3 tips for planning a stress-free holiday party

For most people, the holiday season is a chance to celebrate with friends and family. But if you’re in charge of planning a holiday party, this time of year can feel more than a little stressful. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be — we’ve put together some ideas for how Dropbox can help you organize a merry holiday party with minimal stress.

1. Keep everything together Party planning can be hectic enough as it is. It’s even more so when your to-do list is scattered across a bunch of sticky notes. Get organized by saving everything — shopping lists, your party menu, and your guest list — to your Dropbox, so you know exactly where to look when you’re ready to check things off. You can even use a to-do app like Wunderlist, which connects with Dropbox to help you get more done. And because Dropbox automatically syncs files across your devices, you can easily pull up your shopping list when you’re at the grocery store. If you’re planning a holiday event for your office, be sure to not to misplace any receipts or invoices. Scan or take photos of all your receipts; Dropbox-integrated apps like Scanner Pro and Scanbot make that even easier. When it’s time to submit expense reports to your accounting department, you won’t have to go rummaging through your desk — you’ll already have everything you need in your Dropbox.

2. Get inspired No holiday gathering would be a true party without some festive decorations. Inspiration is everywhere, but it can be hard to remember exactly where you saw that holiday lighting design or DIY centerpiece. Dropbox makes it easy to collect your decoration inspiration, especially if you take a lot of screenshots. If you’re using our desktop app, your screenshots can be automatically saved to your Dropbox — instantly. Pretty soon, you’ll have a folder full of great ideas.

3. Save and share your holiday memories So you planned a great party, and you took a whole evening’s worth of photos on your phone. Now you want to back those photos up and share them with your party guests. With Carousel, the photo gallery app from Dropbox, all of that’s a snap. Carousel automatically organizes all your photos for you, backs them up to Dropbox, and makes it easy to privately share the photos you choose — whether it’s five or 500 of them — with just a few taps. That way, you’ll always be able to look back on the holiday season.

Have any other tips for using Dropbox productivity tools to plan a party?