Staying Sane While Raising Your Teens

Effectively Managing Thanksgiving Activities

November 20, 2017 at 4:23 pm Leave a comment

When the holidays occur, does your willpower for time management go out the window? Do you feel that nothing can be done properly unless you do it yourself? That’s a bad feeling especially when you are exhausted, irritable and everybody went to bed hours ago. You make it a point to do everything to make Thanksgiving wonderful, but when the day arrives, you are exhausted, testy and no fun to be around. 

I’ve been there too! The major difference is that I grew up in a household where my mother believed in delegating tasks to my sister, brother and me. It didn’t mean that there weren’t a ton of tasks that only she could take care of, but we all participated. If we didn’t do it to her liking, she taught us how to do it properly. As I hosted Thanksgiving dinners with my own family, I send out the menu and asked who wanted or to make (or purchase) an item. This made our dinners more collaborative and I wasn’t completely stressed out by the time the guests arrived.

Depending on your traditions, Thanksgiving may be a formal affair with tablecloths, silver (yes the kind that has to be polished) and china. Or you may be less formal, but everyone will be at your home and you have lots of food to cook. Either way, here are three tips for effectively managing Thanksgiving activities and preparation without losing your cool.

1. Create a list of things that have to be done. (It’s not too late, as long as you create it today!)
2. On that list, put names of family members or friends who you can delegate this task to.
3. Be gracious with the help that you receive.

#3 is probably just as important as #1 & #2. Being critical of the help you receive, whether it’s cutting up veggies, ironing tablecloths or how someone prepared a dish, makes those who help you, disappear when you need help in the future. If you don’t like the gravy, your daughter-in-law made, keep it to yourself.

Oh and be sure to get to bed at a decent time on Wednesday, so that you can enjoy your family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would love to hear how you slayed on Thanksgiving?

When I coach my clients about finding their superwoman, I encourage them to discuss what’s holding them back and determine what is most important in their life: work, family or relationships. If you are struggling with time management and planning, Click Here to schedule a complimentary discovery session with me.

C. Lynn Williams

Award-winning Author & Founder of Finding Superwoman™
www.clynnwilliams.com

Entry filed under: #StaySane, family, Parenting. Tags: delegate, Holidays, overwhelmed, planning, Thanksgiving, time management, willpower.