10 Ways to Prepare for Christmas and Reduce Stress

We've heard it a million times before.  Holiday time is very stressful!  Here are 10 ways to reduce your stress and maximize your enjoyment by getting organized.

1. Get your holiday cards staged and ready to go before Thanksgiving.  Work on them a little at a time while doing something enjoyable!
2. Throughout the year, jot down gift ideas on a list for friends and family.  That way when shopping time comes, you're ahead of the game because you have ideas already.
3. Contact family members now about clothing sizes for anybody you may buy this kind of gift for.  Keep it on the gift idea list mentioned above.
4. Find out what your nieces and nephews are interested in currently so you'll have a starting point for gift ideas.  When they're young, their interests change so quickly so it helps to find out what the latest and greatest is!
5. Review your December calendar so you can try to avoid over-scheduling yourself with parties and volunteer activities.  Prioritize your activities so that the most important don't get left off.
6. Start planning your holiday meals now.  Make a list of what will be served and ask party attendees to bring something off the list.  This way you won't end up with 4 pumpkin pies and no mashed potatoes!
7. Do a high-level decluttering of your entertaining areas of your home over the next several weeks.  Doing a little at a time will make the project seem more manageable.
8. Start your holiday decorating the weekend of Thanksgiving.  It will be less stressful than shopping and most of us have extra time off that week.
9. Purge unwanted, broken or unloved decorations as you take them out.  Donate what's still usable to the Salvation Army.  When you take down decorations, do another purge and repack in ornament boxes.  Stock up on tissue paper to wrap delicate ornaments in.
10. After Christmas, organize your decorations so they're easier to get to and take up as little space as possible.

What's your sure-fire way to reduce holiday stress and get ahead of the game?  Which one of these tips will you try now?