Have you started doing your Christmas shopping yet? Writing your Christmas cards? Or are you one of those extremely well-organised people who’ve already finished their preliminary preparations for the festive season?
And what about the countdown to the big day? The presents need to be wrapped and labelled; you need to know exactly who will be coming to dinner, when they will arrive and how long they will stay; you need to organise the food shopping and then the big one – planning the actual meal. I know that your customs, traditions and the menu you cook will be different depending on where you live in the world. But the thing that we all have in common is that we have to plan the event meticulously if it is to run smoothly and everyone enjoy themselves. It also helps you avoid having a nervous breakdown!
So, the best way to go about it is to think of it as a project. Start by making a list of everything you need to do and everyone who will be involved. Try to think whether you can delegate any of the tasks (such as wrapping the presents, or doing the shopping). Then start to put a timescale on what you need to do.
Why not get a large piece of paper (or more than one) and start to make a plan. For advance cooking, buying the presents, wrapping them and doing other shopping you could simply have a chart that shows each day of the week and when you intend to do a particular task.
Then, for Christmas Eve and big day itself have a chart which breaks down in to hours (or even half-hours) so that you can plan exactly when you are going to start preparing the different parts of the meal so that it all comes together when planned, is fully cooked and beautifully presented.
Identifying these individual stages on your plan isn’t always easy – especially if it’s something you haven’t tackled before. So, be prepared to make a list of everything you think you need to do before you start filling in the time slots on your plan. You may have to check the list a number of times before you’re satisfied that you’ve included everything. Getting advice from others who’ve done it before can be useful.
Once you’ve identified all the individual stages of the project, you can then begin to assess how long it will take you to complete each task and you can start filling in your plan. Having this visual plan to refer to will make life much easier for you when the time comes.
What you are, in effect, doing is preparing a ‘Gantt Chart’. This is a useful project management tool and you can make it as simple or as complex as you need. So, whether you’re a full time project manager, you just need to take on that role occasionally in your work place, or you’re preparing a festive meal, the same techniques can prove very useful – it’s all down to the planning!
Author: Diana Nadin
