Organize Your Schedule
Easier said than done! Is that an understatement or what! There are so many things to discuss with this topic. This could be a whole series of posts. As I narrow this subject, let’s begin with the beginning. The most basic organization tells me where I’m suppose to be at any given time.
Every family needs a master schedule. Did I have one when I was raising a family? Well no, but my husband, bless him, kept the family schedule. Here are a few ideas to get started with a master family schedule
1. Get all of the school vacations, early outs and days off for the year on a calendar as school begins each fall.
2. As activities begin, (band, basketball, piano lessons) put them on the master schedule.
3. Schedule trips and add them as the plans are made. This includes get aways, basketball traveling tournaments and work travel.
4. Put a time on the calendar to go over the schedule with your husband to make sure each parent knows what is coming up in the next month. My husband sends me an e-mail when he schedules work appointments or trips that will affect me. This has worked better for us than sitting down and comparing schedules. We do the sit down meeting a couple times a year to plan for vacations, mission trips, work and family get together's.
5. It is helpful to have a time with your children to look at the week ahead. I found that Sunday night worked best. We were all thinking about the week ahead but it was before “Monday happened” It seemed that waiting until Monday evening put us behind for the week.
6. If there are special things needed for the week, schedule a time to go get them. If a project is due on Friday, a trip to Target after school Monday (when no other activities are scheduled) might be the best time. If you son needs to bring treats for his baseball team on Wednesday then a time to get them needs to be put on the calendar. Don’t forget this step. Otherwise, mom ends up getting stressed and taking responsibility for things the children need. The children will learn how much time an activity takes if they are involved in it from start to finish.
7. Make sure the master schedule is visual and accessible to all the family members.
I’d love to hear some of the ways other families use a master schedule.
