Poll #5: Planning for the holidays

I was a little surprised at the results for my last poll: Is it too soon to start planning for the holidays? While I'm a bit torn on this issue myself, I didn't expect it to be so close! 60% of respondents said Not at all, while 40% said Yes, it is. Personally, while I love the fun and family aspects of the fall to winter season (back-to-school all the way through the new year), I never want to start so early with the planning and celebrating that the magic wears off or I get overexposed to holiday fervor. However, there are some things you can do to prepare that aren't going overboard and will make the season go more smoothly:

• Find out how the people you tend to spend holidays with are feeling about travel and hosting. Figuring out where you might be on the major holidays is a big first step. Then you can make travel, lodging and time-off arrangements.
• Focus on the early fall holidays, like Rosh Hashanah or even Halloween, so you can feel some of that holiday spirit without getting too far ahead of yourself.
• Make lists. Lists are a good way to order your thoughts, but you don't have to act on them right away. Lists I've already begun: Halloween card recipients, menu ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas gift ideas.

I'm really looking forward to the traditions that make holidays so much fun in my family, but I'm practicing patience as best I can...the holidays will be here soon enough for us all, I'm sure!

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by nao.k

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Poll #4: Back to school

I do love fall. Even though fall doesn't technically start until the 23rd of September, the weather in Southern California has mellowed from a late-summer heat wave to cooler nights and mornings and lovely sunny afternoons. Though my life is not based around an academic year, living it for most of one's life does tend to give you the sense that the year doesn't start in January, when the calendar turns, but rather when school buses replace ice cream trucks on suburban streets.

My poll last week was about back to school rituals, many of which we still enact even if we are no longer the ones going back to school. Half of the respondents replied that their favorite thing was new school supplies. Sharp pencils and fresh sheets of paper are endlessly inspiring. With 20% of responses each, back to school clothes shopping tied with the sentiment that back to school season isn't my readers' thing. I understand that, too, as summer can be a magical time that no one wants to see end. With just 10% of the votes, the return of routine lagged far behind the others. I suppose a few of my readers don't let their routines waver, even through summer, while others don't institute one at any time of year.

Next up, a very short poll. As my own thoughts turn toward Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations, I want to know your thoughts. Is it too soon, or are we just being prepared? Thanks for participating!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.