Depending on when you're reading this, you may be starting to get excited about Christmas, or you're beginning to panic and you want to avoid a full blown Christmas melt down!

How do I know this? Because I've been there. Christmas was always a joyful time for me.....until I became a parent. And then somehow, Christmas morphed into a crazy shopping, feeding and social frenzy that left me longing for the new year!

Over the years, I've learned a lot about planning and preparing for Christmas, and I want to help you avoid the common pitfalls people make when it comes to planning for Christmas.

So I've decided to answer a couple questions I frequently get asked, as I'm sure these may help you.

If there's a question you have about planning or preparing for Christmas, then drop me a message and I'll get back to you! I might even write a blog post about it! 😉

With that said, let's get started!

When should I start planning for Christmas?

The earlier you can get started, the better! Our Ultimate Christmas Planner has monthly calendars in it to help you plan your Christmas activities from as early as July.

The sooner you can get organised for Christmas, the easier and more relaxed you’ll be in the weeks leading up to it. If you’re someone who has a large family, or likes to go all out during the festive season, then you’ll really want to start planning early.

The more people involved in your celebration, or the more activities, gift wrapping, card writing you plan to do, the more time you’ll need to prepare and take action.

Christmas is an event that’s added on to all of the things you’re already doing, and so, in order to not feel overwhelmed, it’s important to pace yourself, give yourself a good lead time (or runway) before the big day, so that you can finish all the things you want done.

Plus, I’ve often found that I need to give myself more time than I think I’ll need, because the winter season often brings coughs and colds with it. So planning some rest time amidst all of your preparations will make sure that you’re not frantically trying to catch up the week before Christmas!

Christmas can be so stressful, how can I make it feel easier?

Use a proven plan - and start early to give yourself space for breaks due to seasonal colds, festive parties and events and other unforeseen activities. Our Ultimate Christmas planner comes with a 14-week step by step plan to take all the stress out of planning for Christmas.

Having a proven plan means that you don’t have to worry about forgetting anything important. All the steps are already laid out for you and ready to implement.

With our 14-week plan, there’s even space for you to add your own tasks to each week. We know that everyone’s Christmas is different, so maybe there are some things that you do which are unique to you and your family.

Like to go skiing in the Alps every winter? Then add your planning and prep tasks to your weekly plan!

Have a family tradition of fundraising for the homeless? Add the tasks you’ll need to make sure that happens to your weekly plan!

Our weekly Christmas plan is flexible enough for you to make it work for your life and preferences. And it means that you’ll never have to start from scratch when preparing for Christmas.

How can I avoid the Christmas craziness?

Activities and events seem to multiply over the festive season. It seems like in November and December, everyone and their dog has a Christmas party or nativity play and every high street has their own Christmas market or fair. If you’ve got kids, there’ll be no end to their hounding you to go to see the lights or the parade, so be warned!

There’s little you can do about everyone else’s agendas and festive plans. And if you suspect that you’ll be attending a fair number of these, the best advice I can give is to block off buffer time in the weeks and weekends leading up to Christmas.

Now, you may not know when all these events will be happening, but if you’ve got time blocked off as a buffer to plan and prepare for Christmas, it will mean that time for your own Christmas preparations won’t be thrown out the window!

This is the reason why it’s so important to make a plan for Christmas. Because if you don’t, other people will have a plan for your time, and you’ll end up feeling rushed and overwhelmed.

Don’t do that to yourself this year. Make a plan for your best ever Christmas. And the Ultimate Christmas Planner will help you to do just that!

Get your copy now here:

Other posts you may like:

• The Best Way to Get Organised for Christmas This Year

• The Best Mulled Wine Christmas Recipe of All Time

• 3 Mistakes People Make When Preparing for Christmas (and how to avoid them)