It's important to be flexible when implementing routines and structure into your family life. You may work long hours or have a very young baby. On occasion, you may find that you are spread very thinly, juggling the demands of family with work or outside commitments. It's important to focus on your family's well-being and prioritise accordingly.
Organisation
If your home is clean and organised, it tends to run more smoothly. This doesn't mean it will look like something out of a catalogue, but it does mean that your little one can run from one end of the house to the other without being likely to trip over toys in every room. An organised home may look somewhat chaotic, but have a fully-stocked fridge so that there is no need to waste time dashing to the shops. Instead, dinner preparations can take place in a calm manner.
One simple organising tip is that housekeeping management is much easier with lists and plans in place that everyone knows about. It means that, by ensuring you do a weekly check of simple things like toilet rolls or laundry powder, you avoid a stressful dash to the shops, or the worry that someone has to go to school without clean socks.
Using a weekly planner is another organising tip that means that you are taking steps to make sure that your needs and those of your family all get met. It means that everyone will know what is for dinner that night, or who has an after school activity. It reduces the chaotic whirl that family life can sometimes become. This is simply because you and your family know what the plans are for the day ahead.
There are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to organise your home. Where one organising tip will work brilliantly for one family unit, it may be unhelpful to another. You need to focus on the ones that work best for you. It's best to implement simple daily cleaning routines rather than leaving them to grow indefinitely.
You daily task schedule might look something like this:
Make sure all dirty clothes have been placed in laundry basket
Make beds
Check bathroom and laundry supplies
Clean up after meal preparations
Wipe down surfaces and empty all sinks
Get a plastic tub and do a surface de-clutter each evening to minimise clutter on work-surfaces
Empty rubbish bins
Family involvement
It's important to involve the whole family in organising your home. A key organising tip is to ensure that the management of the household doesn't fall solely to one family member. Once your little one is on the move they will usually be very keen to help you around the home. It's important to foster this enthusiasm without overwhelming them at the same time. You can encourage them to do simple tasks such as putting their toys in large plastic tubs or giving them a small dustpan and brush to "help" you with cleaning up. