10. Planners.
Having everyone carry a planner is a cheap and easy way to help your family stay organized. Having an appointment written down on a pad of paper is much easier to adhere to as opposed to simply committing it to memory. One can even put a little extra money towards getting each planner personalized, so that every member of your busy family will know exactly which planner belongs to who. Having everyone gather once a day to compare schedules is also a great way to have everyone on the same page of what's going on in the family.
9. Have A Set Time For Dinner.
Many people have talked about the advantages of having a sit-down family dinner, and those ideas don't hold truer in any situation other than the busy family. Having a set time every night where everybody sits down to eat gives a designated marker for people to work their schedules around. If your family includes kids who have cars and you all want to eat out, have them meet you at the restaurant at a certain time so that they can retain their independence while remaining a part of the family.
8. Have A House Calendar.
This is one of the easiest ways to help your busy family stay organized. Set it in a prominent place where everybody passes through on a daily basis, like the kitchen. Then, have each member update their schedule in a different color ink as they update their individual planners. This will keep everyone in your family abreast of all updates going on in your family and have everything stay as transparent as possible.
7. Have A House E-Mail List.
This works great for families that are constantly connected to the Internet. With jobs that require mom and dad to be online at all times, and the rising prevalence of smart phones, everyone has a nearly-limitless access to their email account. Having a circulating message about updates to one's personal schedule is one of the best and most efficient ways to keep an entire family on the same page of what's going on in each other's lives.
6. Reduce Clutter Around The House.
Many people say that messiness tends to lead to disorganization, and this cannot ring truer than what goes on with a busy family. A cluttered house is one where bills, report cards, school papers, and important pieces of mail get lost and a familial unit falls apart at the seams. Investing in a few boxes and shelves is a great way to greatly reduce the amount of clutter at the homestead and keep your family more organized.
5. Have Your Immediate Family Set To Speed Dial.
This is a small measure to ensure that you are only a few key strokes away from your family members. By setting your parents and children to your speed dial on your mobile device, you're ensuring that they're the first ones you call when something develops in your schedule. That way, you can keep them in the loop of what's going on in your life so that they may plan accordingly.
4. Delegate Responsibilities Amongst Your Family Members.
Next to the house calendar, have a list of chores that need to be done throughout the week. Have everyone assigned a responsibility and have a due date of when it needs to be done. Assign responsibilities based on age group, such as having younger members of your family doing housework while the older ones take care of family pets and run certain errands around your city or neighborhood. From that point, follow up on everyone to make sure they have it done. If it's not done by the due date, make them pick up the slack by doing double chores the next week. To ensure fairness, make certain that the chores rotate at the end of each week, and that the parents are not excluded from any of these rules.
3. Have Scheduled Family Quality Time.
This can be as simple as declaring Thursday night Board Game Night or Wednesday night Movie Night. By having regularly scheduled events that everyone can enjoy and participate in, you're adding a bit of regularity into the lives of your family members and helping them stay organized. Much like having dinner at the same time every night, this ensure that your family members are working towards showing up at one event at the same time every week, making them more organized by doing so.
2. Have A Group Digital Calendar.
Online services like Google offer calendars which can be linked to one or more email accounts. This empowers busy families to update their events while checking their email, creating a digital copy of their schedules to share with whoever they wish. This will encourage your family members to learn more about the technology that they're using while ensuring that everyone knows exactly where everyone is going to be and thus can plan accordingly.
1. Make Lists.
This is one of the easiest ways to keep your family organized. By having to-do lists around the house at prime locations, like the family computer or fridge, you're taking the initiative to let people know exactly what needs to be done and by when. Much like the chores list, this will make certain that clear goals are set and that your family can plan around them, making sure that everything that needs to get done is accomplished in a timely manner.
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