Designing a Meaningful (and Manageable!) Holiday Season

I’ve been asked to give a workplace lunch-and-learn presentation in December about “Stress Management For The Holidays”. I am taking that as an invitation, too, to share strategies with all of you for the holiday season and really, any other season as well!  This week’s strategies will focus on tasks and planning, and next week’s strategies will focus on people, you and your loved ones!

Strategy: Self Reflection. A little self reflection goes a long way. 

It is never too late to start with the Why. Take a few moments this week, perhaps with a cup of coffee or cocoa, and ask yourself a few questions. There are a number of questions you can ask to go along with this strategy.

Why are we celebrating?  

What is the most important part of the holidays FOR ME?  

Whose traditions are they anyway? 

And we can bring in family members or friends to this conversation, too. Asking ourselves and people around us, why are we celebrating the holidays? What is most important to you about the holidays?  Let’s set our intentions and prioritize the events, spirit or efforts that will bring us the most meaning.  Which leads us to…

Strategy: Do more of what you like, and less of what you don’t like.

Seems obvious, right?  And yet we don’t always heed this piece of advice!

When we look at our reflections from strategy number 1, we should start to get an idea of what we DO and DO NOT like about the holidays.

I wish that I could wave a wand and grant us all an extra hour or 20 around the holidays, to meet family and societal expectations, go to all the fun events, still accomplish productivity in our work day and also make sure to find time to care for ourselves. Since I haven’t figured that out yet, for you or for me, we have to prioritize how to use our finite commodities of time, energy and money. 

Let me give you a few examples:

Service to others is always important to me. But as I prioritize my time, I will stick with what I like to do and not what I don’t like to do.

For me, one way I love to celebrate the Advent and Christmas season is through music. I know this about me, and fittingly, the activities around liturgy planning, rehearsals, signing up for subbing and booking gigs started early for me this year!  Lucky for me, I get a lot of opportunities to do that and I have actively added more opportunities.

On the other hand, while I LOVE giving gifts and I LOVE wrapping gifts, I really do NOT like to shop. Therefore, I do NOT volunteer for service projects like Adopt-A-Family or Toy Drives in my community that would add extra gift shopping to my list. Food drives - YES! Just participated in a big one through my Parish for our  local food pantry. But heading to the mall?  Not going to happen.

What would it be for you?  What do you love?  And how do you find ways to do more of what you love?  And what do you NOT love, and how do you do less of that? 

A few other things to think about in this strategy:

It would be easy to procrastinate on the icky things, I know. HOWEVER, do the tasks you don’t like to do but have to do anyway EARLY!

Start Early! I know it sounds backwards, but I start early on the tasks that I don’t like, like gift shopping. It is stressful enough! I don’t want to risk deadline related stress for gifts! And the sooner I finish shopping, the sooner I can get on with the parts of gifting I do like - the wrapping and the giving!

Ask, too: What can you outsource? Either to a service, or even with a friend?  What could you swap? Is there something you love that you would be willing to do for others, if they would do the things you don’t like? I love to bake, I love to wrap gifts - maybe someone I know likes to come up with gift ideas or shop? Could we swap tasks and labor hours? Get creative and look around at your supportive people!

And, whether we like to do something or we don’t like to do something, are there ways to make a task simpler? Which leads us to…

Strategy: Simplify

As you plan your tasks this season, and any season really, please consider and act on any area or task that can be simplified!

What parts of the project can you possibly do ahead of time? What steps can be removed completely? What can you make a double batch of, to save time later?

I will use holiday cooking as an example here, but I suggest asking the question in any and all areas if you can!

Did I order groceries yesterday to be delivered instead of going to the store for this week?  

Yes, I did.  

Did I order already cleaned-ready-to-cook green beans for a Thanksgiving side dish? Yes, yes I did.  They were on sale, so the convenience didn’t cost me extra.  Win win. 

Did I batch cook a couple meals for when my college students are home this week, so I’m not trying to cook for Thanksgiving and also for dinner every night?  Yep, sure did. 

What can YOU simplify?  Relatedly, this next strategy…

Strategy: Differentiate between projects and tasks. 

I do not gamble, but I would bet money that some of your tasks on your “to-do” list are not tasks, they are projects.  For example, 

“Buy a Christmas gift.” = Project

“Bake cookies” = Project

“Wrap gifts” = Project

“Stop at Macy’s on the way home from work, and pick up the green sweater, size Large, that is  on sale this week for my mom for Christmas” = task

A task is “any one-step action or activity. A task is usually one small piece of a project, role, responsibility, or function, but it might seem to stand alone.”  (per “The Productivity Chain” by Casey Moore)

A project is “any desired result that requires more than one action step” to achieve (Per “The Productivity Chain” by Casey Moore and “Getting Things Done” by David Allen).

For some of us, productivity around the holidays, as in life, consists of many projects from moment to moment, day to day. And we can get tripped up when we treat projects like tasks.  

In my coaching sessions and my organizing classes, I work with my clients and class participants to get realistic and differentiate between tasks and projects. Projects are complex, they consist of more than one task, and often those tasks need to happen in a certain order to successfully complete the project.

If we want to get things done successfully and with less stress, we must consider all those factors!

If you’re looking at your to-do list and you seem to be wrestling with where to start or what your next steps need to be, it may be because you have not identified or listed out what the actual steps are, the actual tasks required in any of your project areas. 

Now is the time to break projects down into little tiny pieces, to get ridiculously specific on your task and to-do. 

Once you get specific, you also need to look at the tasks or steps and identify realistic time estimates.  

What was that, you say?  

Realistic time estimates.

Let’s talk about Realistic Time Estimates.  Answer for yourself the question “How Long Does This Task Take?”. And if you aren’t sure, or if your estimate is wrong, actually time it out! The other side of this question is, how long am I willing to dedicate to this task?

And be ready to stick with that number!

I always assume shopping is going to take FOREVER - see above, it’s not something I like to do! - but occasionally I am pleasantly surprised when it goes more smoothly than expected and I finish early. But I would rather be pleasantly surprised by an early completion than be blindsided with tasks and projects that take far more time than I expected!

Set a timer! Set an alarm!  Look around and seek out the tasks you dread for no reason, or the tasks you underestimate and always run over!   Take the steps to create awareness, and adjust your thinking to get your tasks completed!

Finally, Strategy: Remember, January is still the holiday season.

Yes, that is a strategy. We may fall into the trap of trying to stuff WAY TO MUCH into December. And see above - no, we don’t get extra hours in the days or even extra days just because it’s the holiday season. 

Consider getting together with friends and family in January. Start big life projects in January and certainly not this week.  I have my own personal learning plan and curriculum, and the rest of my certifications will commence again in January.  I have already moved those tasks and ideas to next month’s to-do list.

I hope you find these strategies helpful! Drop me a line and let me know which one really resonates with you! (Colleen@PeaceofMindPO.com)