In this episode, we introduce Part 1 of the 21 Holiday Organizing Prompts and Tips Calendar, a yearly tradition designed to help you navigate the holiday season with more calm and less chaos. We explain the purpose of these prompts, how to use them effectively, and provide insights into the first 10 prompts from the downloadable guide. Whether you follow them daily or at your own pace, these tips are here to make your holidays more intentional and less stressful. Be sure to download the resource from The Organized Flamingo’s Freebie Corner before it expires in mid-January.
Find all of the links mentioned in this episode at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/quicklinks
In this episode, we talk about:
- The purpose and flexibility of the 21 Holiday Organizing Prompts.
- How to create a meaningful holiday mission statement that aligns with your organizing goals.
- Practical strategies for budgeting, planning holiday cards, and preparing for gift wrapping.
Mentioned in this episode:
- 21 Holiday Organizing Prompts Downloadable (available until mid-January).
- Episode 96: Creating a Holiday Mission Statement.
- Postable: A tool for organizing addresses and sending cards.
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The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!
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Review Transcript:
Stephanie [00:00:00]:
Hey there and welcome to our 21 holiday organizing prompts and Tips calendar episode. I'm so glad that you're here. So just a heads up, whether you're new or a longtime listener, that this episode is the same but a little bit different. Number one, it's going to be in two parts. So this is part one, and then we'll have a part two next week. And the other part that's a little bit different is that we are walking you through a downloadable that we have. So this is accompanies the Downloadable of the 21 holiday organizing prompts that we have in our resources page. We were asked by a few of you if I could explain some of the 21 prompts that we have every year.
Stephanie [00:00:46]:
We've been having this for about five, six years now for the holiday season. So I always give you 21 prompts to get a little more organized during the holiday season so it doesn't feel so overwhelming. And what some of you asked and or suggested was that I talk you through some of the days just in more details, just for inspiration so that you could get more creative or you just needed someone to walk you through it. And instead of making an entire class on this or a course, I thought let me just make a podcast episode so that everyone else can take benefit from it. But also then eventually down the line in other years, I can go more in detail in the episodes that you would like me to go more into detail for. Okay, so at the end of this episode, I'm going to give you our email address so that you can send me what your favorite day or prompt number was or the one that you want me to go more into detail in and so I can make an episode about it. Some of the prompts actually are not all just holiday related. Some of them can be for other special events like weddings, other holidays, or just any other regular days.
Stephanie [00:02:02]:
You'll see what I mean as I go through them. If you've never been exposed to R21 prompts, if the majority of you say that one of those prompts is the one that you want to hear, then I'll make a special podcast episode about it during the year. So not just during the holidays. Okay? So I figured that way I get your feedback and I listen to you what you want and I create an episode specifically for that instead of me trying to guess or make 21 episodes that don't relate and you are not interested in hearing more details about. Okay, so that's the idea of it. And this episode has a Downloadable. And if you go over to the organizedflamingo.com resources, you will see the holiday 21 days of holiday Organizing prompts download. This will expire though in mid January.
Stephanie [00:02:55]:
So if you don't see it and you're listening to this episode, that's okay. Just send us an email anyway and I can send it to you, but I only have that link or this downloadable available during the holiday season and then a few days after that and around mid January. All right, so let's get to our episode. Welcome to the Organized and Productive podcast with the Organized Flamingo. I am your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert. Ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you. Yeah. Well then, let's go.
Stephanie [00:03:30]:
Okay, so a small quick background about the 21 holiday organizing tips. So the holidays can be a wonderful time of the year, right? And it's beautiful and magical, but they often come with their fair share of chaos and last minute stress. So the prompts were created so that they can help you prepare in advance as much as possible, or at least make you think about the things that could be coming up so that you're aware and they don't catch you off guard. So these prompts are helping you stay organized and find the moments of calm in the holiday rush. Because this list in these days make you think about the things that you don't want to do. That way you can create more space to do the things you do want to do or do nothing at all. So these prompts also, they're supposed to be, they're supposed to be done in a daily basis. That's how they were created originally.
