If you are like most people who inhabit this earth, you are in need of some organisation assistance. You have a schedule. Your partner and children have their respective schedules. Sometimes even the family pet has a schedule. Add in busy lives and passing conversations or missent texts, and the whole system breaks down. Do not despair. There are many ways to tackle this age-old dilemma and live in scheduling harmony once again.
Invest in a wall planner.
One of the most functional ways to keep everyone aware of their respective family members’ activities is to hang a wall planner. Consider where the most foot traffic in your home is, and then install the wall planner there in a central location where everyone will see it as they come and go or move throughout the home.
Wall planners are highly functional and easy to use regardless of age (with some limits, of course). After measuring your intended space, select a wall planner size that accommodates everyone in the family. Next, decide whether you wish to have the acrylic wall planners personalised with family names. Finally, add on some colourful chalk markers, and you are set.
Once you have your wall planner in place, you are ready to begin your new lease on an organised life. Start by neatly writing all calendar items that the family needs to know about as a unit. These will be things such as school or work activities, medical appointments, changes in drop off or pick up times, etc. Colour code these entries so that everyone can see who the entry pertains to at a glance.
Encourage all family members to neatly add in items as they come up so that everyone is informed and able to work together.
Create a central workstation.
Have one centrally located space in your home to place incoming daily mail, important permission slips, etc. This will ideally be directly below your new wall planner so that everything is in one place. Designate a countertop or desk for this purpose.
Add in coordinating vertical files, flat files, baskets, or other office supply systems and place names on them to identify which file belongs to whom. As an example, if your child needs a permission slip signed, they will place the form in your basket when they come home from school. When you check your basket, you see the form, sign it, and place it back in your child’s basket. They collect it as part of their routine when they are loading their bag before school the next day.
Here is a video showing you how to create a kids command centre to add more organisation to your home.
Having a family calendar and a centrally-located command centre is an essential part of family life. Make your lives easier by making communication and scheduling seamless parts of your day. When everyone knows what to expect, planning activities and maintaining schedules becomes a straightforward task. Knowing where to place and find important daily communications and documents means less running around trying to find people and paperwork. Perhaps you can post a word of the week here to inspire those around you. Make your life less stressful and more organised. When you take these steps, you will have more time for the things and people you love.
This is a collaborative post
