Family Calendar

Family Calendar – Time Management

We all have busy schedules, and when we throw our kids schedules in the mix, things can become chaotic!  How can you stay organized and still feel in control of your schedule. You want to be the one running your day not the other way around!  Here are some simple steps to get you going with some recommendations of books to read for your reference!

First of all you need to choose what kind of planner you would like to use. The one to the left is a basic dry erase board which I have seen work very well for families.  You can also choose a written daily planner, your computer, or your phone / palm pilot. There are also different kinds of calendars that gear specifically to the Mom and to Families that may be worth a try.  The important thing is that it works for your family!

Once you have chosen your calendar, you need to make sure all of your appointments are in one place.  If you are a visual person, this is going to be very important to you.  You want to be able to see everything in one place rather than having 2 or 3 different calendars.  You are taking the steps to ensure there is no overlapping in schedules.

Color code for each member of the family.  This is making it clear who needs to be where at what time.

Prepare! Look at your schedule every Sunday with your family and discuss who is going where and how they are getting there.  This is a visual snapshot of what is ahead.

Prepare! Look at your schedule every night before the next day!  Do as much as you can the night before to make the mornings less chaotic.  Get clothes picked out and ready to go, lunches packed, bags packed.  Anything you can do the night before will HELP you in the morning!

Remember to block out enough time for travel if  it takes you more than 10 minutes to get somewhere.  Sometimes we are in a rush because we don’t take this into account.

Books I recommend on Time Management include:  Getting Things Done, by David Allen and Time Management from the Inside Out, by Julie Morgenstern.