5 Easy Tasks To Do in February to Get Ahead for Next Christmas [Episode 23]

Welcome to the Holiday Head Start Podcast, where we get intentional about kicking overwhelm to the curb and bringing the joy back to your holidays and every day.

 

I’m Heidi, and I’m Emily. We’re two sisters and former elementaries.

 

And we’re here to help you do the same. Join us each week as we share how, with a little planning and a little prep, you can ensure that the days that make life special don’t become the days that make you stressed.

 

You can check out the show notes at theholidayheadstart. com. Ready to get a head start on your holidays?

 

Let’s go!

 

[00:00:53] Emily: Hey there, friends. Welcome back to the Holiday Head Start podcast. Today, we’re sharing five simple tasks that you can do in February to get ahead for Christmas.

 

[00:01:03] Heidi: But first we have a tradition spotlight traditions are an important tool in building a healthy, happy, connected life this week. I am sharing one of my favorite personal traditions, and maybe this is more like a ritual than a tradition because it’s not really have a set day, but I love doing simmer pots in the winter.

 

I even bought a pretty glass pot so that when it’s cold and dreary outside, I can just fill it with pretty fruits and herbs and just let everything simmer on the stove. And you’ve probably seen these at Christmas time. I know cranberries and oranges are really common around the holidays. It’s kind of my favorite cinnamon sticks and cloves in there.

 

It smells just like Christmas, but there are lots of good smelling combinations when the, I really like is lemon and then rosemary and get the rosemary on the sticks. Fresh rosemary

 

[00:01:52] Emily: looks

 

[00:01:53] Heidi: so much prettier than like. The just rosemary needles floating around and yes for sure Yeah, but anyway lemon rosemary and vanilla extract is great year round and if you look online, there are tons of other combinations It’s just cozy little addition to the ambiance in your home

 

[00:02:17] Emily: Oh, I love a simmer pot and I do often do the cranberry orange one around Christmas.

 

So this is making me realize I should come up with one that feels like wintry, but not Christmas. Yes, absolutely.

 

[00:02:29] Heidi: You need a scent, a signature scent for each season.

 

[00:02:33] Emily: Yes, but not spring yet. I want it to be spring, but I don’t want spring scents yet because it’s not really spring. So I need to like lean into where I’m at.

 

Still feels wintry and cold, even though we don’t have snow, it’s just cold. So this is inspiring me. I’m going to come up with something. Okay. I love it. I love it. I look forward to the updates.

 

[00:02:51] Heidi: Back in January, we shared five simple things you can do to get a headstart on your Christmas prep. So go back and check out episode 20 if you missed that. But today we are sharing five simple things you can do in February to get a jump on all of your Christmas tasks. Yeah, I did not see

 

[00:03:09] Emily: that coming.

 

such a twist. Let’s dive into our first task, which is to set up gift idea lists. Gifts are one of the most stressful parts of the holidays, so anything we can do to simplify that task is like giving our future selves a gift.

 

[00:03:27] Heidi: There are a couple of different kind of gift lists that you might want to start.

 

The different lists depend on how many gifts you need to give that person. So if you have the holiday headstart playbook, there is a page for gift ideas for single gifts. This is for all the people that you only need to give one gift to, or maybe, you know, like a birthday gift and a Christmas gift, but you know, at Christmas, you’re not overwhelming them with tons of gifts, you know?

 

Yeah. And then, so you can just add their name to the list. And then there are three columns for recording any ideas of things that you think they might like.

 

[00:03:58] Emily: And if you’re using our holiday headstart playbook digitally, you can always add more columns. If you have more than three ideas for someone, you can also select the category of gifts for each person.

 

Do you want them to have a personal gift, a thoughtful gift, or a friendly gift? Personal gifts require more thought and effort. So it would be helpful to keep those on your radar.

 

[00:04:21] Heidi: Besides a sheet for all of those single gift recipients, you’ll probably want a list for the people that you give multiple gifts to.