Stephanie [00:04:30]:
And the reason we do that is so that it can give you a full day to think about what you want to create. If you decide to say yes to some of these prompts, and if you say no, it gives you some downtime. That's why they're meant to be done once a day. But some of you work a little different and we acknowledge that some of you work better under pressure and, or that's all the time that you have. You may be having a very full schedule between regular life and just other things. And maybe you create your projects once a week. So that's how we converted them from 21 days to 21 prompts that you can do whenever you have a time, or for you to go down the list and be thoughtful about them maybe once a week or something like that. But just a heads up as to why we talk about them in days.
Stephanie [00:05:22]:
But you certainly can do them at your own pace. You pick what is best for you. But if you were to ask us which method we recommend, it will usually be to complete one task each day, to stay on track and have some room to actually get. Get it done, to think about it, to be thoughtful about it, and also have some downtime. All right, so let's get started with the first one, which is day one. If you're doing day by day again, I will be using number one and or the word day interchangeably. Okay, but for the 21. But you can use them.
Stephanie [00:05:56]:
However, whatever best works for you. Okay, so let's go with one, and that is to create a holiday mission statement. There is actually an entire podcast episode on this one. This one I did make a podcast episode four, so you can head on over there. I believe it's episode 96. I will put it in the show notes. But creating a mission statement is really important. I won't go too much into detail because I did do an entire podcast episode for it.
Stephanie [00:06:22]:
But the overview here is for you to ask yourself, what do you want your holiday season to feel like, sound like, taste like, look like, smell like? Using as many of your senses as possible to describe and plan out what you want the holiday season to be for you. Write it down. Refer to it often during the season as a reminder and encouragement as it pertains to organizing in our field. Or if you're going through your organizing, decluttering and or downsizing journey with you and or a loved one, this still applies. So all of these actually apply to the organizing field, to your project. And I mean, that's my area of expertise. So actually these are all meant to work for your organizing journey. So if you are going through a very intentional decluttering phase of your life, you do want to make sure that you include letting go and being intentional about the stuff that you're keeping with all of these prompts, but especially in your mission statement.
Stephanie [00:07:30]:
So if your mission statement is not aligned with your organizing journey, then it really won't. It won't feel right and your goals will be delayed. So let me give you an example. For instance, if you are going through the decluttering journey, you know, you really want to simplify, minimize some of the stuff that you have because you're moving, because your life is changing. So you need to go this direction for whatever the reason may be, you're just trying to declutter, right? Or minimize and simplify. Your holiday mission statement should not have anything about adding buying things that you don't want, need. And every time you feel the urge to do that, you go back to your holiday mission statement, which then allows lines with your overall goal of decluttering for that season. So if for some of you in past years, it would be about, you know, I love them all, hey, there are people out there.
Stephanie [00:08:27]:
I'm actually one of them. Okay, surprisingly. But that's a story for another day. I love being there. The people, the ambiance. Even though I don't buy a lot, I'm. I'm really not in that phase of my life. But I just, it gives me the nostalgia.
Stephanie [00:08:40]:
And so I do ever so often in, during the holidays, I just love going and walking around. It gives me that really cozy feel that I had with my mom, my parents, by going to the mall. So if you are in that phase of life, great. But if you're also in the trying to simplify phase, you won't be buying anything. And your holiday mission statement, which I encourage you in the podcast, that episode is, you know, to carry around with. To carry? Yeah, to like to have it on you, you know, to carry it around with you. That will remind you that, yeah, I can still enjoy these things that I want and love or cherish and are nostalgic for, but I don't have to accumulate things along the way. Same thing goes with freebies or if you go to those holiday marts during, you know, in the big cities, it doesn't necessarily mean you need to overspend.
Stephanie [00:09:32]:
You just need to be more intentional. So just make sure that your holiday mission statement does align with your overall goal. Day two is to create a budget. This is going to be very helpful in your organizing journey because it helps you avoid buyer remorse later on and most importantly allows you to be intentional with your holiday spending. We here at the Organized Flamingo are not an accounting or financial tax service, any of the numbers type of profile account business, right? So we. I don't want to give you what to spend and that's not my place, but I do want you to be thoughtful about it. So if you are working with your financial planner, with somebody that can help you with your money and planning, definitely talk to them, but be intentional about it and ask them about the holidays. You know, how can you, how can you create an intentional budget so that it aligns with your overall goal? Now, we don't have to get so particular and so square about it, okay? Because I know people think about, not when they think about numbers, they think about it being rigid and just having these Parameters that you have to stay within.
