Can the holiday season be chaotic and stressful for you? This week’s newsletter includes a simple process and plan to find greater peace and minimize chaos this holiday season.
Productivity Tip: Find Peace and Balance
Top leaders and organizations use the Six-Step Process to bring order to chaos, solve complex problems, effectively plan, and achieve consistent results. The same process can help you create calm and connection at home this holiday season. Here’s how:
- Start with the Vision: Describe your ideal, peaceful, purpose-filled holiday season.
- Understand the Current Reality: What brings joy, happiness, and peace? Where does stress, chaos, and imbalance creep in?
- Identify Root Causes: What’s really driving the chaos or stress—poor planning, over commitment, poor communication, lack of coordination, or unclear priorities?
- Best Options: Brainstorm the best options. Can you hold a “family planning and scheduling” session this weekend. Coordinate: what can be simplified? What do we want to schedule and need to coordinate? Can we shop early, plan together, and say “no” to what doesn’t fit. Can we put it on a shared calendar?
- Create a Who–What–When Plan: Assign responsibilities and timelines for key actions. Print it out so the family knows what is expected of them. Allow flexibility as well — remember the vision of having peace and joy for the holidays 🙂
- Evaluate: Check in mid-season and make adjustments where needed.
When you lead your holidays the same way top organizational leaders plan, peace stops being accidental—and starts being intentional and achievable.
Case Study: JT's Family
Here’s a story from JT who applied the Six-Step Process the past few holiday seasons:
Our family of seven decided we were done with the holiday chaos. Using the Six-Step Process, we completely redefined the season. We set a vision and created a plan by following these steps:
- What was our Vision: A fun, relaxed, stress-free holiday season we enjoy together.
- What was the Current Reality: Every year has been “five days until Christmas — nothing done, no free weekends, late nights, and endless activities.” We’re done with that.
- What were the Root Causes: No planning and coordination before the chaos hits, no boundaries, shopping during rush hours, and saying “yes” to everything.
- What were the Best Options: Here was our simple plan:
-Hold a family “holiday planning and coordination” meeting
-Prioritize family events; have the schedule planned early
-Shop early with clear budgets
-Wrap gifts immediately
-Finish gifts before Thanksgiving - Plan Who–What–When: We mapped every task — shopping, wrapping, decorating, events — with clear ownership and timing. Everybody knew what they were doing and when.
- Evaluate: Mid-December, they said, “We’re loving this. We’re ahead, relaxed, and actually excited.”
What’s the takeaway? Peace doesn’t happen by accident — it’s planned and practiced.
So, Now What? The "How To"
This week, apply the Six-Step Process to your holiday season, or to one area of your life that’s draining your energy — work, home, or health:
- Write your vision.
- Define your current reality.
- Identify root causes.
- Choose best options to simplify and minimize chaos.
- Create a Who–What–When plan.
- Evaluate in a few weeks and make adjustments.
A few minutes of intentional planning can bring calm, focus, and connection back into your life — right when you need it most! That’s becoming your best!
Give it a shot, and let us know how it goes for you and your family. Here’s to a peaceful, meaningful, and connection-filled holiday season for you and those close to you.
Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.”
-Maya Angelou
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