Have you started organising Christmas in earnest yet? If not, it might be because it feels overwhelming and too big a task.
If so, you’re not alone. I find it much easier to be motivated to get things done – and find the time – if I have quick, easy wins on my ‘to do’ list.
When I add a large, generic project like ‘Christmas’ to the list, in most cases it will languish there, unstarted, for much longer than it should.
The temptation is to look at it, think ‘I haven’t got time for that’ and spend a quick five minutes tidying up the house instead as that seems way more achievable.
So rather than having a mammoth-sounding job like ‘Christmas’ on your list, I suggest breaking it down into much smaller tasks that can ideally be completed in five minutes – or another amount of time that feels manageable to you.
Keep your ‘to do’ list to hand, then whenever you have a spare five minutes (even if it’s just while you wait for the kettle to boil, for your phone call to be answered, or for your dinner to cook), you can put this often-wasted time to good use.
You don’t necessarily need to be able to finish a task all in one go – it’s fine to tackle a larger job in five minute chunks (or whatever time you have available); it just needs to be specific and feel do-able so that you don’t end up procrastinating.
What might have seemed like a daunting amount of work will soon get smaller as you work away at it in five minute chunks.
You might be thinking that five minutes doesn’t sound like long enough to get anything done.
But I think it’s possible to be productive in any amount of time – just choose a task and work on it for five minutes without interruption.
And once you’ve got going and seen the progress you’ve made, you’ll be extra motivated to keep going and finish the task.
For example, you might decide you want to get ahead with your Christmas shopping this year and add some tasks like:
- Find last year’s gift list to refer to
- Review last year’s gift list and update recipients for 2023
- Work out a budget for Christmas presents
- Write down ideas for this year’s gifts
- Email/message/call people for gift ideas
- Find storage space where gifts can be kept safe until December
- Buy presents online
- Wrap presents one at a time…
I would definitely be more likely to make a start on one or more of these tasks than I would if I just had ‘Christmas’ on my list of things to do. How about you?
Let me know if this ‘microburst’ method works for you – and if you have any other tricks that you use to get your Christmas organising going and/or avoid procrastination!
You might also be interested in my beautiful printable Christmas Organised planner 2023.
It has lots of space for lists, ideas and prompts to help you keep this year’s festive planning on track – and it could be just the inspiration you need to start planning for the next festive season.
It’s just £7.99 and you can find out more over on the products page!