Latest / JOY LOVING HOME - SAHM, Productivity, Home Organization, Declutter, ADHD Mom, ADHD SAHM, ADHD Brain / Post Holiday Bonus : Quick ADHD-Friendly Tips to Make Next Year Easier While Packing Up This Year

Transcript

Post Holiday Bonus : Quick ADHD-Friendly Tips to Make Next Year Easier While Packing Up This Year · JOY LOVING HOME - SAHM, Productivity, Home Organization, Declutter, ADHD Mom, ADHD SAHM, ADHD Brain

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Joy Loving Home podcast, or welcome back.
• 0:04
  I am wanting to just sit down and record one more bonus holiday episode that
• 0:10
  has to do with packing ourselves back up that is going to make our ADHD brain happier for next year.
• 0:16
  So if you are the type of person who leaves their Christmas stuff up until New
• 0:20
  Year or beyond, perfect time to listen to this because you still have a chance
• 0:25
  to do a few quick tips. I promise they are not like.
• 0:29
  Go out and buy all the perfect matching red bins and organize it perfectly and
• 0:33
  only keep what you need to keep and get rid of everything else,
• 0:35
  I am sure you are running on fumes from the holidays or you're already ready
• 0:40
  to move on and you just want it down and out of the way.
• 0:43
  So these very, very quick, simple tips might make your brain really,
• 0:48
  really happy next year when you go to dig everything back out.
• 0:52
  All right. So if you have already by chance taken everything down and you're
• 0:56
  like too late, this topic is not for me. That's totally cool.
• 1:00
  Tomorrow, look out for one that is about tips to get ourselves started correctly in the new year.
• 1:05
  So either today is for you or tomorrow is for you or both.
• 1:09
  So hopefully you can join me for both and get a couple things going that will
• 1:13
  help make your life a little easier.
• 1:16
  All right, jumping in. Step one, when you go to pull all of the bins back out
• 1:21
  of storage, or if they're just still laying in the basement because you don't
• 1:24
  use the basement, whatever,
• 1:25
  and you're about to get everything opened up and start packing things away,
• 1:30
  if you are typically the one that every year believes you're going to pack it
• 1:35
  up really in an organized manner, but you just don't because you're just,
• 1:38
  you're done with it, that's okay.
• 1:40
  We can still do one very quick, easy thing that's going to help us next year.
• 1:44
  So when you grab those bins out and those boxes, if any of them are still full.
• 1:51
  And if you're anything like me you have more than one grab some old construction
• 1:56
  paper from your kids or printer paper a marker and some some tape hopefully it's more like,
• 2:03
  packing tape and not the, you know, the scotch tape. But if that's all you can
• 2:07
  find, still worth it, do it.
• 2:09
  Write on those pieces of paper, did not use in Christmas 2024,
• 2:16
  did not use last year, whatever you want to write, and slap it on the top of those bins.
• 2:21
  Because we will not remember, we will go into the beginning of December,
• 2:26
  believing everything is of equal importance.
• 2:29
  So when you see those signs next year, you're going to go, oh, that's right.
• 2:33
  I had how many? Five bins that I never even opened. Why am I still storing these?
• 2:39
  You need to have a use it or lose it attitude about next year.
• 2:43
  So open them, give them one less glance, and get them out of there next year.
• 2:47
  It is easier to donate these things at the beginning of December.
• 2:50
  So this is your permission to not go haul things off to Goodwill if they are
• 2:54
  being inspecty at all and don't want your Christmassy stuff.
• 2:58
  You are already ready for next year to not even think about it.
• 3:01
  You'll be ready to donate the day after Thanksgiving if that's when you decorate.
• 3:05
  All right, so that is a step one important. That costs you 30 seconds of your
• 3:10
  time that's going to make next year better.
• 3:12
  All right, second, if you have kids that are of an age that can help you sort
• 3:19
  and you don't mind them seeing your gift wrap stuff, gather all that stuff together and have them sort.
• 3:25
  They can put the bags together in different sizes. They can get all the rolls
• 3:30
  of wrapping paper together.
• 3:31
  They can even sort your tissue by color.
• 3:35
  They can separate the tags from the bows, whatever.
• 3:38
  When it's all sorted, it is much easier for you to say to yourself,
• 3:43
  why am I keeping all of this?
• 3:45
  Is this much actually necessary?
• 3:48
  Do I want to keep this? Are you the kind of person who likes to get paper right
• 3:52
  after Christmas on cheap holiday and now you've got this other stuff that you're
• 3:56
  like, I don't use scraps like that, whatever the case may be.
• 4:00
  You can either let your kids color on the insides if they're white and use them
• 4:05
  as scrap paper and let them use it up.
• 4:07
  Consume those consumables is what I'm wanting.
• 4:09
  But hold on to the wrapping paper ends and bits and things for just a second
• 4:15
  because I'm going to talk about something we can do with those before we pack them up.
• 4:19
  But when we do pack them up, you're going to love that they're all sorted.
