Home Organization: How To Effectively Create Routines and Schedules

time management • parenting • home management

by Tiffany Ford on January 17th, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Organization is a key component to keeping you and your family closer and balanced. I often receive emails and comments on my blog asking how I "do it all" when it comes to working a full-time job, being a wife, and maintaining my home. My secret? Routines and schedules.

Creating routines and schedules is often a hard concept for many to grasp. I like to think of them as scaffolding for my week rather than concrete plans that I have to stick to. My routines and schedules simply help remind me of the things I'd like to accomplish each week. If I don't get them done, I don't let myself feel guilty.

Guidelines for Routines and Schedules

Here are some guidelines that I use when creating my routines and schedules for the week.

Determine what is important to you and your family, and how you'd like to run your household. Once you have determined your priorities, then you can create your routines and schedules from there. If your top priority is spending time with your family, but you constantly feel the need to keep your home super clean, then you need to figure out a way to balance the two by determining how much time is really necessary for certain tasks. Perhaps you can even delegate different cleaning tasks to family members so that things get done more quickly, leaving you more time to spend with each other.

Create a master schedule or plan for important daily or weekly tasks. I use a document that I created called "daily plan". On this plan I have sections to break down my day with everything that I mustn't forget to do. These tasks include our dinner menu, 3 most important tasks to complete for the day, other to-dos for the day (if I can get to them), daily to-dos (which are typed right into the template, so they're completed daily - i.e., do the dishes, file paperwork, etc.), and weekly to-dos that are broken down by day (i.e., on Monday I pay bills, on Thursday I menu plan and make the grocery list, etc.). By having this template that I print daily and use to organize my day, I never forget to do those daily and weekly tasks that I have determined are important to me to effectively run of my household.

Use scheduling for things that aren't routine or done on a regular basis. Scheduling should be something you're willing to look at over and over again. It allows you to ensure that you don't double book your life. Use a day planner or family wall calendar — whatever works best for you and your family. The whole point of using a calendar system is to allow each family member to add their own events and see what is coming up in the week ahead. I will even use my calendar to schedule in things that I consider a priority - such as spending time with my family.

How do you prioritize your time and schedule your day or week? Is it working for you or is it time to reevaluate where you're standing?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Tiffany Ford is a wife, 2nd grade teacher, and DIY organizer. She lives in Salt Lake City, UT with her husband, Chris, and adorable dog, Jazz. Tiffany is the writer behind The Nest Effect, a mash up blog about teaching, organization, life, home, and everything in between. She also runs an Etsy store, where she sells printable documents to help others organize their home.

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Tiffany Ford

Tiffany Ford is a wife, teacher, and self-proclaimed DIY organizer. She is the writer of The Nest Effect, a mash up blog about teaching, organization, life, home, and everything in between. Tiffany also runs an Etsy store, where she sells printable documents to help others organize their home.