Christmas Planning: The Calendar

How well do you handle scheduling and organizing tasks in order to meet due dates? Some of us are better at this than others. A well laid out calendar is often the place to begin! There's something about putting down a due date on the calendar that gets and keeps the ball rolling. Let’s choose to be blessed instead of stressed this Christmas!

Today we will get started on creating our Christmas Calendar, the last post in our series on building a Christmas notebook. If you're just joining us, you can still catch up! We've gathered our supplies, created our ideas section, and started our lists. The final general category that we'll add to our notebook is our master calendar.

First, you'll need calendar pages!

You can just use a regular 12 month calendar, or print individual month pages online. For our Christmas calendar, we'll need to not only incorporate our Christmas plans, but also all of the other special celebrations we treasure.

Add Special Dates

To begin, add all those birthday parties, anniversary celebrations and non-Christmas events and obligations. Next, calculate the amount of time it will take to create the handmade gifts you've chosen, and any decorations and/or food gifts that you're making. Enter start dates and due dates to keep yourself on schedule. Then, refer to your activities section and enter those programs and concerts and parades that you traditionally attend and those you want to be sure to include.

Include Holiday Tasks

After all these pieces have been added to your calendar, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty of the Christmas season. When will you decorate the tree? By what date will the Christmas cards be mailed? When will you volunteer your time for others? Enter those due dates as well as the start dates in order to meet your own deadline. Remember, these deadlines are meant to REDUCE STRESS by giving everything a time and place to be done. (deep breath) This is all for the sake of a better Christmas season, you can do this!

Enter Reminder Dates

If you have friends and family that you mail packages to, enter the dates that you will mail them so that they arrive on time. If you have holiday photos taken, schedule that and enter the dates. You get the idea. Once all of these items are added into our calendars, we then see where we can fit in our own party, open house or maybe a cookie exchange. Or simply enjoy the blank space on the calendar and wait for invitations!

Enjoy Your Handiwork

All of the general sections we've created in our notebooks serve as the foundation. The goal in all of this is simply to gather information into a master plan, all in one place. Depending on our individual traditions, we'll undoubtedly add other sections too. Breaking down bigger sections into smaller ones can also be very helpful. But when the notebook begins to take shape, you'll stand back and behold what a beautiful thing it is, so beautiful and organized. And you can reuse this notebook each year to help make holiday planning a breeze.

Here's to a blessed, low-stress, joyful, and memorable Christmas season!