Stephanie [00:10:42]:
And I mean it is, and you should, and that's the purpose of planning. But for the purposes of us here in the organizing world and us trying to help you through your organizing goals, is that this part will at least get you to think about it and to have it somewhere in your prompts like, okay, I need to think about, do I have one? And if you don't have one, you're a big spender and it's a very great year for you. Then just think about it, you were aware and then just move on from this day. And then at least you've thought about it, right? So we can move on. All right, let's go to number three. We've got the photo shoot day. This is more thinking about it. So are you doing a holiday photo shoot? Schedule it soon or pick a day where you and anyone else that will be in the picture can get together and take one with a self timer.
Stephanie [00:11:37]:
So take it and get that done. Or go through your photos and pick the one that will be your holiday card picture. If you are trying to do a photo shoot, then call around 10 different photographers. I have found that 10 seems to be the sweet spot. But depending on the region you're in, depending on where you are in the world, if you have many photographers available to you or if you don't have any, or very little or few, then obviously this you might need to call more. So call 10 different photographers, including studio ones where you go in to do mini sessions or you go in to a studio so they don't just have to be on at your house or they don't have to be on on location. They can also, you can also go to their studio and ask who is available on the day you can make it. So pick the date you're available first and call them now.
Stephanie [00:12:27]:
If you're a pro with this and you already know who you like and you're trying to make their schedule, then you know, obviously plan around their schedule. But I would just start with yours. What days are you and your family and your friends and your loved ones available and go from there. If no one is available or within your budget, use what you have and take pictures with the self timer. All right, let's go to day number four. Write down all of the important dates on your calendar. The holidays you celebrate, place of worship, events, personal appointments, family appointments, school calendars, work events, invites. So you may have to go on their website as well.
Stephanie [00:13:07]:
So those might not be just on your calendar now you might have to do some digging, which is why this is a full, you know, like a day, which is a prompt on its own for you to go and get all of those dates on the calendar. If there is a special play or musical that you really want to make during the holiday season, then go see what days they have available. Pick the day that you can, if you buy the ticket, whatever that may be, and then put it on your calendar. But all of those require several steps. So that's why we're reserving a full day for this. Email the people that you think will have something that they're planning, like a holiday party maybe, and ask them if they haven't arranged it yet, maybe an association you belong to or a club and say, hey, are we having a holiday party this year? And ask them. And then, you know, if they haven't posted it yet, or maybe a New Year's party or a holiday planning party, whatever, ask them, email them. So put that on the calendar.
Stephanie [00:14:05]:
It's worth taking the time now to get all the dates on the calendar. Day number five. Other dates to note on your calendar are shipping dates. Okay, so speaking of dates, we want to get those on the calendar if you will be shipping or if those are important to you. Don't get caught up in the last minute frenzy. So be aware of when you need to send packages and letters by so that you, you know they will be received by the desired date. So take note of those. You know the most popular here in the US tend to be USPS, FedEx, UPS and then your favorite carriers, like local carriers.
Stephanie [00:14:39]:
So put those on the calendar as well if that is important to you. If it's not, again, if some of these don't apply to you, just take note of them and then move on. We've got day number six. Are you making any DIY projects? This is a big one for my DIYers out there. That means is it handmade, do it yourself style? If yes, plan on finishing the project a week before you're going to gift it or need it. Look, I have done and organized and planned hundreds of events in my heyday. I don't know if you knew this about me, but that's how my organizing journey began. I owned a company in the events space and one of the most frustrating things that I would see is that people would have these big plans to hand make things and everything or their invitations.
Stephanie [00:15:23]:
If it was a corporate event, they thought they were going to have goodie bags for everybody, but then they don't deliver it because it's too much. You have to go get it, you have to go fulfill it. You have to print it, you have to make it, you have to tape it, you have to glue it. It's a lot of steps and people underestimate that time. So ask yourself, does this align with your holiday mission? Are you trying to DIY the gifts for your friends? But does it align? If your holiday mission says that you want to simplify and have very few plans and really do nothing and relax, and you're trying to go and make DIY snowmen or snow people for your friends and family, that has, you know, like 10 different little pieces. Well, that is doing something. And that also creates. It can create stress for some people.
