Kathi Provides Holiday Muck Mastering Tips on KUSI news, “How To Master Your Muck For The Holidays”
(Transcript)
Bridget Naso: Okay, holidays are always a very busy time, and this morning we are helping you cut down on the holiday chaos. Kathi Burns is here; she’s got tips on how to master your muck during the holidays. And by the way, ‘How to Master Your Muck’ is the name of your new book. Good morning!
Kathi: Good morning! Thank you for having me on.
Bridget Naso: I’m holding the book up. Oh this time of year, things get so hectic. You have so many events, so many things going on. Give us some clues as to how we can manage all of this.
Kathi: Well you know, this is the time, you’re totally right, this is the most muck-filled area in the whole year. And basically I think the number one thing is to optimize your time. So as a professional organizer, it’s all about kind of chunking your tasks into similar types of tasks. So whenever you’re making dinner, why not make two or three. Why not freeze some? It also helps you with your waistline during the holidays because you have food that you can fall back on whenever you’re on your shopping frenzy and exhausted.
Bridget Naso: That’s smart, you’re maximizing your time. Thinking in bulk, I love that. Great idea! Also you say some other tips that you have is make sure you plan ahead and think ahead, that’s really helpful isn’t it?
Kathi: Planning ahead and actually setting your agenda in advance of the week is really critical at this time of the year. In my book, I talk a lot about goal setting and time management but it’s a lot about, most importantly now. So before you plan your day, you want to decide like what routes you’re going to take, what errands you’re going to accomplish during that day because you don’t think that Santa really travels without an itinerary did you, to get all that done overnight? So we need to take good advice from him and actually have an agenda before we leave the house, of all the routes we’re going to take.
Bridget Naso: I love that! Okay, you also have a holiday organizer here. This is fantastic! How did you come up with this idea?
Kathi: Well I created this for my clients because a lot of them have too many loose papers and they can’t figure out what to do with like their travel itineraries or their guest lists. They can’t even remember what they gave last year, who they need to give to this year. So this actually is a binder that contains it all in one. They can keep it on their shelf throughout the year and so as they come up with ideas or if they clip magazine articles or any kind of gift ideas they can put it in it.
Bridget Naso: Okay and so you’re opening it up here, and you’ve got all kinds of…you’ve got card lists in there…
Kathi: And of course you’ve got to have your stamps and your favorite pen, there’s the cards list. You know who you’re sending cards to with their addresses, the gifts list – of course you’ve got to keep that and check it twice. And then the next thing is perhaps the receipts for the gifts, so if you get something and someone has to return it they can do that. The travel itinerary is whenever you actually set your plans in advance, you can actually keep track of those. And also this is a great place to put party invitations and that type of thing so you know where you’re going.
Traditions – we all have traditions for our family that we go over, and over, and over with. Maybe it’s ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ the actual story that you read; you can actually have it in here. Catering and vendors in case you throw parties and also the party guest list; if they’ve RSVP’d and how many people. And then, I was scrambling before I did this, I was always scrambling to find my Mexican Wedding Cake recipe. Made it once a year, where the heck is it? Now it’s right here in this binder. And then obviously the greeting cards, so they’re all right here in a nice neat binder.
Bridget Naso: All organized. Now along with thinking in bulk and maybe you make one meal, you make five at the same time. You also say it’s a great idea when it comes to gift giving too?
Kathi: I like having a theme for gift giving every year. It’s really, really helpful to think okay, this year everybody’s going to receive perhaps services, services for professionals. We often think of massage certificates or pedicures but why not give a professional organizer? Why not give an image consultant; services for a friend? It’s eco-friendly, clutter-free….housecleaning, or babysitting? So they’re all things that don’t clutter your life.
I see in the field all the time with my clients is they have all these gifts. They didn’t necessarily want them and it created clutter in their environment. So think eco now and think of things you can give that are services that are usable.
Bridget Naso: I love that, it’s a fresh new idea and you can really tailor it to the person that you’re giving the gift to. Also you talk about the fact that when it comes to accepting invitations and things like that, you really want to manage your time wisely. Is it okay during the holidays to say for you’ve got you know, three kids, to skip one of the holiday parties as far as making something?
Kathi: I think it’s very important, I think we get stuck in the muck of feeling like we have to go to every single event that we’re invited to. And I think especially during the holidays you need to be kind to yourself and gentle and say no, and spend more time with the people you want to spend time with, even if that means not spending time with your family perhaps during the holidays. Spend time with the people you really want to spend time with, you don’t have to travel far away every single year to see the relatives if that feels stressful for you.
Bridget Naso: Very good, I love that you give us permission to budget our time wisely! And you actually are going to be at a book signing coming up?
Kathi: I am.
Bridget Naso: We want to get that information on our screen on “How To Master Your Muck,” because of course holidays are a prime time for mastering muck but it’s all year long. So if you want that information on the screen there. Tell us about your book signing.
Kathi: I will be at the Encinitas Library speaking for one hour if you’d like tips there’s going to be plenty more and my book will also be for sale and it will be book signed at the time. And it’s a full hour seminar and it’s actually free to the public, so Encinitas Library this coming Saturday from 10-11 am. Anyone who orders this book as well through KUSI (we love our KUSI viewers), you’ll receive a free “How to Master Your Holidays” organizing tip sheet.
Bridget Naso: Very nice, a little addition. “How To Master Your Muck,” Kathi Burns; thank you so much. Here is the book. So nice to meet you, great tips for the holidays, I love the binder, your organizer. A great idea; thank you so much. We’ll have you back again when it’s time to clean up for spring.
Kathi: Get organized for January!
