Thanksgiving Week Checklist: Free Printable & Time Management Tips

Keep on schedule (and even work ahead!) during the week before the holiday with this free Thanksgiving week checklist download and the time management tips that will help you relax and enjoy the holiday.

The holiday months of November and December can be such a fun time of year. At the same time it can also be overwhelming, so although we often have lots of ideas of what we can do or want to do, it’s important to plan and prioritize so we concentrate on the good stuff and leave the rest behind.

That’s where this Thanksgiving week checklist and time management tips come in (as well as the Holiday Planner!). Whether it’s new recipes to try, gifts to make (and buy), or decorating, one of the keys to keeping a simple homemade holiday is to plan early so you can focus on what’s important to you and not feel rushed.

With both this checklist and the holiday planner, I hope you always know that you can just take what is useful to you and leave the rest -my goal is to help you to enjoy your own version of a simple homemade life!

Thanksgiving Week Checklist Printable

The Thanksgiving checklist is a simple 6-day printable to help you plan for the Thanksgiving holiday by giving you tasks for small things you can do each day the week before the holiday to be prepared.

In addition, you’ll find a hour-by-hour guideline to the Thanksgiving dinner, including a sample turkey roasting timeline, so that all your food is ready at the same time.

This is exactly what I do if I’m serving the dinner – I simply wrote down the steps and timing in an easy-to-read checklist format for you.

Thanksgiving Time Management Tips

My favorite part of the Thanksgiving checklist is the sample timeline for cooking your turkey because that’s always the biggest thing I worry about figuring out: how to get everything done at once and on the table?

Here are a few of my other tried-and-true time management tips for Thanksgiving (or any time I entertain, actually), many of which you’ll find in the checklist:

1. Select & shop for recipes early and write down a menu (even if it’s only for you). That way you can check that everything you made early actually makes in onto the table (yep – I’ve forgotten the cranberry sauce in the back of the fridge…).
2. Don’t over-do the table. Candles and dried leaves are perfect – anything else should just be something you enjoy doing, not a thing you feel you have to do.
3. Prep as much in advance as possible. Follow this printable and make rolls, desserts, cranberry sauce, and more days in advance and freeze. Cut any vegetables you need on the big day the day before and store them in the dishes you’ll serve them in.
4. Set the table the day before (though the morning of is good, too).
5. Wash kitchen items as you use them and run the dishwasher if needed early so it’s empty for the dinner dishes.
6. Put someone in charge of drinks before and during dinner and coffee after.

I hope this checklist and the tips help you and your family to have a blessed and relaxing holiday!

If you’re looking for Thanksgiving recipe and easy decor ideas, be sure to check out this page dedicated to all things Thanksgiving – even recipes for leftovers!

And please know how thankful I am that you take the time to stop by, read, and leave comments on the site, helping to make our little community what it is – and allowing me to run this website as my job. I am blessed by you!

Don’t forget to grab your checklist!