Have you fully recovered from the holidays and jumped into your New Year’s Resolutions? If so, you can stop reading now. If not, I’m here to give you some grace, because I haven’t either!

Like any out-of-the-routine event, the holidays leave us with a certain amount of disorder. It’s like going on a major vacation: it takes a lot of work to get ready for a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work when the fun is over.

I definitely don’t want the disruption of the holiday season to keep either of us (you or me) from embracing this time of the year.

If you try to do everything all at once, you will be overwhelmed, especially if you don’t have a big block of uninterrupted time to do it all. So rather than getting stressed out and discouraged, take it one step at a time. Rest in the step you’re in, knowing the other to-do’s will get their turn when it’s time.

1. Unpack from travel or straighten up after guests. Or both. If you traveled away from home, even for just a night or two, you need time to recover from the trip--especially if you have children. Clean out the car, unpack, and store luggage. If you hosted guests in your home, make a list of supplies to restock.

In either case, take time to wash, dry, and put away the laundry, so that you and your family have enough clothes and towels for normal daily life while you work on the other steps. (Don’t ask me why I know this. I’d hate to embarrass a certain family member of mine who had to go fishing in the hamper for...)

2. Put away gifts. One challenge after the holidays is finding places to put the gifts you receive. This can be daunting, especially if you find yourself with a significant influx. If you have children, you might want to put some of the toys away until later in the New Year. You might even decide not to keep everything (gasp!). Instead, return items that don’t fit or that you simply can’t use, or save them for charitable gift and toy drives in the coming year. Be sure to keep a who-gave-what list for Step 5.

3. Clear out the refrigerator. Unless it’s frozen, if you haven’t eaten it by now, it’s time to let it go. Better now than when cleanup becomes intolerable. (Don’t ask me about this one, either.) See my article on food safety tips and kitchen organizing for help.

4. Organize or recycle the holiday cards you received. Keep and safely store any cards that contain especially meaningful, personal messages or photos. Or create a simple collage or album of the photos to enjoy throughout the year. Reuse cards to create thank-you cards or postcards, gift tags, or new Christmas cards. (Set these aside to use in Step 5 or store for next year in Step 6.) Put what remains into the recycling bin.

5. Write and send thank-you notes. If waiting to put away gifts until after you write your thank-you cards is more motivating to you, then by all means, switch the steps! On the other hand, you can be more specific if you wait until you’ve put the gifts into use (which is more likely to happen if you find homes for the gifts than if you just leave them sitting in a pile): “Thank you so much for the handmade journal you gave me. I have already written on several pages to record special memories as our baby grows up...” Even if you don’t keep the gift for yourself, you can still thank them for their thoughtfulness without elaborating.

6. Put away your decorations. Consider waiting until after the “12 Days of Christmas,” which lead to Epiphany (January 6), before taking down your decorations. This will extend the season and help you ease into the New Year. For more tips on packing up decorations to make next year’s holidays easier, see “5 Steps to Simplify Holiday Storage.”

Remember, it took several weeks to build up to the holidays, so give yourself a little grace in putting everything away. If you take time to complete one of these steps each day and allow for a day of rest, you might actually enjoy the process--and still get it all done in just a week.

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