lifestyle

December 15, 2021

Cultivating Peace Amidst Holiday To-Do’s

Posted in Holiday Tips, Mindset, Planner Tips

Christmas in ten. days. away. If you’re feeling a crushing sense of overwhelm at everything left to do before now and then, take a deep breath. Grab something warm to drink, and cozy up for some words of encouragement and practical tips before you launch into frenzied action.

We could never outdo Isaiah 9:6-7 or Luke 1:46-55 in an attempt to explain how incredible the Incarnation has been to world history. It is fitting that a celebration of Christ’s birth is a day with so much focus every year. God with us. It’s a profound thought. A revolution. The Light entering the darkness of history and chasing away sin and death “far as the curse is found.” It’s phenomenal.

You want to stay focused on what matters most. But with a hundred things on the to-do list, it’s kind of difficult to transpose the message of “peace on earth” to “peace within.” Here are some tips you can utilize today to step out of your frazzled hurry and into stillness of spirit.

Practical Tips to Cultivate Peace This Week

Declutter your brain. You cannot expect to have the space to relax if your brain has a hundred tabs open and trying to load all at once. Get every single task and detail that’s weighing on your mind down on paper. And then sort them according to their priority. What absolutely has to happen? What is important, but not essential? What is fun, but not important? Having absolute clarity on the things that are most essential, will automatically bring a sense of peace to your to-do list.
Envision what you really want this Christmas. Be specific. It helps to journal this out in the flex space of your planner, incorporating and highlighting core value words in your description. Here are some ideas: reverent, calm, cozy, mindful, communion, delight, deep, warm, centered, focused, together, anticipation, hope.
Be willing to cut the nonessential. If your vision is a festive and delicious Christmas dinner—stressing yourself out to add variety to your cookie selection will minimally add to the warmth of togetherness. In fact, it could actually be counterproductive as you will struggle to have the presence of mind to relax and infuse peace into your family’s dinner with your own still spirit. The idea that the host has to be stressed out of her mind every Christmas as she slaves to make everything flawless is a LIE. Your family needs your joy more than they need a Pinterest-perfect dinner. Ruthlessly edit your to-do list so that you can show up for what’s truly essential this week.
Take stillness moments. When you feel your stress levels rising, don’t just push through. Take a deep breath and remember Who this week is all about! Jesus welcomed Mary to sit at His feet, even while Martha was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. It’s so tempting to say, “I’ll find my center in Christ after _____.” That doesn’t have to be your story this Christmas season. Christ came for you to lay down your burdens, too. He’s not worried if you forgot to order your Advent calendar in time, or if your kids have their matching pajamas clean on Christmas morning. So every time you feel your Martha coming on, choose a Mary moment. Take a long drink of water, settle the kids, and then take a moment by yourself to just Abide. Don’t get on Instagram, but instead set a timer for 5 minutes. Put on a playlist that ministers to you. Breathe deeply, keep your eyes closed, and lean into a conversation with God until the timer goes off. It doesn’t take much to recenter on what matters—but it does take intention.

Christmas is ten days away. That’s ten days to cultivate peace in your home. Ten days to knock out the essential things and let the rest fall away. Ten days to prepare to celebrate the greatest moment the world has ever known.

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Need a tool to help you plan the holiday season effectively? Our free day planner is a great way to help you get out of your head, sort your priorities, and let everything else fall away.

December 1, 2021

Planning Seasonal Celebrations that Don’t Overwhelm

Posted by By Clari Mercier

Posted in Holiday Tips

December is upon us and with it comes a flood of expectations we (+ perhaps others) place on ourselves.

“This will be the best year yet. We’ll do an Advent calendar… bake Christmas cookies… and attend all the gatherings, celebrations and service projects – let’s do this! We have shoeboxes to pack, stockings to stuff, lights to hang, and presents to wrap!”

It all starts from a good place – wanting our homes and hearts to reflect the seasons and all it means. But it can very quickly devolve into chaos as our seasonal bucket list turns into the world’s longest holiday to-do list. It can become easy to go from a cozy Christmas craft to full on mayhem as glitter flies about the house, our children run around like goblins, and we sit in the middle of the mess and wonder where it all went wrong.

Below are a few simple tips that can help you head into December full of Christmas cheer, while avoiding that crushing sense of overwhelm.

