Time management during the holidays

This'll have to be quick, because I'm running late (rimshot!).

The key to managing your time during the holidays is to remember that you are not the only person trying to do these things right now, and that the weather is likely to be crappy.

Last week, I had to run some errands: go to the bank, get some new candles to replace the ones that melted in the attic over the summer, get some pet stuff and see if I could find some longer-waisted t-shirts at a couple of my favorite stores.

All the errands were within the same 3-mile radius, so I budgeted 60 minutes for my tasks. And that would have been just fine in May. In mid-December, not so much.

Lines were forming at all four drive-thru lanes at the bank; the pet store was filling up with folks getting their pet's picture taken with Santa; and the candles and potential t-shirts were inside the mall. Plus, it was drizzling outside. My 60 minutes of errands wound up taking almost 3 hours.

The holiday season brings some additional activities and to-dos, but it doesn't bring any more hours in the day. So when you're planning out your day, keep in mind that you'll need 2 to 3 times longer than usual for any task that involves transportation and/or commerce.

You can also use the general time management strategies we've discussed on this blog, such as doing your shopping online, "ganging" errands so you only have to leave the office or house once and reviewing your tasks to see if something could wait until January.

Unfortunately, I can't wait until January; I've gotta go now!

Do you have any holiday-specific time management strategies? Let me know in the comments!

Comments

[Liz]

Cath-

You are so right about needing to budget extra time for errands etc. during the holidays. I forget that every year!