Tag Archives: food

Remember the “why” behind the holiday

I’m hearing a lot of stress-related comments from my clients right now.

  • “I need six more gifts and have no idea when I can shop.”
  • “I don’t have my caramels made yet.”
  • “I still don’t have my cards in the mail.”
  • “I have three more parties to go to and I don’t want to go to any of them.”
  • “I still don’t know how many people are coming to Christmas dinner.”
  • “I really wanted to have a party for my neighbors and now it’s too late.”

I certainly understand where the stress is coming from but is the incredible amount of stress worth the end-result?  Probably not.  Is all this stress taking away from the magic of the season?  Probably so.  What adjustments can you make to restore the magic of the season?

Gifts:  Gift cards are okay and you can select from a large assortment at many local retailers.  Create a gift book of services like babysitting, preparing dinner, cleaning the house, etc.

Food:  Although home-made gifts are THE BEST it’s perfectly acceptable to skip a year or purchase treats from a local bakery or candy shop.

Cards:  Give yourself some grace.  Either skip this year or send New Year’s cards.  The world will not stop spinning if you don’t send Christmas cards.

Parties:  Are there any parties you can gracefully bow out of at this point? If so, do it.  If not, put a limit on the amount of time spent at the event.  Just because the invitation says “6:00 – 10:00” doesn’t mean you need to spend four hours there.

Meals:  If planning and preparing a big holiday meal is stressing you out, is there an option to switch it up a bit?  Make the meal a potluck so everyone gets to participate.  Instead of a coordinated meal, how about an “all appetizer” party (people love appetizers!)?  Think outside of the box and reduce some stress.

Friends and neighbor parties:  Yes, you had every intention of inviting friends and neighbors over for the holidays, but do you really want to add another event to your, or their, calendar?  Probably not.  How about having a 2018 launch party?  Or how about a Valentine’s Day dine-around?  Having something to look forward to after the big holiday rush would be lovely.  Plus, everyone will be much less stressed, more relaxed and able to truly enjoy your time together.

How can you adjust your expectations, reduce stress and focus on the magic of the season?

Happy Holidays!

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter
National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter Vice President
ICD_LogoTag_Horz_72 website
Institute for Challenging Disorganization
Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.
Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD.

 

Coach Approach for Organizers

5 Tips To Be “Company Ready”

Many of us will welcome guests into our homes this time of year. I find it joyous to open our home to guests, but it does require a little preparation.

Here are five quick suggestions:

  1. Ask about food preferences or allergies:  I like to pre-purchase whatever food items might make our guests more comfortable.  For example, I only drink almond milk, but our adult kids and grandson prefer dairy products.  I  have a homemade oatmeal/banana muffin every morning, but my sister prefers spinach and eggs.  Although most guests will say “anything is fine,” I know they are more comfortable if they can eat similarly to how they eat at home.  Plus it may save a last-minute trip to the grocery store.
  2. Talk about pets:  We have two relatively large dogs.  Most people who would stay at our home know we have dogs, but I like to review the dogs’ rules and habits.  For example, our dogs love people and will go visit them, and check out their stuff, if our guests were to leave the bedroom or bathroom door open.  I also prep our guests with a list of commands the dogs are familiar with should they need to discipline them in any way.  “Down” means different things to different people.
  3. Give a tour as soon as guests arrive:  Although it may be intuitive to you where the pantry, powder room, and garage are, your guests will appreciate getting a “lay of the land.”
  4. Prep the bedroom:  Make sure there are towels, hangers, a wastebasket, an alarm clock,  a water carafe and glass, and small selection of toiletries (including a disposable toothbrush and razor),  Most of our guests bring their own toiletries, but it’s always nice to have something just in case they forgot.  I also include an extra set of sheets in the dresser drawers as most guests ask how they can help when they leave.  If they are open to it, I ask them to change the bed before they leave.  This cuts down on the amount of time it takes me to prepare for the next guest.
  5. Prep the bathroom:  We are sure to include extra toilet paper, cloth hand towels, some disposable hand towels, air freshener and a hairdryer.   We also include a toilet brush and plunger, allowing guests to solve small, and what may be embarrassing, problems discretely.

If you are looking for more great ideas on preparing for holiday house guests, check out the recent Unclutterer blog.

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter
National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter Vice President
ICD_LogoTag_Horz_72 website
Institute for Challenging Disorganization
Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.
Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD.

 

Coach Approach for Organizers
Graduate of the Comprehensive Training Program: Coaching Essentials; Strengths-Based Coaching; Brain-Based Coaching; Life and ADHD Coaching; and Organizer Coach Integration
Graduate-level training: Body-Based Coaching; ADHD Coaching Competencies

 

Party anyone?

GGR 2016-249 7_3_2016 July is “National Family Reunion Month.”  (Who knew there was such a thing?!)

Our family just held one of our largest family reunions ever!  With over 60 people, ages 2 to 86, in attendance, pulling this event off took a ton of planning and patience.

Here are some practical tips to make your own family reunion the success you want it to be:

    1.  Select an event chair, or better yet, a couple of co-chairs to handle the planning and coordination.  Depending on the size of the reunion, you may only need one, but for a group of 60, it was great to spread the event coordination around a bit.
    2. Decide on a time of year and venue.  Our reunion is always held around the 4th of July (easy travel for everyone, generally not a lot of competing events like there would be in the November/December time period) and it’s always held at the same place. Choose the venue carefully.  If someone’s home can manage it, great.  If you need to rent a space, be sure to get that done early.  If you are coordinating people from across the country, be kind and settle on middle geographic ground.
    3. Set up early and frequent communication.  The more communication there is around your family reunion, the better opportunity to get people excited and eager to attend.  If possible, include some fun stories from previous reunions to keep people’s attention.  Be careful to include communication styles that everyone can participate in.  For example, although e-mail is efficient, not everyone uses e-mail.  If e-mail is your chosen mode of communication, make sure someone is assigned to pass on the pertinent information to those who don’t get e-mail.
    4. Create a spreadsheet or mind map including everything that needs to be in place for a successful reunion.  Be sure to include:
      1. Food:  Solicit volunteers to bring specific dishes or categories (i.e. appetizers, main course, vegetables, dessert, bread, beverages, etc.).
      2. Games:  Solicit volunteers to manage entertainment for all ages.  For example, sidewalk chalk and bubbles for the younger ones, badminton for the older kids, and video games for all ages.
      3. Functional needs for the event:  For example, determine who will be decorating, ensuring sufficient silverware/plates/glasses are available, making certain all the potluck food makes it to the serving table, manages the trash, and so on and so on and so on.
    5. Solicit volunteers . . . and lots of them.  When John Heywood quoted “many hands make light work” he probably wasn’t thinking about family reunions at the time, but the phrase holds true.  Everyone (age appropriate) should be part of the planning and execution process.  Too few people trying to handle too many things may result in a less than successful event.
    6. Ask for feedback.  When holding any kind of event, it’s great to solicit feedback from attendees.  What did they like?  What didn’t they like?  What would the like to see more of? Less of?  Was the timing right? Was the venue appropriate?  Knowing what worked and didn’t work will make next year’s event that much more successful!

Hopefully a well-planned and executed family reunion will allow you to enjoy and rekindle connections to your extended family.

Cindy Jobs

Organize to Simplify CMYK

 

 

www.organizetosimplify.com

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

206-707-3458

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Area Chapter President

seattle

 

 

 

Institute for Challenging Disorganization, Six Certificates of Education

ICD_LogoTag_Horz_72 website