Morgan Farr, an Army wife, has four children and a new puppy. You can imagine how she needs to wisely plan her days. But Morgan is one of the most organized gals I know. In this Christmas Time Management UPGRADE, she shares three steps that help her use her time wisely during the holiday season.
"When someone says—'Are you ready for the holidays?'—people often sigh and joke about all the things Santa has to get done with the help of his elves," Morgan says. "It seems the holidays produce a lot of anxiety and pressure for many people."
I (Dawn) remember what it was like to have two young boys as I rushed around preparing for Christmas. I could have used some of Morgan's expertise back then!
Morgan continues . . .
As I have gotten older and become a mother, I realize the “magic of Christmas” is actually a lot of hard work by family members to help make the holiday season bright.
But in the age of Covid, political unrest, racial tensions, and the rest of the challenges that 2020 has brought, how do you make the holiday season bright?
And more importantly, how do you do it without having to add extra hours into your day?
Step One: Get organized
The key to any good plan is structure and organization.
Now before you panic, I am not saying you need an organized home in order to organize your time. What I am saying is that you need to start with a clear idea of what you need to do.
1. Weekly Planning Meeting
My husband and I have a weekly planning meeting every Sunday night. It doesn’t matter what is going on or if he is TDY with the military, we still connect for a minimum of 15 minutes every Sunday night to sync calendars, manage any scheduling conflicts, and discuss upcoming major events.
This is also a good time to check on your family budget and make sure your finances are in order. If both parties come to the meeting prepared this should take no more than 30 minutes, but can help prevent major issues later in the week.
2. Nightly List Write Up
Each night before I head upstairs for bed, I grab my 99 cent spiral notebook and make a to-do list for the next day. I use the same notebook each day so I can roll over any unfinished activities from the day prior if need be.
This practice takes about 10 minutes total, but it saves me a lot of time the next morning, because I can just glance at the list to see what my next steps should be. It also helps to prevent me from freezing up and being unable to decide what to do next.
3. Daily Involvement
Get the whole family involved in daily management tasks! Every single day, everyone in my family is involved in the daily aspects of helping to keep the house running.
- My children help with sweeping, wiping counters, clearing the table, and taking out the trash every single day.
- When it is time to bring in groceries? You bet my kids help bring them inside and help put them away.
- Laundry? Everyone is responsible for putting away their own clothing.
In the early years, this can seem counter productive, but if you want your children to do it when they are twelve, start with small tasks when they are two. This teaches responsibility while also helping to keep the house orderly.
Step Two: Out with the Bad, in with the Good
We, as a society, fill our hearts and minds with the most ridiculous things.
We also waste a lot of time on things that have zero eternal significance while bemoaning the lack of time we have.
So to combat this I have a few simple recommendations.
1. Cut the Cord
Did you know that the average person spends five hours watching TV every single day? That translates to 35 hours a week—which is almost a full-time job!
At the end of the holidays no one is going to be sitting there saying, “Man, I wish I had spent more family time watching Netflix.”
If you cut out even one hour per day of TV watching, that will give you back 7 hours in a week. That is almost a full workday!
2. Use Caution
I know that during the holidays it can be really tempting to sit on social media and scroll through everyone’s gorgeous family pictures. I love seeing how creative friends and family are with their holiday celebrations.
However, in 2019, the average person spent an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media every single day! That is 15 hours a week on social media, often when our children should be doing other things like school and work.
Scale back on your social media time.
If you need help, most smartphones, tablets, and computers offer a way to set time limits on apps. Set a time limit for yourself or have someone hold you accountable.
Ultimately, no one will remember if your place setting was perfect for Instagram, or if the gifts were wrapped Pinterest perfect.
What people will remember is spending time—safely during Covid—with the people they love.
Make sure you are giving the gift of your presence this holiday season, not just presents.
Step Three: Remember the Reason
Finally, remember the reason the holiday even exists.
There are some excellent advent devotionals available for both children and adults. (*)
I have also found that listening to the book of Luke on an audio Bible is really good for my heart. There are 24 chapters in Luke and reading or listening to one per day for the month of December leads me through Jesus' life while I am celebrating His birth.
[Note: There are many audio Bibles on YouTube. Here are three of the Book of Luke: (NKJV), (KJV), and (NIV).]
"Jesus is the Reason for the Season."
That is the saying you can find all over decorations and signs during the holiday. As Christians, we need to remember the entire point of Christmas is to celebrates the coming of Jesus Christ and His eventual redemption of our sins.
What we focus on during this season says a lot about our faith and what we believe about the importance of Christ’s birth.
Let’s make sure we are honoring God with our advent celebrations.
Which step can you take to help upgrade your time this holiday season?
(*) If you need recommendations for advent devotionals, feel free to send me an email at my blog link, below. ~ Morgan
Morgan Farr is a Texas-loving, succulent-cultivating, book nerd. Stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this Army wife is learning to train dogs, developing her four young children, and tackling homeschool life… while moving all over the country. Morgan writes about her transition away from feminism and much more at The Forgiven Former Feminist.