Organizing the holidays can be overwhelming, from your grocery list to clean up! I have noticed that many people tend to go to one extreme or the other. Not making a list and letting things ruminate over and over in your mind leads to anxiety. So where do you start? I have a few suggestions to offer that may help you check through that list a little quicker.
First, make the list! Use whatever format works for you. There are tons of great apps out there such as Trello that can be very helpful when it comes to making and sharing lists. At first don’t worry about the order of your to-do’s, just get it out of your head and on to something physical. Once you have it all out there, put it in order, and prioritize what is the most important and needs to be done first down to the last minute things. Next, delegate. If you are using trello you can easily share your list with friends and family.
I realize that feelings of guilt can come up with this so let’s address them. Where is the guilt coming from? Is it just easier to do it on your own or is it something deeper? This is a great question to ask yourself and perhaps do some journaling for self-exploration. If someone asks to help do you jump to saying no before you even look at your list? Slow down, think, and maybe say…”let me look at my list and get back to you.” People are asking to help because they want to help. This often gives them a reason to feel important and that they are contributing to the holiday. Sometimes saying yes to those offering help does more good than we could ever realize.
