I hear from so many clients at this time of year that they’re bogged down in all the to-dos and activities and end up feeling rushed and stressed – just the opposite of what they’d like to experience!

Easy solution: Start by breaking it down.

  1. Make a list of all the activities you LOVE to do . . .and break them down into the absolute smallest task.
  2. Then look at the activities that are just “OK” – you do them out of habit or tradition – and break them down into the smallest task.
  3. Finally, look at your “YUCK” activities and break them down into each smallest task. (Hint, hint – if this is an activity your really don’t like . . . now would be a GREAT time to delete it from your list. Why invest time breaking it down into small steps if you don’t enjoy doing it?)
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In my book, “Ho HO NO!!! Tips for an Organized and Stress-Free Holiday Season,” I describe exactly how to tackle this.

Many people send Christmas cards during the holiday season. If we broke this activity down into its smallest tasks it could look like this:

  • Buying/Making Cards
  • Booking Photography Appt.
  • Coordinating Outfits
  • Checking Addresses
  • Addressing Cards
  • Writing Letter
  • Signing Cards
  • Buying Stamps
  • Stamping Cards
  • Mailing Cards

Do this for every activity you have on your list. Once you have broken each activity down into the smallest possible action steps, determine how long each step will take, assign a start date and a completion date to the task.

Using our Christmas Cards example –

Booking Photography Appt.: 20 minutes, start October 1, complete October 1
Checking Addresses: 1 hour, December 1, December 10
Addressing Cards: 3 hours, December 1, December 12

Now is the time to examine all the tasks, activities and goals that make up the holiday season for you. A wealth of ideas and tried-and-true tips are in my book “Ho HO NO!!! Tips for an Organized and Stress-Free Holiday Season.”

If you’re an Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscriber you can download the book for free! If you’re not, it’s only $2.99 – and it will help you create a new way of experiencing the holiday season: organized, stress-free, and no longer bogged down!

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(Image credit KEERATI)