December might be the most challenging month yet, as far as my project goes. I feel like I often read articles about simplifying schedules by saying ‘no’ to commitments, but I never really see any advice for people who find this advice unhelpful.

Unfortunately I don’t have any advice to share, either.

I discovered I don’t have a problem saying no to requests because I work and genuinely don’t have time. But this month’s calendar is packed with things where saying ‘no’ is not an option. For example, there are three half days of school this month, due to parent-teacher conferences and a teacher training day. They pose a definite challenge to me, because Emma’s day ends about halfway through my work day. Many of the mom friends I coordinate child care with also found today tough, so I had no choice but to leave work early. I’m very grateful to have an understanding boss who has walked in my shoes- it makes a huge difference and I know many people don’t have that.

Looking back, I realize I didn’t coordinate my project well with regards to weather. I should have given more attention to the garage and attic during the spring and fall, because now it’s cold. Though one recent commenter suggested bringing items into the house to sort, which is a great idea I didn’t think of. This approach is way more efficient. For one thing, it’s obviously much warmer in the house. But more importantly, the garage is just such a mess it overwhelms me nearly to the point of paralysis. Every time. I wonder how many minutes I’ve spent just staring at it all. But going through everything in the house, where it’s much neater, facilitates the process because I can focus on the items at hand and not all the items left to sort.

This is what my home office/library looks like at the moment, and the reason why I can’t contemplate taking out the Christmas bins even though we’re definitely into the season. As of this moment, none of these boxes are full. Yet.

Props to Chewy.com for saving me a trip to the pet store AND providing great sturdy boxes!

So I’m working on filling these boxes with items from the garage, though I have thrown away and recycled a lot. Until last week the space was an identity thief’s dream because there were two boxes full of old bank and credit card statements and pay stubs. Several months ago we took several bags to a local shredding event, but we must have missed these which is not surprising. There’s a lot but not too much for my home shredder.

This has been the most stressful week I’ve had in a while, only partly because of the holidays, mostly because of the lack of wiggle room in my calendar for this month. On Sunday we’re going to put up the tree and whatever decorations I can get out will be it, I’m not going to make myself nuts!