As the mom, it is often my job to keep my family organized - who is going where, when, and for how long. I thought I would share some of my ideas for how I manage to keep my family organized and on schedule!
1) Plan Dinners in Advance. I go shopping every week for groceries. Before I go, though, I plan out a weeks worth of dinners for every night - taking into account if my husband has an orchestra rehearsal, or will be teaching music lessons after work and will be getting home late. This allows me to plan out my grocery list, as well as dinners that will let us eat as a family and still get everyone where they need to go on time.
2) Use a Planner. Now, it just so happens that I need one for my job anyway, to keep track of appointments. But even if you're a stay at home mom, use a planner, or a pocket calendar, or something you can use to keep track of appointments. Review it every day, in the morning and again before bed, so you know exactly what's coming up when. I even use highlighters to block out places I will be for a chunk of time (work, play group, etc.) so that I won't schedule anything that interferes with those things.
A calendar is a great way for everyone to stay on top of the daily schedule as well. My family uses a white board calendar on our refrigerator – we’re all likely to see it there!
Google Calendars is another great way to stay organized if your kids are older and can use the computer effectively on their own.
3) Create an Emergency Binder. This is a binder that has copies of everyone’s vital information and important documents (birth certificates, social security cards, bank information, etc.). That way, if your house ever has an emergency, you can just grab it and get out. The link above will take you to a website where you can download a zip file of documents to use to get you started.
4) Have a Routine. Try sticking to a certain time frame everyday. This will help keep you organized and it will be easier to manage your time. If something happens unexpectedly, you will be able to figure out how to get back on track easily. This also helps young children know what they can expect next (such as they always take a nap after lunch).
5) Take time for yourself. Everyone knows the line "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." What we, as moms, never realize, is how true that is. Take an hour every day (if possible, otherwise, settle for 10 or 15 minutes), and do something just for you. Do yoga, paint your nails, knit, whatever. If you can relax and refresh for a few minutes, you'll be much more open to dealing with things with your kids or significant other.
6) Everything has a place. If your kids know to leave their coat and shoes at the door, they'll be able to find them in the morning while rushing to get ready for school. If homework is always completed, checked and put back in their folder the night before, they will have it when they get to school. If your keys go in them same spot when you get home, you'll know where to look for them the next time you need to go out. Create a spot for the most frequently used things in your home (cell phone, keys, coats, shoes, backpacks, and so on) so family members always know where to find them. This will save time and frustration for everyone. Remember, don’t just put it down, put it away!
7) Declutter. Its spring, and what better time to get rid of some stuff that you haven't touched over the last 6 years.
- Clean out your closets and donate the items to a homeless shelter or Good Will. Same with your kids toys: Have them pick the toys they absolutely cannot part with. The ones they don't play with much, but can't seem to get rid of should go in a storage bin in your basement, attic or other storage area. Anything they haven't touched in 6 months though, is gone. Remind them that there are kids who may not have as many toys as they do, and those kids should get to have play things too.
- Group like things together in every room. Put all of your like cooking utensils together. Put all your towels together. Put all of your winter coats together. Sort mail when it arrives - get rid of anything that is junk (make sure you shake it out so you don't throw away something important!), put bills in one place, and everything else in another place. Our house uses boxes that are sorted by each person - a box for mom’s mail, a box for dad’s mail, and so on.
Don’t try to do it all at once, though, or you’ll get overwhelmed and won’t finish.
8) Don’t yell at each other unless the house is on fire. Short, sweet and to the point.
9) Look for useful tools online or on your phone. I am cell phone savvy, but I’m not someone who spends a lot of time on my cell phone. I do, however, spend a lot of time on the computer. There are some great websites to help keep your house organized. Here are some examples:
Packandfind.com – know what’s in all the boxes in your attic
Yourgarageonline.com – keep track of all your vehicles service records
Ohdontforget.com – set up reminders to be sent to your phone as a text message.
Rememberthemilk.com – Create task lists and manage them from anywhere, get reminders via e-mail, text message or IM, manage tasks offline and more.
10) Ask for help. Let’s face it – we’re not supermoms (or superdads), as much as we want to feel like it. Put some responsibility on other family members to help keep track of the daily schedule. Ask for help from friends and family if you start feeling overwhelmed. You might be surprised at how big your support network really is!
Disclosure: This post is part of a blogging contest from the TwitterMoms community. There is a chance this post could be randomly selected to win a $50 Target GiftCard, so wish me luck! For more details, you can view the contest page here (http://icomp.ly/IconApps).
