Mia and Dinah give you top hacks for planning for Christmas in the time of COVID-19.

They talk about how coronavirus will likely impact our plans for Christmas this year including:  

• budgets being impacted due to the job and income loss facing many families
• limits to numbers of people at indoor and outdoor parties and events
• unprecedented demand for online shopping and likely postage delays
• travel restrictions changing who you may be able to spend Christmas with
• more time at home.

Mia and Dinah refer back to earlier podcast episodes on Preparing for Christmas (ep 21) and Simplifying Gift Giving (ep 16)  to reflect on key things that help smooth the way including:

• planning early to reduce the stress
• establishing and refreshing Christmas tradition reference lists
• drawing on established life admin techniques including to-do lists, scheduling and decluttering.

They also discuss that for some people preparing for Christmas may feel really overwhelming due to the professional and personal burnout they have been facing this year. It will be important for people to complete the 'stress cycle' to rejuvenate before starting their Christmas preparations.

Dinah talks about her plans so far including:

• making a contingency travel plan in case travel restrictions remain
• making a gift spreadsheet including all the people she needs to buy for, what to buy, who will buy and the budget per person
• starting her shopping for the kids
• putting together an album of photos on her phone to start making some photo gifts 
• having a family discussion about the traditions her family want to keep and making sure the traditions they are keen on are scheduled or put in her to-do list
• scheduling a time in her shared calendar for putting up the Christmas tree and making a gingerbread house
• making sure she has enough Christmas cards so she is not tempted to buy any more
• adding a to-do list task for making homemade Christmas baked good for her neighbours.

Mia talks about her plans so far including:

• thinking about the likely plans for hosting Christmas lunch
• planning to buy decorations for her new home since she separated with her husband
• setting up a gift spreadsheet together with her ex-husband to start thinking about what to buy family members
• ordering some new Christmas books
• making a Christmas movie reference list so she can start adding movies for her to watch with her children in the lead up to Christmas.

RESOURCES

• Episode 21 - Preparing for Christmas
• Episode 16 - Simplifying Gift Giving 
• Podcast - Unlocking Us - Brené with Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle
• Book - Letters from Father Christmas - J. R. R. Tolkein
• Book - Joy