Stephanie [00:16:12]:
So make sure that it aligns. And for some of you, that's super relaxing. So that's great. But I'm just saying being be thoughtful about it. Also, all those things that you're diying will cost money. So if you're going to the local Hobby Michaels type of store and buying $200 worth of stuff, including the glue gun that you don't even own, you might not use again, but you need it for this project. And now you've spent hundreds of dollars on DIY kits, wonderful if that was your intention. But if it was not, now you just broke the budget and it's more stress added to your day.
Stephanie [00:16:47]:
So why put it in the list to be going with? If it doesn't align, just move on. And if it does, then schedule the completion date. Right now, about a week before is a good buffer time because during the holidays a lot can happen. The weather changes, so much can happen. So a week, it seems to be a good buffer time. So knowing you will have it done ahead of time will give you great comfort and peace. Okay, the next prompt is for you to decide whether or not you will be sending out holiday cards. Yes.
Stephanie [00:17:19]:
If you are, then decide now if these will be a virtual card or a physical card, because both of those will need different actions. Right? Like if you're doing virtual cards, you'll need people's email addresses and or text phone numbers to text. And then if you're doing a physical card, you need their mailing address. If it's a DIY project type of card, set your completion date. So we go right back to the DIY prompt date, right? If you're going to have any DIY projects, give yourself plenty of time to get it completed. So set your completion date so you aren't scrambling at the last minute. And if you're not then have peace of mind that you have decided not to send them out this year and no guilt or regret for today's prompt. You just either move on or make it an actionable step to get it done.
Stephanie [00:18:09]:
Okay, for our next one. So it's day number eight or our eighth one is gather the addresses in emails if you decide to send out cards. So once you decide what kind of card you're sending, send out the text or email asking your contacts for their contact information. If you have them already, great. Compile those. While you wait for those addresses, pick your holiday cards, order stamps if you're mailed in out of course, get your return address stamp or stickers printed, etc. Etc. So while you're waiting for all of those to compile, get that done.
Stephanie [00:18:45]:
A couple of tips I have for you that you you might already have those addresses is if you recently had an event such as a like some kind of shower or a birthday party or a wedding where you sent out mailing addresses, you might already have them and you can just put them in your spreadsheet and you know they haven't moved. Or you can just use last year's list and ask people to send you their edits only if it has changed so that way you are not starting from scratch. There's a couple of ideas. There are programs out there I used Postable, I love them, I've been using them for a few years now and they give you a link to send to your contacts so they can fill out their information like their address and stuff. But you can easily make this happen on Google forms or just again just a regular message and let them know to send it back to you. I think this really gets burdensome and really hectic when you have a lot of people to send stuff to. And so that's why some of these programs like a postable where they send special occasion cards for you. It's just you order cards, holiday cards, but also birthday cards, other things.
Stephanie [00:19:58]:
Why it makes sense to use something like that if you have a big list. But if it's manageable and you feel you can do it yourself, just send an old school message, pigeon pigeon message and ask for people to give you their updates. Day number nine is to pick a charity that is near and dear to your heart. This goes missed a lot. And in our world of organizing and decluttering and intentionally letting go, this is a really important one. So decide how you want to support them this holiday season. It could be in the way of financial value of course in especially at the end of the year. If you.
Stephanie [00:20:38]:
If this is important to you for tax purposes, then make sure that you do that before the end of the year. If it's volunteering your time or other valuable items, such as, you know, stuff that you're trying to let go of, and it's intentional and it can be used by that charity, this is a great time for you to be that intentional. You know what, how else this helps when you're receiving gifts? When you go to the exchange party at your work, or you get that sweater from grandma that maybe you're not a fan of or you love so much, but you think it would fit somebody, you know, for like a very specific demographic or people or group of people from a charity, such as children. So I'm getting more to the specifics. Like, if you know that there's a group where they give coats for children and you, you know, from your mom, you got like too many sweaters for your kids or something or even for yourself, and you think that there is a group that might need these sweaters and you already have plenty, then you can be very specific and really intentional about where it goes so that when you do receive it, you do say thank you to the original gift giver. Go. You know, you can listen to our re gifting episodes, by the way, which we just did. And then, you know, send your thank you and just go ahead and pass it on to someone that you think might have better use of it if you are overflowing with these items or you no longer need or fit in, but they're still in great shape.
