Since Thanksgiving is only one week away, it’s time to prepare your task schedule.  I schedule using three basic rules:

1. Start from where you need to end and work backwards.  For example, if you want to eat at 3:00 p.m., you need to schedule the turkey to be ready then.  Since the turkey needs to rest thirty minutes before carving, it should finish roasting by 2:30.  Depending on how large the turkey is, you can calculate when you need to start cooking.  An hour before that, you should remove the turkey from its brine.  Twenty-four hours before that, the turkey needs to start brining. Depending on size, two to three days before the brining, the turkey needs to start defrosting in the fridge.  If you do that sort of planning with every element of the meal, you’ll end up with a very detailed schedule that means you won’t be rushing at the last minute.
2. Schedule the most important things first.  That way, if there is a time crunch, you’ll still have the basics.  Let’s face it, no one is likely to notice that you have one less side dish, but it would be hard to hide the fact the turkey is still frozen on the inside!
3. Do everything as early as you can reasonably do it.  You can make many side dishes in advance and reheat them right before dinner.  Most cranberry relishes are better if made in advance because the flavors combine more fully.  You can set the table the night before (or earlier if you can cover it with an old tablecloth to shield the dishes from dust).  You can ready the guest rooms this weekend.  Anything you can do to reduce last-minute tasks will increase the chance that you can enjoy the day.