Christmas Countdown Day 1: Get Organized!

Submitted by Cynthia Ewer on October 24, 2009 - 11:50pm

Christmas Countdown

By Cynthia Ewer
Editor, Organized Christmas
Author, Houseworks: Cut the Clutter, Speed Your Cleaning and Calm the Chaos

Today, we kick off Get Organized Week, and get the Countdown off to an enthusiastic start toward an organized holiday season. Ready to begin? Let's Count Down!

today's message ...

Welcome to the Christmas Countdown! I'm Cynthia Ewer, editor of OrganizedHome.Com and author of this six-week interactive plan to get organized for the holiday season.

I'm a wife and mother, grandmother of two, and the manager of my home. The tips and information you'll find here have been road-tested by my own family, and by the thousands of readers who have used this plan since its Web debut in 1998.

This year, we celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Christmas Countdown. Since our first beta test in 1998, this online organizing plan has helped thousands of families--like yours and like mine--simplify the holidays and prepare for the holiday season.

Each year, I receive hundreds of testimonials from families who have used the Christmas Countdown to create a stress-free holiday season. Like this one, from Dottie:

I've been using the information at this site for 4 yrs and every year our Holiday planning and celebrations have become more meaningful and less stressful. Thank you so much for this site. It is the best gift a home manager could ever get! It's a true blessing! It keeps the traditions we most value alive....did I say Thank YOU?!!!

In the spirit of the season, all are welcome as we simplify, organize and prepare for the season ahead. Whether your family observes Christmas or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan, Yule or Winter Solstice, or a purely secular holiday, you are welcome here.

Our goal? A serene, simple and joyous holiday season for ourselves, our family and our community. We'll break down holiday prep into simple, do-able bites. We'll focus our holiday values to do less and enjoy it more. We'll streamline the chore side of holiday preparations. Most of all, we'll create a joyous and meaningful holiday season for our families, friends and neighbors.

Ready? Just as we have for the past ten years, let's Count Down ... to an organized Christmas!

--Cynthia Townley Ewer
Editor, OrganizedHome.Com

to do this week ...

This week, we get organized! We'll assess our family's holiday values, begin making a Christmas planner notebook, and get started making lists for holiday jobs, shopping and home improvements. We'll give thought to holiday traditions, giving, travel and celebrations. In this first week of the Countdown, we lay the framework for the weeks to come.

Find links to Get Organized Week assignments, printable forms and reading here:

Get Organized Week Index

to do today ...

Make the promise: Beginning today, spend a few minutes each day on holiday planning. Each moment you spend now will reap enormous benefits during the rush and hustle of the holiday season.

Make the promise! Invest the time and energy now, for a simpler, more organized holiday celebration. Ready? It's time to Count Down to the holidays, one day at a time.

Make Organized Christmas your start page: Throughout the Countdown, Organized Christmas is the place to be! Each day, we'll post the day's Countdown message and links to daily reading, recipes, and printable planner forms. You can find links to all the daily messages at the front page of our site.

To make it easy to track Countdown assignments, use the links at the lower right side of the page to bookmark our home page, or add it to your web browser's favorites.

Use RSS to track stories on your blog or home page? Our RSS feeds will keep you up and running with the Countdown. Find RSS links at in the "subscribe to RSS" block at the lower right corner of every page at our site.

Designate a Christmas holiday planning center in your home. Every activity deserves a "center"--a dedicated space with tools, workspace and surroundings that support the job. Jumpstart your holiday planning by selecting and setting aside an area in your home for holiday planning.