5 Ways to Prepare This Year for NEXT Christmas – because an unrushed holiday season with less stress and more calm starts here!
Did you panic just a bit when you saw that the title of this post contained the words “NEXT Christmas”? Yes, my friends—we’re going there.
Believe it or not, an unrushed holiday season NEXT YEAR can begin now. Every year I do several things in preparation. It keeps a few items off my to-do list come next November, and all year long I get to enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that I’m already ahead of the game. 😉
5 Ways to Prep This Year for NEXT Christmas
1. If you do a holiday book countdown, re-wrap the books before you put them away. After Christmas when I’m packing up our decorations (and while the holiday wrapping paper is still handy), I wrap each book before I store them. When I pull them out the next winter, they are ready to go. Even if your family doesn’t do a book countdown, maybe there’s a similar tradition you can prep in advance.
Also worth noting – If you’re still building your holiday book collection now is a great time to purchase 1 or 2 new books for next year. Many of our favorite Christmas books are on sale 20 – 50% off right now.
2. As you’re packing up, sort through your Christmas books and decor, getting rid of items that are looking worse for the wear and donating anything the kids have outgrown. I also like to leave at least one box out for a few days, because there is always that one item I didn’t catch on my initial walkthrough.
3. Check after-Christmas clearance for holiday wrapping paper and possible stocking stuffers or gifts for the following year. (Just make sure you hide them well!)
4. Go through your gift list (I keep one on my phone) and cross off items you purchased that year. Evaluate the gifts your family gave and received, and continue to brainstorm new ideas throughout the coming year.
5. Keep a running holiday card list. After Christmas I print out an updated version to store with our holiday decorations. Inevitably, we get a few cards returned, etc., and I make note of new addresses so I start with a current list next year.
Putting It Into Practice
If you don’t already have an accessible gift list that you can refer to all year, create one now. I suggest either the Notes or Reminders apps, but a back page in your journal or planner could work just as well.
Second, can you think of one tradition you can prep ahead this year when you’re packing up Christmas?
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I like this! It’s actually useful advice. Thank you, Rebecca. 🙂
I do all of these things! Except for cards, I haven’t sent any for a few years. I’m so excited that I wrapped up our books with clearance wrapping paper right after Christmas! Keeping a running Christmas list is a fantastic tip that I can’t recommend enough, I started doing that last year, it was soooo helpful!!
Love this.