• 4:22
  And that was something that could keep your kids busy for a few minutes.
• 4:25
  So let them sort them all out on the dining room table or somewhere where they're
• 4:31
  out of the way while you're packing everything else up.
• 4:33
  It will keep them busy while you're trying to take ornaments down or whatever.
• 4:37
  And you're going to appreciate that they're all sorted out. All right.
• 4:41
  What I want you to do next is think about consuming the consumables.
• 4:45
  So if you had gotten Christmas plates and paper bowls and napkins and all of
• 4:54
  those consumable things,
• 4:55
  if you were like, oh, no, I'll save those and use those next year,
• 4:59
  really ask yourself, will you?
• 5:02
  Or will you just end up being at the store thinking you don't have any and buying
• 5:05
  a whole bunch more and you end up with these little remnants of this and that
• 5:08
  and everything? So two choices here.
• 5:11
  Leave them out and use them up. it's
• 5:15
  okay to use a Christmas plate
• 5:18
  in January if your goal is to use it
• 5:21
  up have a night or two where you're like
• 5:23
  I am not going to get dishes out and have to wash dishes we're going to use
• 5:28
  these up until they're done I know that may not be the most environmentally
• 5:33
  sound thing but I'm you you got to pick your battle and the battle right now
• 5:38
  is you're not going to store stuff you're never going to use over and over and over and.
• 5:41
  Perpetuity. So keep them out, use them up, or if you just can't stomach doing that,
• 5:50
  grab a cardboard box, put all of those consumables in it and write on the outside
• 5:56
  for use in a power outage and store it somewhere where you're like, oh,
• 6:02
  you know what, when the power's out and I'm not going to be running dishes and
• 6:05
  I'm not going to be doing, we will pull this box out and we will use it up.
• 6:09
  Whichever makes more sense to your heart do one
• 6:12
  of those two things but I want you to consume your consumables
• 6:15
  that's the point I find it ironic I
• 6:18
  have decided I really really want to switch to all glass storage
• 6:22
  in my kitchen and so last year I asked for just glass storage containers and
• 6:27
  I kept the plastic ones just in case I was sending food home with the kid and
• 6:32
  I was like oh well then they can use that or it'll at least transport and then
• 6:35
  we can figure out how to get it because they're still in there,
• 6:38
  I'm still grabbing them.
• 6:40
  The only thing that forces you to change your habit is if the old habit doesn't exist anymore.
• 6:46
  So if you're like, I don't want to be the type of person who consumes consumables,
• 6:50
  then use them up so they're gone.
• 6:53
  And then you won't use them because they're not there.
• 6:57
  Just a little side note. Okay. Now, fun little things that I am passing on.
• 7:04
  These are not my ideas. I just heard them in various places.
• 7:07
  I would love to get credit, but I'm not quite sure where I heard them.
• 7:10
  I do know where one is. So I follow, if you're local, to the Atlanta area and Instagram...
• 7:18
  Shop called Felber, F-E-L-B-E-R, home, Felber home.
• 7:23
  And she's got a little one. And what she did is she took all the Christmas books
• 7:27
  they had and wrapped them all in wrapping paper.
• 7:30
  And each day is like a countdown to Christmas.
• 7:33
  She unwrapped one and it was the bedtime story. So there was this excitement.
• 7:37
  She had a little one that was still learning about how to unwrap gifts and things.
• 7:40
  He would unwrap a book each night before bed and then they would read it together.
• 7:44
  And it was their countdown to Christmas.
• 7:46
  This is, I love this idea. So gather any of those Christmas-themed books.
• 7:51
  Now walk over to those remnants of wrapping paper. Go ahead and pre-wrap them.
• 7:55
  Put a number on each one. This is 24 days before, well, I don't know how many
• 7:58
  books you have. Let's see you have 12 days.
• 8:00
  Number them 1 through 12, and you know you're doing a 12-book countdown.
• 8:04
  If you have 5, you can do a 5-book countdown. If you have 24,
• 8:08
  suddenly it's part of your advent calendar.
• 8:10
  Put a number on each one, unwrap one each night next year, but they're already wrapped.
• 8:15
  You're using up your consumable bits and pieces of wrapping paper because books
• 8:19
  are generally not that big.
• 8:21
  It's a great way to feel better about using all those scrap wrapping papers
• 8:24
  that are left over. So that's an idea I heard.
• 8:28
  Another one, I'm not sure where I heard this one, but if you just got your like
• 8:33
  umpteenth candle or body lotion or body wash or.
• 8:41
  Cheap perfume sample or a pair of earrings or whatever.
• 8:47
  I know something is coming to your head right now of the things that you keep
• 8:51
  being gifted for Christmas.
• 8:53
  Grab some of those bags that you could care less about.
• 8:56
  And you're like, you know what, I don't need to have this many bags and I'm
• 8:59
  ready to use some of them up or get ready to donate them in the future.
