How to Be Madly Organized This Yom Tov Season – FREE google sheets menu template

Stay cool under pressure. A customizable spreadsheet can help make prepping for Yom Tov easy. Free download!

Excel (or Google Spreadsheets, to be more accurate) is the tool that makes my life work.

I use a spreadsheet to make preparing for Yom Tov or any simcha completely manageable and not overwhelming.

We’ve provided my spreadsheet  (it’s pre-filled with a mock menu just to show you how it’s done, but replace with your own dishes and steps), but here’s a quick guide on how to use it to make your life easier. The concept is simple–I break down each task by day/week, so it becomes less overwhelming. I know what I need to do today. The rest doesn’t matter!

The Spreadsheet Menu Organizing Method

Status Column: Here’s where you mark if something is done! It feels so good to insert those “X’s!”

Menu Item Column: Here’s where you list your dishes, meal by meal (or category by category if you’re planning a simcha).

Days of the Week Columns: Each of these columns are devoted to one day. I like spreading out the tasks over a two week period so there’s not a ton to do every day. Slot the tasks needed to complete each dish into a day. Some dishes can be completed in one day (i.e. baking and freezing a complete dessert). Others should be broken down into different days (i.e. if I’m preparing a salad, one day, earlier in the week, I might devote to making all the salad dressings for all the salads. I might as well once I have all those ingredients out! The day before might be the day I choose to chop all my vegetables).

Items that are freezer-friendly get slotted earlier on, dishes that need to be prepared fresh get slotted later.

Spread out the tasks; don’t overload your days. This is also where you can see if your menu is manageable. It’s good to make sure that you don’t have too much tasks that need to be done fresh, but rather a good balance of freezer-friendly and fridge-friendly items.

Once you finish a task, delete it (or better yet, print out your spreadsheet and cross it off)! 

See? When tasks are broken down, you’ll have a small and manageable list to accomplish each day. You won’t be overwhelmed by the huge list of things you need to do. Rather, you’ll feel empowered because the rest of your upcoming to-do list doesn’t matter. All that matters is what you need to do TODAY.

Yom Tov Day Columns: Specify what needs to be done when serving each dish, i.e. “Bake,” “Rewarm,” “Toss.” Having this list will keep you more composed when it’s time to serve that meal.

Shopping List Columns: You can’t get your “to-dos” done if the right ingredients aren’t in your house. Now that you know what you’re cooking each day, you know what you need and when–and you don’t need to overwhelm yourself with getting everything at once. 

You can also include other non-food related errands here as well so all your Yom Tov prep tasks are focused in one place.

Download this sample spreadsheet, replace the filled-in cells with your own menu items, and start organizing today!

Note: I prefer using Google spreadsheets over Excel, as my revisions (along with my revision history) are always automatically saved and I can access an up-to-date spreadsheet from my phone or anywhere. To open this with Google spreadsheet, simply email it to your gmail account and download it to Google drive.