Unlock the Power of the 3 Cs: Your Ultimate Guide to Holiday Planning [Episode 7]

Heidi  0:51

Hey there, friends. Welcome back to the Holiday Headstart Podcast. Today, we are talking about the 3 Cs of holiday planning and sharing a get ahead tip for organizing your planning.

 

Emily  1:02

Traditions are an important tool in building a healthy, happy, connected life. This week, we are sharing one of our favorite Halloween traditions, the Halloween fashion show. Tell us about this, Heidi.

 

Heidi  1:14

This really is such a fun tradition, and our family doesn’t have too many October traditions, but this is one I really enjoy. So one afternoon, a few days before Halloween, Emily and her kids come over for a fashion show of their costumes. Grandma and Grandpa come over to get their photos as well. My house has a really like long hallway that works great for a runway. The kids pick their walkout music, usually something tied to their costume, and then they take turns walking the runway and then posing for all the photos.

 

Heidi  1:45

And then, you know, they change back into their regular clothes, and we have those mini Halloween Krispy Kreme donuts and apple cider, you know, like, living the good life. And I love that it’s just a low key activity, but it has three really important purposes. First, like it’s just a fun excuse to get together. And then second, it lets us get Halloween photos while the light is good and the kids are cooperative because, you know, on Halloween, they’re just itching to get out the door and they don’t want to pose for photos.

 

Emily  2:12

Oh yes, have experienced that many a year before we started the fashion show tradition.

 

Heidi  2:17

And then I think the third benefit of the fashion show is that it’s a good way to troubleshoot any costume issues, so we can see if it’s easy to walk in, if things are dragging, or things are itchy, or hats don’t fit, or all of that, we can figure that out ahead of time.

 

Emily  2:30

Yes, that’s probably one of the most helpful but unexpected benefits of this tradition, has been the way we’ve been able to spot issues with costumes, or how someone was going to need something altered or pinned or a new accessory added, or something to make it work. So that has been like an excellent, unplanned side effect of this whole thing. But truly, the best part of this tradition for me is that it was Heidi’s idea, and Heidi plans it and takes care of the whole thing. And I just have to show up with kids and costumes, which, you know, that’s not nothing, but I would have to do that anyway. So it’s nice that I can just show up for this tradition. But I do think anyone who wants to start this tradition, I don’t want to speak for you, Heidi, but I get the impression this is a very manageable tradition if you wanted to start it.

 

Heidi  3:23

Yes. And some years I haven’t even gone to pick up the Krispy Kremes. I’ve just DoorDash them, so it’s like almost effortless.

 

Emily  3:29

Oh well, that’s perfect. Didn’t even think about DoorDash.

 

Heidi  3:34

We would love to hear about all of your favorite traditions. Come join the conversation at the holiday headstart on Instagram.

 

Emily  3:41

In today’s episode, we’re talking about the 3 Cs of holiday plans: Calendaring, Confirming and Coordinating. All the fun magical stuff, right?

 

Heidi  3:52

Yes, that’s because we can intend to do all of the fun magical things. But if we don’t have a plan for making those magical intentions a reality, we’re going to get to January, and those well thought out, well intentioned plans are still just going to be plans. I have been there.

 

Emily  4:10

And that’s where the 3 Cs come into play. Once you have a list of the things you’d like to do during the holidays, it’s time for our first C and we need to get out the calendar.

 

Heidi  4:19

When we put something on the calendar, essentially, what we’re doing is we’re putting a piece on the game board. We can move it around, we can adjust it, but leaving it on the calendar keeps that piece in play. If something comes up, if there’s a conflict, and we take that activity off the calendar instead of rescheduling it, we run the risk of forgetting to come back and reschedule it.

 

Emily  4:40

Or by the time we remember we wanted to do that thing, it’s too late and we’re out of time.

 

Heidi  4:46

So the rule of scheduling holiday activities is to put it on the calendar and leave it on the calendar unless you’re certain that you don’t want to do it. So let’s talk about how to make this work. In the Holiday Headstart Playbook, there’s a page for calendaring, a page for confirming, and a page for coordinating. And each of those pages walks you step by step through accomplishing those three Cs.

