In part 1, we discussed why it’s so important to help your family become organised. We also explored the ways in which this will benefit how you raise your children and contribute to the happiness of the family unit in general. However, this is a meaty topic! So, we thought that you would benefit from understanding more about how you can get your family organised, and the structure that you can use to implement this sense of organisation.

But before delving into understanding how you can set this sense of structure, let’s remind ourselves why it’s so important to get your family organised in the first place!

Why is it important to get your family organised?

As a parent, we know that you’ll want to make time for what’s important to your children, what’s important to your partner, and of course, what’s important to you! However, a part of raising a healthy and happy family is understanding that everyone needs to compromise at times. Working towards building a more organised, collaborative family in this sense is extremely important. Not only will it allow all members to learn to be considerate of one another, but it will also lay the groundwork for a timetable that works for everyone, and a schedule that you will be able to rely on for the long term.

Now that we’ve reminded ourselves why getting the family organised is important, let’s move on to more ideas as to how you can go about this!

How can I get my family organised?

Last time, we talked about the importance of weighing up each of your family members’ priorities, and finding a healthy balance between them in order to organise the family unit. This time, we want to focus on more of the practical side of things, and delve into more detail about how to create the details of your family’s schedule.

How to create a schedule for your family:

Give everyone a calendar. This includes the older kids! Have everyone outline what they would like their schedule to be for the week. If you have kids who are a lot younger, then you can do their suggested schedules for them. Think of this schedule as a realistic reflection of what needs to be done during the week. For example, who will make dinner on what days, and what the dinner will be.

Compare schedules with your family members. Once you’ve all written out your ideal schedules for the week, now compare them. Be prepared for the fact that you may not agree on everything. While your 7-year-old might want an after-dinner activity on the weekends, you may want them to only have this right after school. The point is understanding that each of you have different priorities for your week, and this will help you coordinate better.

Once you have agreed on schedules, get them in writing. Once you have all come to a decision on a concrete family schedule for the week, make sure to get it in writing! Perhaps print out the schedules and put them somewhere safe. Alternatively, you could put them into a google calendar.

Set some principles. The next step is to create a set of principles for your family. These are rules which are a bit more specific. Their job is to translate a set of shared family values into shared “rules”, which can be used by anyone in the family. For example, in a scenario where your child wants a bedtime snack of a piece of chocolate, you would refer to your principle of what an acceptable list of snacks is at this time of night. However, principles might become less rigid or altered as your children grow older.

Set some responsibilities. The final step is to decide who in the family unit is going to be responsible for what. For example, “who is responsible for planning meals?” Or, “who is responsible for shopping for food?” Or, “who is responsible for tidying the shoes away?”. Definitely make sure to involve your children in this allocation of responsibilities, but find ones that are suitable for their age. Having small responsibilities will help your child feel more involved in the family unit and the structure you have set for it.

How to help your family get organised (Part 2)

Get yourselves together for a more efficient home, says Unii.