Organizing for the Holidays By Suzanne McLoone I recently received my first “holiday” e-mail. It was from my mother, telling me what she would like for Christmas this year. Of course, being the systematic individual that I am, this inspired me to get together the first instruments of organizing my gift lists. It is never too early to head off holiday shopping stress! Since my darling mother e-mailed me her “wish list,” including the link to a website of where to purchase the items, I logically created a new folder in my Outlook: “Personal – Christmas – Mom.” I now have the structure to get started for the rest of the family; so as I surf the Internet, or if someone sends me an e-mail with something that they like, I can just move it into their respective folder. It is all in one place and easy to find, which makes it so nice! Now that I have set up my system, I can also e-mail myself gift ideas from other websites. This way I can keep them in folders without having to rely solely on my memory. Although this system works well when I am at the computer, what about when I am out and about, running around? A purse-size notebook! I have labeled each page with the name of a person for which I am planning on buying a gift. As I see things I think someone on my list would like, I write the gift idea on their page, along with the price of the item. If I happen to pick something up for someone early, because it is just too cute to pass up, I put it on my list and mark their page as done. No sense in buying something else because I forgot I already had a gift for them. To get organized for the holiday shopping season, there are a few quick steps you can take to keep yourself from running around like a chicken with your head cut off the week before Christmas: • Make a list of the people you have to buy gifts for: parents, children, siblings, other loved ones, etc. • Create a budget for each person. • Create folders in your e-mail for those people. • Store the online ideas in each person’s folder. • Get a small notebook and label each page with one person’s name, including your allotted spending limit for that person. • As you come up with gift ideas, write them down – along with the cost of each item. • If you buy a gift early, mark that person’s page as done and cross off his or her name from your master list. • When it is time to go shopping, transfer the online items into your notebook so everything is in one place. • Highlight the gift items you are going to buy, and order them online or run out and purchase them. • Cross off each person from the main list as you purchase a gift. • If you are like me and hate to wrap, pay someone to do it for you! • Sit back and relax! You feel and look like a million bucks, because you are sitting next to a cozy fire, sipping hot chocolate and enjoying being stress-free! It may not be “beginning to look a lot like Christmas” quite yet, but it is just around the corner! Happy organizing!   For more than 20 years, Suzanne McLoone has been helping corporations and small businesses organize their time. With a philosophy of “life is too short,” she thrives on making the most of her time and trying to encourage those around her to do the same. Suzanne has served as an organizational consultant, public speaker and former radio talk show host, and offers numerous organizational quick tips. For more information on how to set up a home office, visit LetsTalkOrganizingPodcast.blogspot.com.