 

Emily  5:08

If we look at calendaring, step one is to add all the set dates first. If there’s an annual event, like your town’s tree lighting or a Messiah sing along concert that has a predictable date, add it to the calendar.

 

Heidi  5:21

An event that you don’t control the scheduling of is what we call a fixed event. For most of these fixed events, you probably don’t have much input about when they happen, so you have to plan around them instead of incorporating them into your plans. Add the dates for your fixed events to the calendar. And besides, you know, the Town Tree Lighting. These are things like the school program, the work party, choir concert, church activity, or any other event with a set date. And then add any dates when you will be traveling or when you’re going to be hosting guests.

 

Emily  5:54

With our fixed events on the calendar, we can turn to our flexible events. There’s no shortage of options, but we can’t do it all, so it’s important to focus on the things that are truly important to you.

 

Heidi  6:06

To help you prioritize the things you want to do during the holidays, there’s a sheet in the playbook to help you list your options in order of importance. You can grab the playbook at the link in the show notes, or head to theholidayheadstart.com/playbook, but if you don’t have the playbook, any sheet of paper will work fine.

 

Emily  6:24

We start by identifying our top three must-do activities. You might be thinking, I have way more than three activities that I want to do. I promise we’ll get to those too. Ranking your options doesn’t mean you can’t do any of the other things on your list. It’s just a way of helping you identify where you would first put your time and attention before you move on to other things.

 

Heidi  6:45

Once you’ve ranked your top three choices, start listing your other activities by priority. If you are unsure about how to rank two activities, try asking yourself, if I could only do one of these, which would I choose?

 

Emily  6:58

After you’ve added all your seasonal activities. Look over the list. Does it feel manageable? Is there anything you’d like to adapt, skip, or push until after Christmas?

 

Heidi  7:08

Now it’s time to start adding things to the calendar. You may need to shuffle things around as you get closer to December, and that’s okay. Our goal right now isn’t to plan a perfect December. Our goal is to get all of the important pieces onto the game board, otherwise known as the calendar, so we can keep everything in play.

 

Emily  7:28

After you’ve added your fixed events, the first thing you might want to schedule is whatever you do to welcome the holiday season. We’re big believers in marking transitions. It’s a lovely way to pause and recognize that you’re starting something new.

 

Heidi  7:41

You can plan a new tradition to welcome the season, or you can repurpose something you already do. So for example, I tag along with Emily’s family to do a drive through the Christmas and color lights each year. But we’ve always just done it at different times in December. And last year, Emily and I were talking and we decided to make it our welcome to Christmas celebration. So we’re giving it a home right after Thanksgiving. That means we can start by putting Christmas in Color on the calendar, and then we can add in the rest.

 

Emily  8:08

Just be careful. This is an important PSA about the dangers of Blank Calendar Syndrome. At this stage of the process, it’s very easy to assume, of course, I can fit it all in, but you can’t. Stuff crops up, you will be tired. The kids will get sick. Believe me, the kids will get sick. Work will run late, so make sure to leave space in your plans for the unexpected.

 

Heidi  8:32

Or even just schedule some time to rest. The holidays are stressful, and festive burnout is real. Honor the downtime you need. You can even add it to the calendar as rest or family time.

 

Emily  8:45

Right, we want to make sure we have plenty of time and energy for all those amazing things we want to do. Let’s start adding them to the calendar. It’s a good idea to prioritize scheduling the activities near the top of your list. Later, if you have the time and energy to do more, then it’s a bonus. But if time and energy run short, at least you can enjoy the holiday knowing you’ve already included what matters most to you.

 

Heidi  9:07

That doesn’t mean that you have to complete the activities in the order that you rank them. The ranking is just to help you prioritize your time, energy and money. If the first activity on your list, the most important thing to you, is wearing matching PJs and watching Home Alone as a family on Christmas Eve, it doesn’t make sense to schedule that on December 1, just because it’s the first on your list. Ranking the activity first just tells you that, because that activity matters to you, you need to make sure that you have the resources to do it well. You need to add money to the budget for matching PJs. It means it’s worth your time to shop around and see which stores have the cutest PJs. And that’s really hard to narrow down, because there are some cute ones. You need to make sure to save Home Alone and not watch it earlier in the month. But if matching PJs and Home Alone is an 18th ranked priority on your list, you know it is not worth devoting much time, money or energy to do it.

