I have a question for you:  Are you someone who dreads seeing Christmas items before Halloween? Or do you think: Hooray! The holidays are coming?

I used to be someone who thought it was crazy that retailers filled store shelves with Christmas items before Halloween. Frankly, those items served as a reminder that my busiest time of year was fast approaching. And I didn’t want to be reminded.

The span from October 31st to January 1st is filled with big events and activities in our family. Aside from the usual Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve; both of my kids have their birthdays. This equates to a major event to plan and prepare for exactly every two weeks—with Halloween being the kick off event. This also means a whole lot of extra to-dos on my to-do list. Plus, when my kids were younger, this also meant a ton of extra stuff coming into my home—toys, books, clothes, (and did I mention toys!) and I had to find a home for all of these extra items.

Now, though, when I see holiday items in stores and my mailbox starts filling with holiday themed catalogs, I actually get excited! The holidays are coming! Hooray! 

Joy

So what’s the difference between now and then?  Well, now I have an organized system and a plan for this time of year, one that makes the holidays something I look forward to and enjoy all season long. One of the biggest secrets to my happy holiday plan is starting early. This is another reason I get excited when I see the holiday items filing the shelves. Now I see these items not as a reminder of stress to come, but as the chance to get a jump-start on holiday preparations.

My newsletter article this month is all about how starting early eliminates stress. This is true for all projects, but especially true for the BIG project known as the holidays! If you don’t yet subscribe to my newsletter, you can sign up here. Or, if you’d like to read the article online, it’s right here.

Hope you enjoy! Before you go though, I’d love to know:  Are you ready to start getting ready for the holidays? Do you love seeing holiday items before Halloween, or does it make you want to hide your head in the sand? Thanks for sharing!

See you tomorrow for Finish It Friday…and some other fun stuff you won’t want to miss! 🙂