neat freak festive season survival pack

© Neat Freak 2010

Festive Season SURVIVAL PACK

Introduction Congratulations! You are on your way to becoming a

neat freak during the manic festive season.

Most of you have already ‘met’ me via copious amounts

of mailings and tips and I hope these have helped. This

free pack is an add-on to the free packs you have

received for the home, parenting, office and

relationships, and reiterates the Neat Freak Formula of

Neat + Systems = more living and loving time.

Basically, I want this survival pack to act as reminder of

the true meaning of the festive season – which is to have

fun and to be kind to one another. SO here goes… deck

the halls with whatever your heart desires AND

REMEMBER YOUR INNER-CHILD.

P.S. Neat Freak also has information packs for the home, office,

parenting and relationships so if this is the first one you’re receiving, be

sure to let me know which ones you still need. Enjoy!

IN YOUR PACK Dealing with holiday stress: • Introspection • Plan • Simplify PLUS FREE Budget template Gift Tags

2 © Neat Freak 2010

Neat Freak – Festive Season SURVIVAL PACK 2010

Introduction to dealing with holiday stress...

Every year, the holiday buzz begins a

little earlier – have you noticed that?

Shops start hanging their Christmas

decorations as early as October resulting

in panic because there is so much to do

and so little time.

Adding to the sense of panic, as the d-

date of 25th December approaches, are

the emotions that many people feel at this

time of year. Perhaps you are newly

divorced or you’ve lost a loved one or

you just do not get on with your family

and dread being with them. Whatever it

may be, by the time Christmas gets here,

we’re all washed out and want to hog the

champagne to numb the mania.

But it doesn’t have to be this way if you

do a little introspection, plan ahead as

much as possible, and simplify. Try to

remember what you liked about

Christmas when you were a child, it is meant to be fun!

Introspection

I am all for a little

introspection because I think

people generally under-

estimate the WHY behind

most of their dilemmas and

just focus on what they can

see. The festive season brings

with it a lot of expectations

and with all the emotions involved, it is

little wonder that so many people get

stressed. But you need to go back to

basics at this time, so grab a paper and

pen and consider the following:

o What exactly are you celebrating and what do you attach value to during the festive season?

o Are there rituals and traditions your family practices and do these add value to your time together or detract from it?

o How do you normally spend Christmas versus how you want to spend Christmas?

o Do you go on holiday and if so, what about those holidays do you enjoy and what don’t you enjoy?

o When family gets together during Christmas, they either have lots of fun or land up wanting to harm one another! How flexible are you during this time? Can you let go of how things “should be” because you expect them to be this way?



o How can you share responsibilities between family members and friends to that all the pressure doesn’t land up on one person?

o Do you cram too much into your time and go to every function when you would far rather stay home?

o Do you plan enough time to relax and rest (very important for children)?

Planning ahead

There is no getting away from it, we all

have so much to do, from shopping for

gifts, to ensuring that the food we

prepare is up to scratch. Planning

ahead will relieve so much stress so it

is worth all the effort!

First things first – MAKE A LIST of all

the people you need to buy presents

for, all the food you need to prepare,

and what you will be making or

buying. Once this is down on paper,

you will know how to move forward.

We always tend to spend more than we

should during the festive season and

almost always, regret it afterwards,

so SET A HOLIDAY

BUDGET. When doing

this, be as realistic as

possible.

Gifts & Wrapping

Once the initial planning

has been done, you have to

dive right in to getting things ticked off

the list. When you start buying gifts,

don’t think that the more you pay for a

gift, the more you love a person. To

help you stay within your budget, use

any creativity you have to make

homemade presents, such as:

o biscuits/fudge/chocolates in a tin with a gorgeous ribbon and handmade card;

o your prize-winning jam in a glass jar that you paint a design onto;

o a bag/outfit that you sew; or

o a birdhouse or house-plant pot that you make from leftover wood in your garage.

But if you don’t have a creative bone in

your body, all is not lost, you could

always give a person your ‘time’ in the

form of babysitting services for a

weekend, or a voucher for services you

offer.

For those gifts that you do have to buy,

don’t leave these until the day before

Christmas when there is nothing left in

the shop and everyone else is there

jostling for the teller’s

attention. Rather start

now so you can really

relax before Christmas

Day.

However, if you really

do not have time to get

to the shops, there are



many online stores that you could

visit. Online shopping has become

very safe and is a great way to get

things done without physically having

to go out, saving you time and money

on buying unnecessary things! Many

online shops even offer gift-

wrapping.