 

Emily  10:01

Now the degree to which you want to schedule things in advance probably depends on how much spontaneity you enjoy. If you prefer to go with the flow, you can leave your calendar open for whatever plans fit in the moment. But if you’ve had instances in the past where leaving things unscheduled meant missing out on or rushing through things that matter to you, maybe it’s time for a different approach.

 

Heidi  10:23

If you are someone who resists planning, perhaps reframing this can help. Instead of thinking of this as a rigid To Do List, try thinking of scheduling as an insurance plan. You can still be flexible and spontaneous, but having a prioritized list of the activities and events you want to do serves as a backup for calendar overload. If life gets crazy and all else fails, you know you at least fit in what mattered most.

 

Emily  10:50

Once your calendar is more or less filled out, it’s time to turn to our second C of holiday plans, Confirming. This is when you let the people involved in your events know what’s up. People will appreciate it if you let them know about important dates as soon as possible.

 

Heidi  11:03

Right. Send out invitations in plenty of time. As soon as possible, let people know about food assignments, travel dates, dress codes, the kids’ recital details, and any other important information.

 

Emily  11:03

That also means being cooperative if someone else needs you to confirm information before they can make their own plans. If someone needs to know what you’re bringing to the potluck or what time your flight gets in, do your best to let them know those things quickly.

 

Heidi  11:30

If you happen to be the lone list maker in a sea of spontaneous loved ones, do your best to be patient. Leave things open ended if you can. But also, don’t be afraid to hold a boundary if their lack of communication is hampering your ability to move forward.

 

Emily  11:45

Let people know the absolute last date you really need to know what’s happening. If necessary, be clear about the consequences of not confirming with you. Maybe there won’t be food at the party, or they won’t have tickets to the Nutcracker.

 

Heidi  11:58

And then do your best to move forward with the information you do have.

 

Heidi  12:01

And we are going to move forward from confirming to coordinating. The difference between these 2 Cs is that confirming is letting people know the information they need or getting the information you need from other people. For example, if you’re hosting an ugly sweater party, you need to confirm the details with the people you invite. But if you and your sister-in-law are cohosting that party, you and she need to coordinate the details.

 

Emily  12:27

But coordinating holiday plans isn’t limited to hosting duties. Take a look at that calendar you just filled out. What changes or compromises or conversations need to happen for everyone, including you, to have an enjoyable holiday? Are there things you can delegate or ask for help with? Are there ways to outsource things you’ve done yourself in the past, but maybe you don’t want to keep doing?

 

Heidi  12:48

You may find that a conversation or two is needed to establish clear expectations. This is especially important if you are making changes from how you’ve celebrated Christmas in the past. Things will go smoother if you prepare those impacted by the change as soon as possible. That gives people time to adjust their plans, offer to take over any tasks you don’t want to do anymore, or to accept the changes.

 

Emily  13:13

If you want to have a formal meeting to discuss the upcoming holidays, and we recommend that you do, there is a family meeting agenda in the Holiday Headtart Playbook, so all you have to do is fill in your own details and you’re ready to go.

 

Heidi  13:26

So as you’re getting into your holiday plans, remember to use the three Cs: get everything on the calendar, confirm plans as quickly as possible, and coordinate with everyone involved.

 

Emily  13:38

And make sure to check out the Holiday Headstart Playbook if you want us to walk you step by step through how to put these plans in place and so much more. You can find the playbook at theholidayheadstart.com/playbook or check the link in the show notes.

 

Emily  13:52

Now it’s time for a get a head start. Tip. Each week we leave you with a small actionable tip to help you get a head start on your holiday planning. This week’s get a head start tip is make a command center. Tell us more about this, Heidi.

