Ep 314: Navigating the 3 Types of Clutter During the Holidays

Hi Friends,

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa it’s crunch time!  With only days to go for each of these major holidays, navigating clutter pitfalls is no easy task.

The physical clutter of presents and wrapping supplies that are overtaking your closet, Christmas cookies and assorted treats that are covering your counters…

To the calendar clutter of finding time to shop, wrap, bake, and attend holiday parties in addition to your “normal” schedule…

Let’s not forget the emotional clutter of trying to keep everyone’s gift count “balanced”, and trying to create the “perfect” holiday for your family…

It’s no wonder that we stress eat, get rundown, and dream of spending countless uninterrupted hours of laying on the couch binge watching Dead To Me.

So as someone guilty of all of the above, I’m taking a page out of my personal playbook to share how I keep it all together during the most stressful time of the year.

From Holiday Gift Trackers, to enlisting elves to help with some of the simpler, yet time consuming tasks like stuffing envelopes, I’ve found that the key to not losing it on everyone comes down to 3 things: 

1. Planning
2. Communication
3. Gratitude

For all my fly-by-the-seat-of my pants listeners, this is where you roll your eyes.

Hear me when I say, I have tried it your way, and it didn’t work.

• I’ve shoved unopened packages in random places only to discover them in February, or realize that one kid has 2 things while the other has 12.
• I’ve boycotted decorating the house until Team Palau pitched in to help.  
• There were seasons when I’ve been resentful, tired, and overwhelmed, especially when my kids were small, that I was left doing all the heavy lifting alone.

I want you to know that you are not alone. The holiday season is wonderful and stressful. It’s a both/and. 

Life is too short to not focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. We all have a limit-whether it’s a limit for our finances, time, space or emotional capacity.  

If you’re not sure where to start, let me help. 

• Hit the PAUSE button, take a walk and listen to this episode. 

• Next, map out a game plan of what needs to get done over the next week, and what can wait.  

• Download our free Holiday Gift Tracker-it was a game changer for me and I know it can be for you.

You’ve got this friend, I’m pulling for ya!

If you like this episode, please share it with your friends!

XO

-Laurie

You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts and watch us on YouTube.