Kathy Peel has some great simple suggestions to help manage your family. I will admit it took me a bit of time to get used to the idea of being called a Family Manager. I thought it was too corporate sounding but after thinking about it for awhile I realized that is exactly who I am. Over the last week or so I have used suggestions from Chapter One: Managing Time and Scheduling and I have seen a HUGE difference in how this house is running and my anxiety.
First up, A Daily Hit List. This will be the first week we use this. What I am loving is the fact that I have NOT had to purchase a bunch of items. Most of what is suggested I have had on hand.
Second, a wipe off board for items you need to pick up at the grocery store. This board is small 8 x 12 and is ONLY for grocery items or such items that can be picked up at such a store. It is on the fridge so everyone in the family {that can read and write} can list the item that they used up and is needing to be replenished. So far.....working really well and helping me with the many paper lists I had going on and being misplaced when it was time to goto the store.
A bulletin board to place beside the control center. I had this one up already and it was placed beside where I decided the control center should be. {It needs a good clean up} Up until now I was using two control centers. Paper and clutter not too mention chaos when trying to find a stapler, tape or envelopes always happened using my old method. I am excited to test run the new method.
And last but not least a Control Center!!! A place where clutter ends before it begins. Mail can be opened, school papers dealt with etc etc.....Here is the before.
And the after. This cleanup took me 15 minutes this morning and I had all items on hand which made the job easier...{future post on this subject so watch for it}.
Items you will need for a well stocked control center.
An inbox for papers, a filing system {mine is in the pretty basket}, pens, pencils, highlighters, I also have multi colored sharpies for my family calender {each person has their own color}. Tape, scissors, your grocery list wipe off board, phone book {in drawer}, letter opener and a trash can close by. The bulletin board is to the right of my control center, the family calendar and wipe off board are to the left.
One tip on the family calendar, buy a HUGE magnetic calendar and place on fridge or somewhere everyone in the household would see it. This has worked for my husband and I. We were frequently overbooking or scheduling on top of each other until I found this system. It also helped him see what was going on in the future.
Kathy's biggest tip...we must live in the present and the future at the same time to stay on top of what needs to be done. Less chaos means a happier parent {at least in my view and my own experiences}.
This was a great project to get done quickly and we will see how it works with school and activities starting up in a few weeks.
Revelations: I realized now that I need a slotted time to get the motivation to get something accomplished. I am a slacker and was waiting for the kids to get older to get stuff done or do things I enjoy. With the use of 15 minutes time slots I have been accomplishing much needed household chores as well as time for me to enjoy life, read a book and enjoy a cup of coffee. The children seem to really respond to such structure as well and I was surprised how willing they were to help to some chores. My 4 year old cleaned windows the other day, my other 4 year old vacumned the living room...all while I dusted. It was great.
Stay tuned for more tips and I dig into this book and organize my life!
0 comments:
Post a Comment