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The longest day of darkness or light is December 21
I am about to pass the longest day of darkness in 2024 and move into more light coming into my life each day. I visited the Northwest Territories in July one year. There were 22 hours of bright sun and 2 hours of dusk. At this time I think of those people with 22 hours of darkness and 2 hours of dusk. Whether you are moving into a time of more light or a time of increasing darkness:
I hope your holiday season is filled with :
- joy for all the things you have learned and conquered in 2024
- light to see a new way of building relationships and
- happy expectations for 2025.
Wishing you a season where you can feel joy, light and happiness.
Share how you overcome the darkness to fill it with light.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually through Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
Here are some tips for holiday planning to make a H A P P Y season.
Holiday Decorating
You may be feeling overwhelmed or disorganized by the number of items on display in your house. Try putting the non-seasonal items away to reduce the number of items on display.
Think about decorating with fewer items but larger size items. This means there are fewer items to pack and unpack which will reduce the amount of time you need to prepare your home.
Take advantage of using linens to cover tables or end tables and seasonal pillowcases to cover throw cushions to decorate couches. They may be less bulky to store and cover a larger area making your home seem completely decorated while taking less time to get the job done.
Use items that self-destruct so you don’t need to pack them away, flowers, paper towels, and tissue boxes all give your house a festival spirit but don’t need to be packed away and stored.
When you go through your decorations part with the ones you no longer need early in the month so thrift stores have an opportunity to sell them and so they don’t need to store them until next year. Some stores don’t take holiday décor in January and then you will be stuck storing them for another year.
What tips do you have for a H.A.P.P.Y holiday season? Share on XAccept Help
Acknowledge that you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed and when people offer to do things say yes. We all love to help people so let people feel good about themselves by allowing them to help you.
Parties may be larger again this year. It is a good time to try a new way of doing things. Allow people to help clean up dishes on their way out the door. Be ready for it. Have a place to put cutlery to soak. Have a container for compost. Put glasses or coffee mugs directly into the dishwasher.
You may need to accept help with setting up a hybrid party. Put one of those “youngsters” in charge.
Planning is important
Use a to-do list. Divide your to-do list into to pick up, to e-mail, to call, to buy then you can plan your day and route to get things done and not be driving back and forth all over town. The trick here is to look at the list and use it not just make it.
Keep your plans from year to year, record your menu, grocery list quantities and timelines. Each year you can reuse, revise and update the plan.
People and relationships are the reason for the season
Some people like to send cards in December. I keep my cards and addresses and stamps together. When I am going somewhere where I will be waiting I pick up the supplies and take them along and write my cards. I have done it in many places including my van. I usually leave replies to someone who has sent me a long letter until January.
Use your spare moments to write cards
You may want to send e-cards. Jacquie Lawson is the site I use. If you want to automate the card-sending operation there is a company called Send Out Cards. You can attach a gift to the card.
Gift-giving may be an area where you are developing a system. Have you thought about Clutter-free gift giving?
Consider the idea of a gift that self-destructs. See my post on Clutter Free Gift Giving .
Yes you can
Being organized is more about an attitude than how something looks. It is not about having the perfect home, party or gift. It is doing the best you can with the time and resources that you have. The only way to get better at organizing is to practice. It is a skill that can be learned and with practice, it becomes easier and easier.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
From now until January there are many celebrations. During the holiday season expectations are raised. The food needs to be perfect, the gift needs to be thoughtfully purchased, the house needs to be tastefully decorated, and everyone needs to be happy all the time. Record your expectations for the season. Everything you can think of. Look through your list and decide on a plan that makes each expectation manageable for you. If your expectations align with practicality, this holiday will be less stressful and more fun.
Planning Food
Could you:
Make a simple Holiday meal.
- Cook ahead of time and freeze the food
- Plan a potluck with everyone contributing
- Buy your holiday baking
- Simplify your menu, prepare fewer items
Gift Giving
Gift Giving
Could you:
- Reduce the number of people you buy for
- Draw names so everyone gets one gift
- Set a price limit on the value of the gift
- Plan an experience instead of buying a gift: go to a play, go out for dinner, and go to a movie
If your expectations align with practicality, holidays will be less stressful and more fun. Share on X
Decorating
Could you:
Use flowers to decorate.
- Put out fewer items
- Use more oversized items to make the space look decorated instead of using lots of small items
- Decorate with flowers; you don’t have to pack them away when the season is over
Be Happy
Be Happy
Could you:
Spend time together doing things you enjoy
- Plan your schedule so you don’t get over tired
- Plan downtime so each member of the group can spend time alone
- Plan things you like to do, not have to do
- Plan to exercise and get fresh air
Can you learn to ask for help and accept help?
Can you learn to ask for help and accept help?
Virtual organizing allows me to support your organizing projects by providing planning, coaching and mentoring while both remaining safely at home Book a 30-minute complimentary virtual organizing assessment. https://mindoverclutter.as.me/virtualorganizingassessment
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
I have never been a person to make a bucket list. Mostly because I feel I don’t have anything to put in it, the bucket.
Enjoy a walk and view Niagara Falls, dress warmly
However, during December I sometimes get depressed. It is mostly because of the lack of light. It is also because there are a lot of expectations leading up to December 25th and then it is all over. Sometimes it went well and some years it didn’t go very smoothly. This can lead to dreading the holiday season and having your spirits drop. So over the years, I have been incorporating many fun events through the month of December so there is less emphasis on one day. So this year I am making a bucket list.Incorporate many fun events through the month of December so there is less emphasis on one day. Share on X
- go to a holiday concert
- go to a candlelight walk sponsored by a town
- go to a mall and don’t shop just enjoy people watching and the decorations
- go on a tour of outdoor skating rinks
- go tobogganing /snowshoeing /cross country skiing
- have the neighbours over for an open house evening
- go to a dinner theatre
- walk around your neighbourhood and enjoy the holiday lights every night
- play holiday music
- participate in a gift-giving program, help the less fortunate
- watch the world junior hockey tournament on television
- buy a poinsettia from a fundraising group
- grow an Amaryllis plant
- buy an advent/new year calendar for yourself – this year I saw a Tea advent calendar
- light some candles each evening
- visit Niagara Falls in the winter – cold but amazing
- visit the CP holiday train US or CP holiday train Canada
Let me know what would be on your bucket list.
Plant a bulb and watch it grow
What would you put on your bucket list?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Looking for a Gift of Time to give this Holiday Season?
Mind over Clutter.ca has 3-hour packages designed to help with any number of tasks in the home and office. Consider purchasing an:
- Income tax receipt organizing package
- Holiday cleanup package
- Streamlining your office package
- Organizing for the New Year
New this year a virtual organizing package consisting of:
- An initial meeting to discuss the project and make a schedule
- Followed by 3 guided work sessions to coach and mentor you through the work
Value
Packages can be designed to fit the individual needs of the recipient. This gift helps remove stress and clutter without creating more clutter. Working with a professional will help them to meet their goals successfully. Purchase your introductory package in 2021 for $150.00.
Contact julie@mindoverclutter.ca to purchase your clutter-free gift of time.
What is the best holiday gift you received this year?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
