many of the articles and blog posts on my website about planning and organizing for the holidays. I’ve included links below to this information if you want to check it out.

I’ve also realized that when I stopped writing, I stopped holding myself accountable. Sharing my ideas, strategies, and lessons learned over the years encourages me to “walk the walk” and follow my own advice.

Thanks for reading what I write. You help my stay motivated to take steps that simplify the holidays and make them more enjoyable. In return, I hope I can motivate you to do the same.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

Janice

 

Helpful Links:

eBook:  “Tips To Simplify and Organize Your Holidays” (on sale for $0.99)

Available at:

• Amazon 
• Barnes and Noble

Articles and Blog posts:

• Holiday Greeting Card System
• Master Gift List
  
• New Traditions Can Relieve Holiday Stress
• Clutter Free and Almost Clutter Free Gift Ideas
• Is Holiday Stress Getting To You?