5 Key Ways To Support Your Brain During the Holidays: Planner Edition!

The holidays are fully upon us with all the joys, expectations, and yes, demands upon our limited time and resources.

There is so much to plan for.

So much to do.

Sigh. December is hard on folks with executive functioning challenges.

I know I need to support my brain’s weaknesses this time of year to stay balanced and keep the stress under control. To do that, I lean heavily into my Seeing My Time® planner.

It is my external brain, my best friend that supports my sanity. Planners are about a lot more than writing down appointments. For those with the executive function challenge of Working Memory (especially those of us with an aging brain), hand-written, paper references can help support the brain immensely.

It’s easy to set our planners aside in December. If you’ve gotten good use out of yours, it’s likely close to trashed and you are already dreaming of that pristine, new planner just waiting for you on January 1st.

But we’re not done yet! Hang in there with me as I share five key ways that I use the Seeing My Time Planner System to support my brain during the holiday season.

1. A Visual Location for My Gift List

In the back of my planner, there are blank pages with the heading “Notes.” Here I list everyone to buy gifts for, including those not in my immediate family. When I purchase or make something, I write it down next to the recipient. AND I write down where I have stashed it so I can find it for wrapping later. Gotta support that working memory!

2. It Holds My Travel Plans

In the very back of the planner there is a clear plastic pocket folder. It is the “home” for the paper I will need in the future.

Every time I make a plane reservation or reserve a place to stay or a car, I print off the documentation with the key information: dates, times, flight numbers, addresses and car rental info. No more frantically wondering just which car rental agency I booked months ago!

I put these reference pages in chronological order. My next trip is in sight, and in mind. Later trips are filed behind the upcoming trip in order.

This gives me tremendous peace of mind. Yes, all of that is “findable” on my phone, but phones get lost, and lose power when you need them. I am READY with my old-fashioned paper backup.

3. Special Event Printed Tickets Easy to Find

The evening after I return home from California, I have a play to attend. Printed tickets like this go into that back pocket, interspersed with the travel documentation, in chronological order.

Yes, that info is also on my phone, but I find standing in line trying to access that information with people milling around me to be very stressful and anxiety-producing, as I feel incompetent trying to find the email or wherever that e-ticket was stored. Thank God for the paper ticket and my planner. The ticket can be found right when I need it – I simply fold it up and put it in my purse before leaving the house.

4. Planning Meals and Meal Prep When Family is Visiting

I love my family and love to feed them AND I don’t want to go crazy doing it. It has become especially important to plan meals in advance, as one of those family members is my adorable 15-month-old grandson. At this age I don’t dare take my eyes off of him. He is forever distracting me in the kitchen while my brain is trying to track cooking AND what potentially dangerous things he might be getting into now.

For this type of planning, I use the Weekly Commitments page that comes with the planner system.

I tear off two sheets and tape them together in the center so I can “see” the space of two weeks. Then, I pencil in my appointment commitments so I don’t forget them. Finally, I tentatively note which meals I’ll be cooking and when we will be eating out. (Planning to eat out is a big step for me. Yay me for lightening my load!)

Then, I use moveable colored flags for all of the steps that I can do ahead of time. I find open spaces to accomplish them. Seeing it all laid out in front of me calms me down and gives me the focus needed to prep in advance so dinner time is smoother and still delicious. No sending my husband off at the last minute for some key ingredient.

Those Weekly Commitment pages really support my executive function skills of planning and prioritizing.

Here’s a current view of my Weekly Commitments page!

5. Use My Day Plan, Daily

During work weeks, I always plan my day, but I have been known to let it slide on weekends, even though I know I am so much more productive when I use it.

However, I have learned the hard way that with the, umm, chaos and joy of having a toddler in the house, I absolutely need to pause before going to sleep and create a written plan of what to do for the next day. This way, I am fully aware that this is a “list of possibilities.” Little children place big demands on the executive function of flexibility! With that list, the really important things get done.

And, oh yes, one of those important things is exercise. Even with the little one, exercise is at the top of the list. I’ll be pushing him up the hill in his stroller for my three-mile morning walks.

I hope this has given you some ideas about how to manage your holiday stress using your planner. Without my planner, I would have forgotten to write this blog!

May our world experience peace during this season of darkness. Light some candles for hope and love. A new year and a new beginning is just around the corner.

Little by little,