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Happy Holidays?

Hi Friend,

Yes, it’s December already. 2022 has flown by. So many of us find ourselves with the sense of dread that only comes from anticipating the silly season.

Some of us are even contemplating playing host to friends and family in our home or having the house drop-in ready.

Oh the H O R R O R

What can experts in procrastination do to prepare themselves for the silly season?

1. Start now. The difficult jobs are the hardest to start. There are so many other fun and pleasurable activities to do around this time of year. We want to embrace pleasure and avoid pain. Unfortunately, the pain will be greater when you’re rushing around the week before the celebration in a panic shoving stuff into cupboards and sheds as quickly as you can without thinking about the consequences.

2. Make a plan and take action every day between now and the event (e.g. 21 days until Christmas if you celebrate it) to avoid frantic scooping and dumping (this is what we call grabbing stuff randomly and boxing it up in the biz).

This is one of the major problems with last minute “tidying hiding”. Everyone has the intention to sort the stuff out over the holiday break but it never happens. We can’t find what we need so we re-buy. Then the cupboards are full next year…

3. Declutter as you go and use rules of thumb to speed up the decision making. If you’re stuck on a decision ask: Is the item worth less than $20 and can it be easily reacquired in under 20 minutes? Yes to both these questions means it can go.

4. Find those stashes of gifts you’ve been collecting throughout the year BEFORE you go shopping for more. Reevaluate the potential gifts and if they no longer suit - pass them on NOW. Others who are shopping in charity shops will then have a chance to buy the perfect gift for someone that wasn’t quite right for your giftee.

Some other unorthodox gift-giving tips might also help:

• Reconsider the gift giving tradition. I think we need to come to the realisation that consumerism is driving much of what we feel expected to do in the festive season. Try stepping back and having a conversation with family about what they like about gift giving and gift receiving. It might be enlightening. Perhaps Kris Kringle (putting everyone’s names in a hat and drawing a single family member’s name to buy for) might suit for the adults in your family.

• Consider asking family for donations to your favourite charities instead of physical presents.

• Ask everyone for a hint list. I know so many people don’t like this idea because gift giving is supposed to indicate how well you know and love the recipient.

  We all need to face the fact that 90% of us are not amazing gift givers. We get it close but not quite right so often. Then the guilt starts. Giftees feel they can’t pass on their presents for fear of offending the gifter so they shove the gift in the cupboard to collect dust and get ruined.

• Embrace the gift card. If you are overwhelmed by the idea of hitting the shops this silly season – don’t. Buy everyone a gift card so they can get better bang for their bucks in the post season sales. We can’t do it all! If you’re struggling to get the house ready for guests or are just determined to have a calm, uncluttered space for the holidays take something OFF your list. Gift buying is nerve wracking. Maybe this year you opt out. Gift cards or even cold hard cash eases the pressure. Consider it for your mental wellbeing.

Often we are the ones who hold the festive season celebrations together for our families. We dedicate a huge amount of time stressing and planning the event and over-extend ourselves.

Make this the year that you start earlier, do less, and enjoy more.

Until next week :)

Jan <3

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