 

This will likely be, you know, like your kids, your partner, maybe a best friend if you exchange a lot of gifts, or parents. The Holiday Head Start Playbook has a template for kid gift ideas. And a template for adult gift ideas. All you have to do is just duplicate the template and then you have a personalized gift list for all of your people.

 

[00:04:47] Emily: Half of the template is dedicated to recording each person’s likes. The nice thing about this is that it means you can get started on it right now. Open up the page while you’re listening to this podcast and start adding details. If you don’t have the playbook, obviously we’d love if you bought it, but you can also use a page in your planner, make a note on your phone

 

or use anything else that makes it easy to track important lists.

 

[00:05:10] Heidi: While it may be tricky to start making specific gift lists for next December, especially, you know, the kids and their interests can change so much. You can start now by writing down, favorite foods or places to visit, things people collect and other details that probably won’t change too much between now and December.

 

The

 

[00:05:28] Emily: bonus of this is that by taking the time to write down all the details about what people like, it makes you more aware of those things. So in June, when you come across a board game about vintage cars, you add it to the list for your dad. Who’s been getting into vintage cars lately.

 

[00:05:45] Heidi: It is so much easier to work on gift lists over time rather than trying to brainstorm everything in October.

 

I know I have done it both ways. Let me promise you, start early on this. If you have ever sat down and tried to generate a list of gift ideas all at once, you know how frustrating that can be. Oh yeah,

 

[00:06:04] Emily: your future self will definitely thank you for getting started on that task early. And if you already have gift idea lists started, take a few minutes to update them, clear any gifts that you already bought for that person and add any new information to their likes and dislikes list.

 

And then we’re going to need to get started on our second February task. So tell us about this, Heidi.

 

[00:06:26] Heidi: Well, with all of these gifts that you’re planning in advance, you’ll probably be buying some things in advance, too. So that means you’re going to need hiding places for all of those gifts.

 

[00:06:37] Emily: And of course, and I cannot stress this enough, the number one rule of hiding things is to write it down.

 

You think you will remember, but you will not. And then you’ll be Chevy Chase stashing your new gifts in the attic and finding the Mother’s Day gift that you hid. Who knows how long ago classic

 

[00:06:57] Heidi: moment, and I think it’s just a good rule of thumb to avoid being Chevy chase at all costs. Really? Yes. Good life motto.

 

If you are able to hide gifts in one central place, it really is easier to manage than having several hiding spots all over the house. But if you don’t have the space for one central secret gift hub. What you need is a decoy hiding spot. This might be a location that isn’t very well hidden, but it’s camouflaged so well that no one notices it.

 

And Emily, I think you have found a good hack for this.

 

[00:07:30] Emily: Yes. So I can’t remember where I heard about this idea, but I’ve been using those heavy duty moving bags for my gift storage. I have one bag for each kid and then another bag where I’m putting gifts for other people that I just want to have. Put away or stocking items or whatever.

 

So I have some of those bags used in my regular storage in the garage. So a few more of them doesn’t raise any suspicions to the kids. And if I happen to have one in the house for something, they just assume that it’s something I brought in from the garage and. It is such a win and you could fit a lot in them too, which is nice.

 

I’ll link the ones that I got in the show notes, but there are tons of options. I think just make sure you

 

[00:08:11] Heidi: get the ones that are opaque. So you can’t see in them. Oh, for sure. Yes. Yes. Because I have a bunch that I used to store my seasonal throw pillows, which I wanted to be clear so that I could see what was in them.

 

But that definitely will work against you if you’re hiding gifts.

 

[00:08:27] Emily: Right. I used these blue ones that you cannot see through. To put in my garlands last year and some Christmas blankets. And that’s how the Christmas tablecloth got lost because I intentionally didn’t get the garlands out this year, but couldn’t see that there were other things in there.

 

So maybe see through would have been good for that particular storage bag. Yep.

 

[00:08:50] Heidi: All right. Our third February task is to deal with your photos. I know it’s the task we all dread,

 

[00:08:56] Emily: but we’re not suggesting that you come up with a whole system for managing photos.

