Carpets & Flooring
CRI Articles
IEHA Articles
IICRC Articles
Features
The secret to an organized life is time. Since we can’t get any more of it, we need to manage what we have. Here are nine ways to take back your day:
Today, we don’t have to milk a cow or churn the butter, but we do have busy schedules. And whereas farm families worked together as a unit, each member of the modern family has schedules and activities (and some of them involve a 25-minute drive).
Even the 2-year-old has play dates, babysitters and doctor appointments. The 8-year-old has violin, voice and swim team. And the 15-year-old requires a personal chauffeur (but drop him off around the corner, please).
That means the family itself needs a little organization. If the family unit is running smoothly, things don’t pile up on the kitchen counter and appointments aren’t missed.
How do you do it? With so many family members going in so many different directions, you need a master schedule to survive.
1. Create a Family Calendar
First, coordinate activities. Start with a family calendar that shows everything the family has to do: doctor appointments, soccer matches, play dates, lunch meetings. Daughter Cindy wants to have a friend over Friday? Check the calendar and you see that your husband has a dinner meeting that night and son Bobby has a basketball game. No, Friday’s not good.
Here’s how it works:
- Put everything on the calendar as soon as it’s scheduled: Make doctor appointments while looking at the calendar. When school calendars arrive, transcribe all activities and events onto the family calendar. Ditto for party invitations, business dinners, basketball schedules, theater tickets, volunteer activities.
- Coordinate calendars daily: Each day, everyone should check the family calendar for new information, add his own activities and update his personal calendar accordingly.
- Don’t make any commitments without first checking the family calendar: If you’re going to the dentist, for example, make sure your personal calendar is up to date before you schedule any subsequent visits. Otherwise, call back later to make an appointment.
No, you still won’t be able to do everything — but at least you will be able to choose between activities intelligently.
2. Combine and Conquer
The other part of organizing your time is decluttering it. Planning and grouping tasks can simplify your life, save time and make room for more enjoyable activities.
Organize errands by time and location: Instead of making sporadic trips to the post office or the drugstore, set aside one morning or afternoon each week to run errands. Organize errands geographically and get them all done at once.
Combine tasks: Make walking the dog part of your exercise regimen. Call your mom while you do the dishes or put away laundry. Help your kids with homework while you cook supper. Watching TV could be coupled with writing letters, reading magazines or newspapers, knitting, mending or even ironing.
3. Monitor Your Calls
Do you seem to be on the phone constantly? Are you at the mercy of nosy neighbors and pushy telemarketers? You could use Caller ID to screen your calls. Or you could try restricting your telephone calls — in and out — to one hour of the day.
Let the answering machine pick up calls throughout the day (monitoring them for emergencies) and return all calls at one time. On your personal calendar, write reminders for phone calls you need to make at certain times.
Post maintenance calls on your calendar at the beginning of the year for things such as:
- Doctor and dental appointments
- Vet checkups
- Seasonal house maintenance, such as calling the chimney sweep in October or the window washer in May
- Checking in with your accountant or financial planner before tax time
- Routine car maintenance
4. Develop a Meal Plan
How much time do you spend worrying about what to cook for dinner? If you think about it, you’ve probably only got a repertoire of about 10 weekday meals, anyway. Take a tip from school cafeterias and set up a monthly menu plan. Assign each meal a night on a biweekly basis. If it’s Monday, you’re having meatloaf or pasta. If it’s Thursday, it’s tuna casserole or hot dogs.
You can do grocery shopping for two weeks because you know what you’re cooking. After a month or so, you probably won’t even need a list. Kids love routine. And your husband will know not to eat pizza for lunch on Wednesdays.
If things are still too hectic, consider a grocery delivery service such as Webvan. Orders over a certain amount are delivered free — and they even put the groceries away for you.
5. Adopt Routines
The more routines your family can incorporate into the day, the easier everyone’s life.
Start with the most hectic time: weekday mornings. Simplify those mornings by doing everything you can the night before. Then all you and the kids have to do is drag out of bed, dress, eat, brush and run.
Your family’s nightly routine should include:
- Bathing.
- Checking homework and signing papers for school.
- Making lunches. Older kids should pack their own.
- Laying out clothes for the next day, including outerwear.
- Packing backpacks. Help each child make her own checklist: homework, books, glasses, tissues, snacks, lunch, money, permission slips, etc.
- Putting purse, keys, briefcases, backpacks, musical instruments, coats, boots, umbrellas and gloves by the door.
This way there should be no unpleasant surprises in the morning. No frenzied search for keys. No last-minute discovery that the math homework wasn’t finished. No fights about inappropriate or missing clothing.
6. Schedule Your Days
Designate certain days for certain activities. Saturday mornings, for example, could be cleaning time. Wednesday nights, you do laundry. Friday afternoons could be devoted to errands. Schedule in some fun as well. Save Sunday afternoon for family time — attendance required.
Break up chores into time segments. What needs to be done daily, weekly, monthly or yearly? Post them on the family calendar.
7. Live by Your Lists
Devote one notebook or a section of your daily planner to lists. No item is too small for your list. But just keep one notebook. If you have notebooks for separate lists, you’re going to run into trouble. Keep it simple.
8. Delegate
Don’t try to do everything yourself. Install a chore chart and put everyone on it, including your spouse.
And remember that time is money. Hire people to do the stuff you absolutely hate and scrimp elsewhere to pay for it. Here are just a few things that might be worth outsourcing:
- Yard work
- Cleaning
- Laundry
- Car detailing
- Dog walking or grooming
- Odd jobs
- Home repair
9. Keep It Clean
Your mother was right. You should always clean up a mess the minute it is made. Get in the habit of tidying the house every night before going to bed. Always load and unload the dishwasher promptly. Make your bed the minute you get out of it (unless someone else is still in it).
Keep a basic level of tidiness and you’ll never face an overwhelming mess.
Or better yet, if you can swing it, hire a weekly cleaning service. At least that way you’ll be forced to tidy up at least once a week.
