How to Plan for a Multi-Day Event

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Last year, I wrote about Planning a Holiday Week. 

It was a great post, packed with information to help get a busy week under control.

But I've done a much better job this year. So Merry Christmas! 

My gift to you is to teach you how to plan for any multi-day event or hard deadline coming up in your life.

I am using At-A-Glance Planning Note Cards to make my plan.

They are a bit heavier than planner paper, but thinner than card stock or an index card. They come with graph paper and the date area on the front and blank on the back. I did have to hole-punch them myself, but at 4 x 6, they fit perfectly in my Franklin Covey compact.

I use the front for planning and the back for notes or lists. They are stored, a few at a time, in the back of my planner.

Now, if you read Giftie Etcetera at all, you know I tend to use Quo Vadis pages for my daily dockets. These are great for that purpose, too, if I am stuck on the road without my Quo Vadis and need a daily page!

1. Prep the Inserts

After I hole-punch the inserts, I fold them so that the edge with the holes lines up with the line to the left of the date area.

I do that for an obvious reason - to create two distinct spaces.

2. Make a Task List

To the left of the fold, I start a task list.

Basically, I am making a daily docket. (Search "Daily Docket" on Giftie Etcetera for tons of ideas.) 

But I do something special when planning for a multi-day or multi-deadline event, like Christmas holidays, a big presentation at work, or the first few days of school.

I make all the daily dockets for any day with a DUE date or an event at the same time.

In the picture below, the arrows point to the page representing Wednesday. I also have pages for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The DUE tasks, like wrapping presents and loading them in the car, go on top of the task list.

Traditional tasks that we do on the night before the night before Christmas - like reading a Christmas book, opening a gift (an ornament for each kid that reflects their year and goes with them to college to start their tree), and having the Elf bring glow sticks for the bonfires on Christmas Eve - all go on the bottom of the list.

TIP: Save these lists year-to-year to make next year's planning easily.

3. Add Events in the Timed Slots

Christmas parties, gift exchanges, caroling, Christmas dinner...if it has a time, it goes on this list.

4. Consider a Master Task List

A ton of stuff has to be done before Christmas. It's not really due until after the weekend, but I need to start wrapping 1,362 presents (okay, that's an exaggeration...barely).

I'm making a Master Task list to supplement the normal tasks that I do on the weekend.

On the list:

-gift wrapping
-charging up electronic gifts
-borrowing tools from Dad to put together gifts
-making fudge/cookies
-grocery shopping for important meals
-cleaning the house for houseguests

5. Work the Plan

Of course, all of these notes only work if I work the plan!

I hope this helps with Christmas, but it would work for a staff training, a lesson plan, or writing a book by the deadline, too.

If you want to purchase At-A-Glance Planning Note Cards, there are not many left on Amazon or in my local stores, so hurry.

Etcetera.

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