 

If that’s too overwhelming right now, you can just start by setting up an album for Christmas 2024 and add your Christmas photos,

 

[00:09:07] Heidi: or if you’re feeling really productive, you could break it down into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day albums, or add a whole separate album for the family Christmas party, just, you know, do what feels manageable.

 

[00:09:20] Emily: Once you’ve got Christmas 2024 dealt with, you can work your way back through past holiday seasons, which is something I need to do.

 

[00:09:26] Heidi: Don’t we all? And then when next December rolls around, you’ll be so grateful that it’s easy to find a photo that shows how you decorated the mantle last year, or it shows the style of Christmas PJs you already bought, so you don’t buy them again.

 

As nice as photos are for memories, they really are great at helping us stay organized too.

 

[00:09:46] Emily: Yes, and Miss Freddie on Instagram is my go to person for photo organization tips. I’ve taken many of her courses and they are so good and she offers great tips on her social media as well. I especially love her tips for organizing your camera roll.

 

On your phone and what photo albums you might want to make so that you can easily find photos you’re looking for in the future, like your Christmas ones. And she thinks of things that I wouldn’t have thought of, like making an album for your first day of school and last day of school photos, because that’s the sort of thing you might want to refer to year to year.

 

You don’t want to have to scroll back through your camera roll. I love those sort of tips from her. So she is definitely worth checking out for helping you get your camera roll and photos.

 

[00:10:30] Heidi: And I like sometimes she’ll do like a, a fake camera roll, a fictional character and the photo albums that that person might want.

 

So that’s kind of a fun little,

 

[00:10:41] Emily: yes, she’s fun. She also has just by the by really good tips for utilizing your notes app on your phone, for helpful information that you might need at times. And every time she shares about it, I’m like, I never would have thought of that. So she’s a great follow.

 

[00:10:55] Heidi: Perfect. Okay. Our 4th February task is a little more complicated than the others on our list. This suggestion is to declutter and organize your crafting area. If you DIY’d any holiday decor or you had made any gifts last Christmas, your crafting area probably needs a little bit of attention.

 

[00:11:15] Emily: To make this less overwhelming, try just working 10 minutes at a time, or try making a list of every tiny step needed to get things organized, and then just do one step at a time.

 

Yes, it will take a while to get everything organized if all you’re doing today is putting the markers in a bin, but doing a few small tasks that you actually can manage is better than a whole afternoon of organization that you never seem to have time for.

 

[00:11:37] Heidi: Yeah, I feel

 

[00:11:39] Emily: that one. I feel that

 

[00:11:40] Heidi: one deeply.

 

And getting your craft supplies organized will be so helpful for our fifth task, which is to get started on those holiday DIY projects and gifts right now. I know it feels like we’ve got a lot of time, but if you enjoy giving handmade gifts or making your own holiday decor. You probably want to be thinking of those things now.

 

[00:12:03] Emily: Yes, your December will be much calmer if you start knitting that sweater for your sister now rather than waiting till November. Even if you don’t finish it before December, having it started will take some of that holiday pressure off. And

 

[00:12:16] Heidi: just know, Emily, I do not expect a hand knitted sweater. Oh good.

 

Cause I don’t know how to knit. But when you’re crafting presents, just make sure that you give yourself a hard deadline for when to stop. You deserve to enjoy your holidays and not be up till 2 a. m. on December 23rd, trying to finish that scrapbook that you’re making for your mom. Oh yes.

 

[00:12:38] Emily: I went through a little bit of a phase when my kids were little, where every Christmas one of their gifts was handmade by mom and it involved being up very, very late.

 

Sometimes on Christmas Eve, finishing. Oh, I remember painting little peg dolls for my oldest one year. As sweet as those were, I didn’t enjoy it enough to continue that stressful project any longer. I was glad I abandoned that tradition. But if you do enjoy the DIY, yeah, get that done sooner. Make your deadline not Christmas Eve or even the day before.

 

Make it much earlier.

