If you are like most of us that still have a bit of last minute prep to mark off our to-do list, here is some simple and practical advice to pull everything together. Always remember that holiday celebrations are about creating memories and having fun with those you care about. You do not need to put together a Martha Stewart themed event!

If you are feeling a bit frazzled with last minute preparations, do not hesitate to ask for help. You are not solely responsible for baking every pie, wrapping every single gift, purchasing every bottle of delicious wine or cleaning the house from top to bottom. Reach out to your friends, your spouse, and even your children to help. Make your master list of everything that needs to get done, and then write down the names of people who will help tackle the responsibilities. Joint efforts make everyone feel good about contributing to the end event.

With Christmas a couple of days away, and New Years not far behind, you really need to prioritize your list of errands and to-do’s. You can waste so much time and energy running all over the place, grabbing one more thing, or blowing through tanks of gas. Go grab a notepad and jot down everything that needs to get accomplished between today and January 1st. Now get a second piece of paper and prioritize your list from A-being the most important task, to B-Z, being that last detail that needs to get accomplished. Also write down dates that the tasks need to get accomplished by.

Say this mantra to yourself everyday between now and the New Year’s. It can be easy to get caught up in the hype of the holidays, only to lose your real focus of enjoying this time with family and friends. Simplicity is sometimes the best path to enjoyment. Whether you cook a gourmet meal that takes you days to prepare, or a simple but yummy meal that takes very little prep, it is the laughter, joy and memories itself that everyone will remember, not the details of the food. When you find yourself going overboard, take a step back and determine how you can simplify the planning. Write “keep it simple” on little sticky notes and place them in places that you will see them daily.

If you are hosting a holiday get together or New Year’s bash, take a little bit of time and stash all the loose junk in a closed off basement room or attic. There’s always something precious that you don’t want guests touching, and maybe some general clutter that you can temporarily store away. Get a large plastic bin and just throw everything in it. It will tidy up your house and you can go through the bin at a later date and put things back where they belong.

If you still need to buy a gift or two do not just fly out of the house on a whim and hope that the item will still be in stock.  More often than not the store will be able to put your item on hold for a few hours until you can make it in to pick it up.  This will save you a lot of time, stress, and gas as you won’t have to be driving from store to store searching!  Other shoppers will be jealous of your cool, calm demeanour as you waltz into the store, receive your purchases from behind the desk and waltz out without so much as a bead of sweat on your forehead.