Entertaining & Food

I am not a natural cook, in fact, truth

be told, I don’t really enjoy it so I look

for easy ways to entertain. I also

would far rather spend time on the

décor and ensuring my guests feel at

home. Either way, I have to plan

ahead so again, get the paper and

pen handy and ask yourself the

following:

o Are we going fancy or casual this

festive season? Braai or gourmet?

o Can I buy already prepared foods

or do I need to consult the recipe

book?

o Can I delegate and maybe ask

others to bring something to add

to the feast?

o What ingredients do I need?

o Can I cook anything ahead of time

and freeze it?

o Do I have enough dishes/plates/

cutlery/glasses for everyone and

if not, who can bring some for me?

Make sure you have all the

wrapping paper you need as well

as sticky tape and gift tags.

Even this doesn’t have to cost a

lot if you use plain brown

packaging paper or brown paper

bags, ‘fancy-it-up’ with a large

colourful ribbon and voila,

you’re sorted. (Save even more by using the gift tag

template in this pack.)



Links to online Christmas recipes:

www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/

recipes/

www.christmas-celebrations.com/

www.partyz.co.za

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/holida

ys-and-events/

Once you have decided what you’re

eating, you will have an idea of how

to decorate your space. First, get the

Christmas tree and decorations down

and dusted and put these up. I find

that when I have put my tree up, I

automatically feel more festive. Get

the kids to help and try not to control

their tree décor – remember to relax

and think like a kid!

If you have a large collection of

decorations and many of them are

broken or seriously out-dated, use

the opportunity to toss what you don’t

need. Then make sure that you have a

suitable container available to store

your decorations once you have

finished with them. If possible, use a

large clear plastic container that will

fit into any top cupboard and be

easily identifiable for the years to

come.

When storing your decorations, try to

keep them as secure as possible and

if they are delicate, use bubble wrap

to prevent them from cracking.

Store the harder ornaments on the

bottom of the box, with the more

delicate on the top layer.

Storing Christmas lights is a headache

but using a reel (meant for an

extension cord) might be the answer –

if it can keep a long cord in order, it

should be able to do the same for the

lights!

I also recently read this tip for

Christmas light storage, which may

be useful for you:

o Cut a slit on either end of an empty wrapping paper tube.

o Thread the end of the string of lights through one slit.

o Wind the string of lights around the tube and finally thread the plug in the other end and tuck into the tube.

Once the tree is up, you can get

pedantic about the table setting,

which can be classy or fun. Here are

some links to sites with lots of ideas:

www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com

www.worldofchristmas.net

www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/

www.360decorations.com/christmas-

decoration/



Travel & Holidays

My guess is, if you are going on holiday,

it’s to relax and re-charge, right? But if you

aren’t well organized, this will be harder to

achieve. With that in mind, here are a few travel

tips to ensure you keep your sense of humour…

o Try to plan your activities before you get there, making a schedule of what

you want to do and when, otherwise you waste precious holiday time

planning.

o Call ahead to clarify what the hotel does/does not have. Do you need your

hairdryer and do they have laundry facilities, for example?

o Compile a packing list of what you need to take with you, especially if

you’re packing for Christmas with family and you have to take presents and

food. It wouldn’t be such a merry Christmas if Santa forgot ! the things at

home.

o That being said, try to obey the 50% rule when packing your clothes -

whatever you have taken out of your cupboard to pack, divide it in half and

only pack the half. We always pack too much.

o If you can, take an extra suitcase or a large canvas bag that folds up easily.

This will be useful should you buy more than you anticipated, but if not, use

it for dirty clothes or simply fold it and pack it in your suitcase. (You should

also take a few empty plastic bags if you need to store dirty clothes.)

o If you are flying overseas and need to take medication with you, make sure

you take a letter from your doctor explaining this medicine. The last thing

you need is to be stopped and accused of trafficking meds.

o If you have kids and will spending time in a plane or the car to get to your

destination, pack games and try to get involved in the activities, otherwise I

guarantee you, all you will hear is “Are we there yet!”

o LASTLY, don’t forget the sun-block, obligatory trashy/suspense novel and

that sense of humour!



Simplify

We have so much to do every day, so why do we extend this

insanity to the festive season, which is meant to be a time of love

and friendship? In short, I don’t know and I am no better at

simplifying than anyone else. But I can tell you this, we have to start

learning to SIMPLIFY before our lives become all about ‘things’ and

appointments and not about who we are and how we live.

SO, in keeping with this heading – SIMPLY SIMPLIFY – and really

think about what matters and celebrate that this festive season.

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neat freak festive season survival pack

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