• 9:02
  Whatever the case is, put a little scrap piece of cardboard,
• 9:08
  grab a, not cardboard, construction paper and a stapler and staple January,
• 9:13
  February, March, April, May all the way through if you have 12 of anything.
• 9:16
  Create your own gift of candle of the month club or perfume of the month club
• 9:23
  or lotion of the month club.
• 9:25
  And I want you to put a little reminder on your phone that says open your of
• 9:31
  the month gift that will pop up on the first of each month.
• 9:36
  Because we need to quit having cupboards with 50 candles in them.
• 9:42
  Let's start using them. Use them, use them up for the length of that month and
• 9:47
  then discard however it is that makes sense to you to discard them.
• 9:52
  This hoarding we do of things that we think are supposed to be special or that
• 9:56
  we're gonna use but we never do because it doesn't seem like the right time
• 10:01
  or we forget because we put them up because they're special,
• 10:03
  we need to start using those things up.
• 10:06
  So start creating that type of thing. And if you're like, oh,
• 10:10
  I just, I can't get myself to do it, then why are you keeping it?
• 10:15
  This will lead to the next tip. Grab a tote and look around.
• 10:19
  If you have completely unused and you're never going to use because you're now
• 10:24
  honest with yourself because you refuse to put them in this last idea.
• 10:28
  Gather the gifts that your kids are never going to touch. They weren't really right for your kids.
• 10:33
  They're still even in the packaging. They're still of the tags on.
• 10:37
  All the new gifts, collect them together in a single tote and say gifts for others.
• 10:44
  Store them in with your rest of your Christmas stuff. And when they come out
• 10:49
  next year, some of it might now be appropriate for some of your kids.
• 10:52
  Some of it might be like, oh my gosh, I am never the person who brings hostess
• 10:57
  gifts, but everywhere I go this Christmas, I'm going to take a candle.
• 11:01
  I have these toy donation drives that everybody's asking for.
• 11:07
  Guess what? I just gathered seven toys from all my different kids that are never
• 11:11
  going to use things, and I'm going to take those to the toy drive this year.
• 11:15
  I just realized that, you know,
• 11:17
  my sweet Aunt Mary bought a coat that was two sizes too small for my youngest
• 11:23
  kid, but next year when they ask for a coat drive, I'm going to take this because
• 11:27
  it's a lovely coat and some kid can use it, but my timing is off.
• 11:31
  If you gather all these things now, put them in a tote, label new gifts,
• 11:35
  and close it up, when you pull it out December 1st, you're better armed for next year.
• 11:41
  And it will save you so much money because you're not adding all of that extra
• 11:45
  Christmastime expense into next year's budget. You're just utilizing it in the
• 11:50
  best way possible as leftovers from this year.
• 11:55
  And honestly, these are the type of leftovers that are completely unused and
• 11:58
  perfect to give as gifts.
• 12:00
  If you are worried about re-gifting something to someone who gave it to you
• 12:04
  right now while your mind is fresh, put was from Aunt Mary so that you don't
• 12:10
  have her turn around and see that you're re-gifting her candle or whatever.
• 12:14
  So those are just a couple things while you've got maybe a little extra time
• 12:19
  on your hand or a little bit older kids that would help you pull some of this stuff together.
• 12:24
  All of that is great. And then one final thought, write yourself a note or record
• 12:31
  yourself on a voice memo and just get all those thoughts out.
• 12:36
  Things that you were happy about with this Christmas, things you loved that
• 12:39
  you had done, things that you're like, oh, I wish I had. I never got this out.
• 12:44
  Are we really ready to be done with Advent boxes because our kids seem to have
• 12:49
  cared less this year or our kids have outgrown this particular tradition?
• 12:53
  Go ahead and get those thoughts dumped out of your brain now.
• 12:56
  You think you will remember these things in 12 months? You won't.
• 13:01
  Then write yourself one last note or drop it in a big envelope or put it with
• 13:06
  a neon sticker that says,
• 13:08
  listen to last year's voice memo or open this first before decorating this year
• 13:13
  so that you will read this and remember that mindset of what you really cared
• 13:19
  and didn't care about as the holiday season progressed.
• 13:22
  If you will do any or all of these items, you're going to really set yourself
• 13:28
  up next year in a way that's going to make yourself happy that you took the time.
• 13:33
  So let me know, reach out to me if some, any of those ideas worked or were,
• 13:38
  you know, great ideas that you want to try and try and attempt.
• 13:43
  Or if you're like, oh my gosh, Joy, I do this and this is awesome.
• 13:47
  Please share it with your audience.
• 13:49
  I would love to do a wrap up of thoughts you all had. You can send me any of
• 13:53
  your thoughts to joy at joylovinghome.com.
• 13:57
  All right, I'm going to stop there. But if you want to, I'm going to talk a
• 14:01
  little next tomorrow, the next podcast, which I'm putting out tomorrow,
• 14:06
  which is about tips to set yourself up for the new year correctly.
• 14:10
  All right, hope you enjoyed this and continue to choose joy.