There are some simple steps you can take right now that will reduce the stress of your holiday preparations.

• Start collecting the mailing labels that various charities send. You can use them for your Christmas cards.
• Find a place (a basket or file perhaps) to keep catalogs and donation solicitations that will start arriving with ever greater frequency,. If you aren't interested at all, toss then right into recycling. If you think you might be interested, keep them all on one place to facilitate later decisions.
• Start using the food in your fridge, pantry, and freezer. You're going to need space; start making it. As a bonus, you might reduce your grocery bills and you can save that money in your holiday fund.
• Try taking 10 minutes or so each day to declutter. It's amazing how much you can accomplish in just those few minutes. Concentrate on one area each day, starting with the public and most highly-trafficked areas. That way, you won't need to face massive cleaning before you can cook, bake, and decorate.
• Stop buying things you want, but don't need. If you don't have to use something between now and Christmas, put it on your Christmas list instead of in your shopping cart. You'll be easier to buy for, you'll save money (which can go into your holiday fund), and you'll practice delayed gratification. That's a win.

All told, these tasks won't add more than 15 minutes to your daily task list, but they will save tons of precious time when December rolls around.