 

Heidi  14:06

Well, one thing that might make planning a little easier is having a command center where everything you need is centrally located. If you’re solely a digital girly, this might mean grouping all of the planning apps on your phone so you can bounce between them quickly. If you are a paper and pencil gal, you might need a bunch of binders, or maybe you want to turn a desk drawer into your holiday command center. Do what works best for the way you plan.

 

Heidi  14:31

To figure out what your command center needs, think about your upcoming holiday tasks. You’ll need to make gift lists, menus and shopping lists. You’ll need to gather addresses and recipes and good ideas. What kinds of resources do you need to easily make those plans? Also consider the physical tasks that are part of planning for the holidays. You have to address Christmas cards, hide purchases, wrap gifts, put up decorations. So what can you do to keep those materials organized and easy to access?

 

Emily  14:59

It’s easy to assume that, since this is a temporary situation, you can just make do with whatever for a while, but Christmas planning and prep takes at least a month, if not two or three months. You deserve to have an orderly space, so take the time to make any needed adjustments so you can work efficiently in the next few months.

 

Emily  15:17

As a way to keep ourselves accountable and 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. Heidi, what’s on your to do list?

 

Heidi  15:27

I am working on freezer meals.

 

Emily  15:29

Good for you.

 

Heidi  15:31

Well, I promised myself I was going to prep some in September once the weather cooled a bit. But it is October now, and I still haven’t done it, and I need to get on it before the real holiday craziness ramps up. But, you know, not to brag, but since it’s just me, I can prep one recipe to have a week of dinners. So it really does pay off for me to get a few things in the freezer and then I don’t have to worry about cooking it all around the holidays.

 

Emily  15:56

So nice. I love it.

 

Heidi  15:58

Emily, what are you working on this week?

 

Emily  16:00

Well, one of my kid’s half birthdays is coming up in a few days, so I was prepping for that.

 

Heidi  16:05

That half birthday always catches me off guard, because it’s, you know, the beginning of a month.

 

Emily  16:08

I know, and it’s, half birthdays anyway, in general, kind of sneak up on me, but luckily, half birthdays in my house are a very low key affair, so it doesn’t take too much prep. So I just need to either make a cake or pick up a cake, as we get a little bit closer to the day and cut it in half, that’s how we do it, and then pick up a gift. But I already did it, and it’s already here.

 

Heidi  16:32

Oh, good for you!

 

Emily  16:33

Yay me. So we will have to talk about half birthdays here on the podcast soon.

 

Heidi  16:38

To wrap up the show, we are sharing our nice list. Emily, what has made it on your nice list this week?

 

Emily  16:43

I’m adding my new candle from Blue Lily candles to my nice list.

 

Heidi  16:48

It smells so good.

 

Emily  16:49

It really does. Heidi and I went to a local Halloween market last week, and I just had to pick up a new fall candle. And I love the Blue Lily candles. The one I got is called Cider, and it smells like apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. So you can snag that on Etsy, and I will put a link to it in the show notes. What’s going on your nice list, Heidi,?

 

Heidi  17:11

Well, I am putting the velvetizer on the nice list. Now that it’s finally cool enough to enjoy hot chocolate again, I’ve brought out my velvetizer. If you’re not familiar, if you haven’t been served in million ads on Instagram, it’s just this fancy little machine that whips up the perfect little mug of hot chocolate. It is very decadent treat.

 

Emily  17:30

Yes. But it really is perfect. It’s the perfect temperature, the perfect amount.

 

Heidi  17:34

Yes. And I’ve been trying the pumpkin spice hot chocolate, and it really sets the fall mood. I love it.

 

Emily  17:40

Oh, I might have to bum one of those packets off of you to try. I haven’t tried that one yet.

 

Heidi  17:45

I’m willing to sell it at a very reasonable rate. Only slight markups.

 

Emily  17:50

What are sisters for?

 

Heidi  17:53

That’s it for today’s episode. Remember the 3 Cs of holiday planning, and take a few minutes to set up your holiday command center.

 

Emily  18:00

Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope to see you here next week. If you enjoyed this episode, it would be so very helpful if you could give us a five star rating and a review on Apple podcasts. As a new podcast, we really need every bit of positive promo we can get.