 

There is a page in the gift section of the Holiday Head Start playbook for planning your handmade gifts so you can plan out your timeline and figure out all the supplies that you need to

 

And in the decorating section of the playbook, there’s a similar sheet to plan out any DIY crafts you might be doing for holiday decor.

 

[00:13:30] Heidi: If you are a crafter, you know that we tend to carry a lot of the details in our heads for all of the projects that we’re working on, but that is how we can end up so overwhelmed by these projects,

 

[00:13:41] Emily: by taking a couple minutes to write down our intentions and all the little steps that we need to be aware of it makes it much more likely that we can achieve our goals

 

And if our goal is to have a calm and happy Christmas, there is a lot we can do to get started on that right now.

 

[00:13:55] Emily: Plus, I feel like working on these little tasks throughout the year spreads the Christmas magic all throughout the year. So you can just enjoy that every month. So this month, set up your gift idea lists, make hiding places for presents, organize your holiday photos, declutter your craft area, and get started on your handmade projects.

 

[00:14:15] Heidi: All of that is pretty doable, but the tricky part is actually doing it. And maybe I’m just speaking for myself. But even though I really love getting ahead, obviously I have a podcast about getting ahead for the holidays, I am often left floundering a bit like, where do I even start? I have found that I’m someone who needs a system for identifying what needs to get done.

 

And then a system. for actually getting those things done. And that’s why I schedule a monthly holiday. So can you explain a little more about that, Emily?

 

[00:14:46] Emily: A holiday is time you schedule each month to work on holiday related tasks. You might want to set aside a whole day, or maybe you just schedule an hour or two. Then you have some dedicated time for tackling a few tasks each month.

 

[00:15:01] Heidi: And of course you aren’t limited to Christmas tasks. If you celebrate St. Patrick’s day or any other March holidays, use some time on your holidays in February to plan those celebrations now.

 

[00:15:13] Emily: A holiday is also a good time to take care of plans for upcoming birthdays.

 

That gives you plenty of time to order gifts and figure out plans in advance.

 

[00:15:22] Heidi: And if you listen to our recent episode where we talked about half birthdays, you can also schedule that during your holiday. Yep. The key to being productive on a holiday is to have a list of what you want to get done. So use these five February tasks as a guide or as a jumping off point for tackling your own get ahead tasks.

 

[00:15:40] Emily: And it might be helpful to decide when you want your holiday to be every month so that it actually happens. So, you could do it on the 25th of every month if you want it to connect to Christmas in your mind. Or you could choose the second Sunday of every month or something that would work well for your schedule.

 

Just a pro tip there. We’d love to hear how you are getting ahead in February. Connect with us on Instagram at the Holiday Head Start. Now it’s time for a Get Ahead Start tip. Each week we leave you with a small, actionable tip to help you get a head start on your holiday planning.

 

[00:16:14] Heidi: This week’s Get Ahead Start tip is to know what you need. Tell us more about this, Heidi.

 

Well, since our goal, this quintile is reflecting, try taking a few minutes to list your biggest holiday stressors.

 

[00:16:26] Heidi: Right. We’re a little ways out from last Christmas. So hopefully the memories are still clear, but maybe some of the trauma is healed a little bit. No, no trauma. We had a trauma free Christmas. So this is a great time to take on those stressors because we still have 10 months to come up with solutions for dealing with them so that they don’t become part of our holidays going forward.

 

[00:16:49] Emily: When we’re in the thick of holiday planning, it can be hard to find clarity about the things pushing our buttons. But with a little distance, this is a great time of year to dig into some of those hard questions.

 

[00:17:00] Heidi: Okay, Emily, let’s share what we are working on this week. As a way to keep ourselves accountable and to give you some ideas of what you can do in advance for your own celebrations, we’re sharing what we’re working on this week and what is on your

 

[00:17:12] Emily: to do list.

 

I’m working on my holiday to do lists. I’ve got a note in my phone where I have a list for each month, and I like adding to this list as things come to mind, so it’s not totally filled out yet, but I’m working on that. And I’ve got a holiday plan for this weekend, and I’m going to try and wrap up all the Christmas stuff.

