Making a List and Checking it Twice

The key to staying sane during the holiday season is to keep all of the madness organized in as few places as possible.

For me it looks like a synched family Google calendar with my husband, my notebook, and the notes app in my phone. For you it may look like a shared Google Sheet or the Evernote app. The goal here is not to add anything else into your daily routine. The easier to get to, the better.

I write down the list of people we (my husband is responsible for getting gifts for his immediate family members) will be seeing over the holidays and when. This helps with prioritizing shipping deadlines and spreading the spend.

Set a budget and add a 10% buffer. We’re beginning to see an increase in goods and services due to the panini press that we’re still living through and the supply chain issues that have grown bigger over the past 18 months.

My approach to gifting is to gift things that people want or love and not waste resources on things that they don’t so the next step is to start asking the folks on your lists their wants and needs. Or, you can stalk them on their social channels to see what their interests are. Or, you can send out a “5 gift rule” questionnaire asking the following:

• something you want

• something you need

• something to wear

• something to read

• something to do

• bonus: something to share or do as a whole family

Lastly — and probably the reason why you’re here — be kind to your future self. The holidays are hectic with enough challenges as it is. Take the 15-20 minutes to get organized so that you don’t find yourself in a pinch 90 days from now, staring at empty store shelves or paying extra for expedited shipping. Get as much of your gifting duties completed now so that you can enjoy the holidays a little bit more once they roll around.

Do you finish holiday gift shopping way before the holidays or do you wait till the last minute? Let me know below in the comments!