How to Avoid Seasonal Overwhelm

Do it in your own unique style. Take some time to evaluate what you and your family need this season. Do your kids long for family adventures and you know planning some special outings with them would fill their love-tanks more than any gift could? Or do you think taking things slow, planning some cozy read alouds, early bedtimes and quiet evenings by the Christmas tree would better serve your family? Are you ready and excited to take on hosting the extended family and going all out? Or do you need to be honest with family members about your need to pull back, rest and take advantage of pre-made food? Moving into December in your own unique style means honoring whatever season you’re in. It means prioritizing the things that are life-giving for you and your family, and letting the unimportant things fall to the side. It means shedding unfair expectations, and doing what you know is best for this year, whatever that looks like for you and your family.
Anchor your holiday celebrations to existing rhythms. Filling December with intentional celebrations is wonderful, but trying to do every meaningful or fun thing at once will quickly lead to overwhelm. Anchoring holiday celebrations to already existing rhythms is a great way to incorporate new traditions easily. Last year my family had tremendous success with anchoring our major celebrations on Sundays. Sundays were already our family rest and fun days, and by batching our celebrations on one day of the week, we were able to have wonderful times together without the pressure of making every day in December amazing and memorable. Throughout the week we had our seasonal music, and a simple Advent reading we did as a family, but we let the big celebrations such as special treats, getting our tree, looking at lights, decorating our tree, etc. fall on Sundays. December felt incredibly fun for us, and instead of being run ragged by all the celebrations, we entered Christmas week rested and full of joy and anticipation.
Be okay with saying “no”. Not every Christmas tradition, fun activity or party is going to be right for your family. Saying “no” doesn’t make you a grinch, it makes you intentional. You may need to pass on fun activities in order the preserve a sense of calm in December. You may have to put a cap on how many parties your family attends. You may have to limit how much sugar you let your kids consume. Remember that doing less, does not mean you will have a less memorable holiday season. Instead, you’ll be able to sustain your sense of cheer all the way to and through Christmas, rather than falling to pieces mid-December. Choosing your activities purposefully enables you to do those things really well, in a way that will bring joy to you and your family.
Take notes for next year. At the end of December (or even throughout the month), take notes on what is going well and what you would do differently. Last year I wrote down a short list of what worked really well (such as anchoring our traditions to Sundays), and what I wanted to adjust or add for this year. I paper clipped the note to my December page in my Annual, and it has sat there all year (with the additions of some lovely pen scribbles from my 2 year old). Eleven months later I just pulled it out and read through it, and feel as if half the planning I need to do for this season is already complete.

It actually is possible that this could be the best year yet. But that can only happen if you take a step back and determine what matters most to you at the start. Once you have realized what will bring the most joy to your family this year, you can move through December with confidence, knowing that you are creating a fun holiday season for your family with each activity you choose to do.

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Need a tool to help you plan the holiday season effectively? Our free day planner is a great way to help you get out of your head, sort your priorities, and let everything else fall away.

November 17, 2021

Planning While Postpartum – (Podcast Ep. 7)

Posted by By Clari Mercier

Posted in Lifestyle Planning, Planner Tips, Podcast Episodes

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

Planning while postpartum? At first glance it sounds over-the-top, almost an oxymoron. In the past we’ve even written about how the postpartum season can be an excellent time to take a break from your planner. So why did we choose to do an entire podcast episode on planning while postpartum?

You have to remember that when we say “planning”, we are talking about self-compassionate planning. And perhaps there is not a better time to practice self-compassion than when you are in a season of recovery like the postpartum season. When we say planning while postpartum, we aren’t talking about planning our biggest goals, or mapping our business’ trajectory for the next year; we are talking about the simple, but extremely useful, form of day-to-day planning that helps us get out of our heads, sort our priorities, and let the non-essentials fall away.

Postpartum should be a season of rest. One where we focus on healing and soaking in those newborn days that pass so quickly. It should be a season where family and friends rally around to bring meals, help with other children, and take over housework. And even when this ideal can’t happen, we can still choose how we will approach our season of recovery. We can choose to set expectations for ourselves a little lower so we are able to focus on what matters most.

But it’s incredibly hard to rest when you have a smattering of to-do’s rattling around in your brain. It’s hard to know what’s essential and what can be left for another day (or dropped completely), when you’re foggy from sleep deprivation. It’s hard to track how well you’re healing physically, mentally and emotionally, if you try to do it all in your head.

And that’s where a planner begins to make a lot of sense.

In this episode, we talk about the unique ways we (Clari & McCauley both had babies this past spring, so navigating the postpartum season is fresh!), and other mamas have used the planner while postpartum.

If you’re pregnant or in the postpartum season, give it a listen. We believe you’ll find it both encouraging, and also inspiring as you navigate the postpartum time. And if you have any friends who are in that season, we’d love it if you’d share it with them!

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

November 10, 2021

How We Plan Our Weeks – (Podcast Ep. 6)

Posted by By Clari Mercier

Posted in Lifestyle Planning, Planner Tips, Podcast Episodes

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts

Every Monday is a fresh start.

You have an entire week before you, a clean slate, and it can seem like the possibilities for productivity are endless!

But then you move through each day and it can be easy to slip back into dealing with whatever seems most necessary in each moment, and you find you’re only taking care of the small details, rather than making progress in the most significant areas.

Or maybe you make significant progress on your big goals, but meal planning and laundry is falling off your radar. How do you balance it all? How do you create week rhythms that serve your long term goals, your weekly work needs, and your family?

In this episode, you’ll get a peek into how we (as business owners running a growing company with nine kids under the age of six between us!) plan our weeks. You’ll get to hear how we each approach week planning, and get ideas you can apply in your own unique way. As we say in this episode, we are all about flexible planning that is individual for each person.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts

A Peek Into Our Planners…

We thought it would be fun to give you all some examples of what week spreads look like for each of us. These spreads are from our personal planners over the last few weeks. Our spreads aren’t always beautiful, and they aren’t always full to the max, but they are always utilized for exactly what we need each week.

That is the beauty of a flexible planning system; it serves you each season you are in, exactly how you need it to.

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We would LOVE to see how you are utilizing the day & week pages in your Evergreen planner! Tag us on Instagram (@evergreenplanner)! And if you haven’t already, it would mean so much if you would rate & review the podcast. It’s the best way to help other woman find the show. Thank you!