 

I haven’t quite finished putting it all away, or finished reflection since it’s just all dragged out for a while, because January was rough.

 

[00:17:41] Heidi: That’s okay. We’re still in quintile when we’re, we’re just working on reflection still. So you’re not behind at all. Nope. What are you working on this week, Heidi?

 

Well, I am going through my bins this week and I actually did one right before we recorded this episode. Good job. I feel like I’m getting on top of things. Oh, I just jinxed it. I know it.

 

[00:18:02] Emily: Oh no. Knock on something out loud.

 

Wasn’t that like one year when our mom said she was like ready for Christmas for the first time ever, like really in advance. And then she broke her leg like five days before Christmas.

 

[00:18:16] Heidi: Yep. That’s exactly what happened. Oh, shoot. Good luck. At least it’s not icy out there. Uh, I mentioned in an earlier episode that I got some smaller bins to go with each of our traditions and that really made planning and preparing for our holiday activities so much easier.

 

But afterward, I just kind of threw everything back in the bin so that we could get on to the next thing because December is busy. If you have not noticed, so before the Christmas stuff gets too buried in the closets and garage, I want to sort through the bins and make sure that everything that’s supposed to be in there is actually in there and it’s all kind of organized because I know it would be just my luck to think I had everything that we need for next December and then have misplaced or lost something.

 

I’m going to head that off now and just deal with it and get it over with. Oh, so smart. All right. To wrap up the show, we’re sharing our nice list. Emily, what made it on your nice list this week?

 

[00:19:10] Emily: Um, my humidifier is on my nice list. The dry air has been wreaking havoc on me. So I’m finally back to using my canopy humidifier nonstop in my bedroom.

 

I like that it looks nice and it’s also super easy to clean and maintain. And I’m thinking about getting another one for my office.

 

[00:19:28] Heidi: I’ve thought about that too, because it really is nice. I like that you can use tap water and it disinfects with the blue light in it.

 

[00:19:35] Emily: Yeah. And just today I found, a dupe of the filters.

 

So if you want to save money on the

 

[00:19:40] Heidi: filters, you can find them on Amazon. That made a huge difference for me because to buy from Canopy, I think they’re 10 a piece. Yeah. And, they have a subscription where you can get them every six weeks, but I found I need to replace them like every three weeks because they’re paper.

 

And they stop absorbing after a little while, but I couldn’t adjust the subscription to get that off. And then I found that they were way cheaper on Amazon. Yes.

 

[00:20:04] Emily: So just a pro tip, if you have a canopy humidifier, or if you’re looking into one, what’s on your nice list this week, Heidi.

 

[00:20:12] Heidi: Well, I am putting February on the nice list simply because it is not January. Woohoo! We’ve got a little more light. I think I heard the meteorologist on the news say that by the end of the month we have gained like an hour of light a day. Yeah. It’s just awesome. We have fewer dark, smoggy days. It’s just kind of like a sigh of relief after all that January brings.

 

Yes. Or not at all.

 

[00:20:38] Emily: That’s it for today’s episode. Get a jump on next December by working on these five simple tasks in February. And don’t forget our Head Start tip for reflecting on your holiday stressors.

 

[00:20:49] Heidi: We hope to see you here next week. If you enjoyed this episode, it would really help us so much if you gave us a 5 star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts. We really would love people to know that we don’t just talk about Christmas here, even though I guess this episode

 

[00:21:04] Emily: was

 

[00:21:04] Heidi: kind of

 

[00:21:05] Emily: Christmas y.

 

[00:21:06] Heidi: But

 

[00:21:06] Emily: Christmas in relation to February, so.

 

Yes, so true.

 

[00:21:09] Heidi: Yes, we really need every bit of positive promo that we can get. That would be a big help.

 

Thanks for tuning in today. Use this week to get a head start on planning for what’s ahead. And remember, don’t get it perfect, get it going. Come follow along on Instagram at theholidayheadstart. We would love to hear from you. If you liked this episode, head to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. We’ll see you here next week.