Holiday Bonus Episode 1: Simplify the Season

The Five Golden Rings: A Non-Linear Pending List for the Procrastinator’s Christmas

Some years the holiday crunch hits harder than others, and if December’s already underway and you’re feeling behind, this is for you. Think of this as a shortened, five-day version of doing Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) by hitting only the essentials — not because less is the goal, but because the truly important things are what actually make a holiday memorable, and everything else is just stress fluff.

We’re starting with the biggest ripple first: the overarching plan. And the tool for that is a non-linear pending list.

Dump everything out of your head first

Grab a blank sheet of paper and get every single thing you’d hoped to do this season out of your brain and onto it, in whatever order it surfaces. Decorating — inside, outside, the tree, the mantle, the table, the staircase. Gifts — immediate family, extended family, community people, teachers, helpers. Events — every school calendar, every holiday party, every musical or practice or team gathering. Food and treats — the cookies you’re supposed to bake and decorate, the dish you promised for the progressive dinner. And finally, the traditions and meaningful moments you don’t want to lose — an angel tree adoption, the church nativity event, Elf on the Shelf, whatever matters in your house.

Seeing it all in one place can feel like it’s making things worse instead of better. Take a breath. That’s exactly what the “pending” part of a pending list means — nothing here has been decided on yet. It’s just waiting for you to make the call.

Now go back through and cross things out

Look at your decorating list first. Cross out anything that isn’t actually necessary once you strip away the “should.” Maybe your true bare minimum is a tree and stockings, plus one plug-in blow-up in the yard if that’s what makes you feel festive — and nothing more.

For gifts, narrow your focus to your core family and the extended family members you truly don’t want to feel forgotten. For anyone in the “community” bucket — teachers, coaches, neighbors — pick one repeatable gift and give it to everyone in that group. If you make great cookies, that’s the gift, paired with a nice card, for every single person in that category. One decision, made once, instead of a dozen individual choices.

For events already on your calendar, star or highlight anything specific you need to have ready — a certain outfit, an item to bring — so it doesn’t sneak up on you.

For food and treats, if homemade isn’t your specialty this year, break-and-bake cookie dough decorates and tastes just as good, and kids can still do the cookie-cutter part if that’s the piece of the tradition that actually matters to your family.

For traditions, decide honestly which ones deserve real attention this year, and let that be where your energy goes.

Cross out what you’re not doing — and let that feel good

As you strike through everything you’ve decided to skip, mark it with a check rather than just an X. A check means you made a decision, not that you failed at something. Check: not decorating the banister this year. Check: not decorating the outside of the house. Check: not buying for people who’ll never notice whether they got something, just because it always felt obligatory. Check: skipping most of the extracurricular parties and showing up for the one that actually matters — the others will be plenty full without you, and nobody’s going to miss you.

Let the list carry you, in any order

The whole point of a non-linear pending list is that nothing on it has to happen in order, and nothing takes priority over anything else. If crossing things off starts giving you a little burst of motivation, don’t hold yourself back just because “today was supposed to be planning only.” If you feel pulled to clear the space for the tree, or dash out to grab stocking stuffers while the kids are at school, follow that pull. Grab teacher gifts or something off a kid’s wish list if you happen to spot it along the way. If you’re restless but nothing feels ready to tackle yet, even clearing a little space in the entryway or the kitchen counts. Whatever your brain is drawn toward right now is the right next move — there’s no correct order to interrupt.

Your practical, actionable step

Sit down with a blank page and do the full brain dump today: decorating, gifts, events, food, traditions. Then go back through and check off everything you’re deliberately choosing not to do this year.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.