How to have everything before the New Year: how to plan the preparation for the holiday?

New Year’s Eve is just moments away. The holiday, which both children and adults are looking forward to, is coming very soon. But for some reason, instead of anticipation of magic and lightness, there is a feeling of anxiety. It seems that time is literally melting before your eyes, and the city roads are turning into one multi-kilometer traffic jam. In the head there is a whirlwind of thoughts: how to do everything in time, how to close work issues, to pick up a festive outfit and gifts to loved ones? And the question involuntarily arises: “Is New Year’s Eve a holiday at all”?

About how to get away from the format “squirrel in the wheel” in the direction of a well-thought-out and precise organization of pre-New Year’s troubles, we tell you together with an expert in the field of time management and PR.

Founder of PR bureau Done Media and educational platform Done Media Kafedra

Doing everything at the last moment is not quite right and even risky. But if it happens, act rationally, calm down.

You can’t do without planning

Prepare a list of things to do, prioritize them. If taking notes, writing texts is not your thing, use the voice recorder in your phone. You can jot down a list of New Year’s Eve tasks on the way to work or in a traffic jam. It is important that you have a clear plan of action. There is an expression: “The pen disciplines thought.” And it is very accurate.

More time to work now – peace of mind later

Closing work matters is extremely important. After all, if you have an outstanding report for a client or something similar hanging over you, you’re unlikely to be able to relax and enjoy the holiday to the fullest. Spend a little more time closing work matters, stay late in the office on some days, or start your work day earlier. It may not be the most pleasant option, but you won’t have to scroll through an unclosed task while choosing gifts, for example.

It’s important to put an end to work issues and go on vacation. In my team, for example, we prepare reports on client promotion long before the new year. At the end of December, everything is ready, including plans for January. As a result, employees can go on vacation as early as the 20th of December. The time pressure mode is harmoniously replaced by longer weekends.

Gifts online

When the to-do list is made and work issues are closed, it’s time to move on to gifts. If there is no time to go to shopping malls (and whether it is worth going to crowded places before the holiday), order gifts online. Use for this purpose marketplaces, where you can pick up, perhaps, anything.

It is reasonable, as in one delivery will be able to put the entire order, without wasting time waiting for couriers from different stores. If you are not ready to order gifts quickly, you need to think, then add the items you like to your favorites. This way you will not lose sight of what you looked at earlier, you will not need to resume your search.

New Year’s Eve outfit based on a real-life example

Trying on a New Year’s outfit is a separate topic for discussion. From year to year it is a real rebus, which is very difficult to solve. And all because we are not all fashion experts and often do not realize how to combine things correctly.

We recommend taking advice from stylists (watch the video) before trying it on, and also read the catalogs of stores. As a rule, New Year collections are always tastefully selected, you can choose a festive capsule without reinventing the wheel.

Self-care in a few hands

Manicure, pedicure, hairstyle, eyebrow design. Here is a long list of minimally necessary pre-New Year’s beauty rituals ready. If you do each procedure separately, you will need at least five hours of free time.

But if you go to a salon that offers comprehensive options for such services, then the time can be reduced at least twice. For example, to use the procedure in six hands. Yes, yes, salons now offer not only manicures and pedicures in four hands. There are beauty spaces that offer six-handed services. It’s very convenient and it’s a real time saver.

The New Year’s tree is a meditation for you

As for the process of decorating a holiday tree, house or apartment – these things should be sacred. They do not tolerate fuss and anxiety. You don’t need to decorate the tree, while clasping the phone receiver with your shoulder and solving work issues.

Your task is to enjoy yourself, not to break the record for combining all the things to do “here and now”. It’s okay if you didn’t decorate the tree at the end of November “like all normal people”. Let it be dressed up on December 31, but meaningfully and with a sense of accomplishment.

Ask for help from loved ones

And please don’t forget to ask for help. You can entrust some of the work to your relatives and family. This is normal, it will not make you weaker or worse. You are not taking an exam, you are entering a new year, which you should be happy and enjoy!