With the kids back in school, activities may have increased for parents at house. Tracking all the different after school and weekend activities from dance to soccer, from trumpet lessons to art classes, from math tutors to volunteer programs is hard for a parent to manage. Families with multiple children that have different activities and homework can also be challenging. Managing your children’s schedule during the school year can actually be a full time job.
As a parent, having a command center or central workstation to help manage all the different happenings from week to week and from child to child is vital to keep yourself and your family organized. This moms workstation consists of a few key components to get everyone organized.
Calendars
Whether you use a printed calendar or an electronic calendar, having a central location for everyone’s activities including the adults will help keep everyone in the family organized. A calendar can help identify if a child needs to be driven somewhere to attend an event. Centralized calendars can also tell the family when they are going to grandmother’s for dinner. Identifying school field trips and after school activities will help keep an account of where everyone needs to be and when.
Charging Area
With all the technology being used by adults and children, adding a centralized charging area to your desk or workstation is valuable. A central charging location will give all family members one location to get their cameras, phones, laptops, tablets and much more charged. With a centralized area for devices, everyone will always know where these devices are at all times. No worrying about losing devices if they are in one area. Not to mention, with a variety of charger connections, one location will meet every electronic need.
Weekly Events
Nothing is worse than a forgotten permission slip to attend a great field trip. Or a forgotten set of refreshments for sports practice. Keep a bin or folder on the desk that stores all the necessary information for the upcoming week or two. This will give parents time to review the folder every week and review the calendar of events. This will help the family know where everyone needs to be and what is expected of everyone in the family. It will also help assign tasks and responsibility to all family members to meet the week’s needs.
Toss it, Act on it, or File it
This concept applies with both paper coming into your home and emails to your inbox. This philosophy of tossing out a piece of paper or deleting a file that is not relevant, acting on it or file it away for a later time can help prioritize the activities in the family. It can also help by not distracting your from the items and information that is relevant to helping your family. So keeping a waste basket and a small filing system nearby can help with this task.
Canisters
Having small canisters around the work area with little items like paper clips, pens and post it notes can help any mom be more organized. Note cards also come in handy when you want to add a little note to your kids lunch boxes as a surprise. Sometimes family members need a reminder of their day’s activities. A centralized place for this items will also keep them organized and in one location. There is nothing worse than having to run all over your home to find a paper clip because it is stored in a separate location. When an office has all its supplies, you now have what you need when you need it.
These simple organizational tips can help you have a centralized location that keeps the whole family informed of the activities and adventures of the school year.