Stephanie [00:22:01]:
So this is a great day for you to pick a charity for so many reasons, tax purposes for, you know, for the gift giving, the feel good to be helpful, to be grateful, and also for the organizing journey for you to be super intentional about the stuff that comes into your house. And if it doesn't fit you, it could potentially fit someone else and they would be incredibly grateful for that gift instead of you throwing it away or not being intentional, just sending it to the general pile of donations. But if you're not sure about what charity or what nonprofit could that gives you excitement? Like what? Like what is something that gives you excitement outside. Outside of the general thrift store donation bin, you know, like the big boxes. Okay, if you're not sure but you want to be intentional, call several ones and ask them what are some ways that you can support them. I have had a few clients that have done this. Like, they will set about an hour aside and they will go through the book of local charities or nonprofits and they'll just say, hey, I really want, I'm in the gift giving season of my life. I'm able, I want to what is something that you need? And they will just come out and tell you.
Stephanie [00:23:16]:
Because sometimes their websites are outdated for many reasons. You know, they have limited resources. So their website might not be the first place that they're putting their efforts into updating. So that might be out. And also you never know, especially with crisis centers, they might need something that they did not have time to update on their website or it may be for personal reasons. For instance, some of the clients they will call some of the local charities for women and children and then they will get really direct need, like their needs list, like, hey, we just got a family yesterday and they are in need of this, these items. Can you, you know, do you have some of this? And you might. And so that's why I'm saying, you know, set aside an intentional hour to call them and ask them because you actually may have the stuff that they're looking for.
Stephanie [00:24:05]:
Okay, so for our last one for today's first part, because next week we will have part two where I go through the rest of the list. And if you don't want to wait that long, just go to www.theorganizedflamingo.com resources and the 21 holiday organizing prompts downloadable will show up on the first page. If you're listening to this after mid January, though it probably will be disabled at that time. There will be a way list for the next one. So if you want it, just email me at hello the organized flamingo.com and we will get that over to you. Okay? Day number 10 or the prompt number 10 is create a wrapping holiday crafts prep station. This will be your holiday command center, okay? AKA Santa's workshop. If you believe, if that's something you celebrate, that's your prep center.
Stephanie [00:25:00]:
You can call it whatever you want. Items in your command center include wrapping paper, ribbon, tissue paper, cellophane tags, scotch tape, scissors, gift bag, gift bags, gift boxes. This is where if you are receiving a lot of shipment boxes from like an Amazon or something, you can put them in your prep station and use that as wrapping paper as well. So this is like the place where all the things that you've been meaning to upcycle and use in the holidays will live. Because that's like you're going to grab and go. You don't need a huge space for it. You know, use whatever if you Have a room. Great.
Stephanie [00:25:40]:
Or in the hallway, like whatever that is, just have it be intentional. And then at the end of the season you're going to take it down. That prep station for making the things that are very holiday specific will set you up for success. So for today's date is look for a table or even something that you can prop up and then you will have extra counter space. That's really the name of the game here. That's actually the secret quote unquote secret sauce here. It's having extra table space or counter space which is what most people will say they don't have enough of. No matter how big your house is.
Stephanie [00:26:18]:
Because what ends up happening is for everyday items you already have that counter space designated for your kitchen stuff or your appliances for your office stuff. So whenever special events happen like the holidays that are one offs during for most people it's a one off in the year, then it becomes this cluttered, this cluttered feeling because you, you're already using your other counter space area. So then it just becomes really overwhelming. So that's why I always say, always say to just come in and put something like a prep station that is designated just for that project organizing project that you've got going on. So that takes care of our first part. See you next week for part two. And in the meantime head on over. Download the list where you have a list of all of them all at once@the organizedfamingo.com resources.
Stephanie [00:27:12]:
Send us a message at helloorganizedflamingo.com if you want me to make an episode about any of these like a standalone, kind of like how I did the day one prompt one holiday mission statement episode. If you want me to dig deeper into any of these, then send us your comments and let us know. Until next week, Happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the organized and productive podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoyed today's episode, I would love it if you'd leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources, head on over to the organized flamingo.com/podcast Happy Organizing.
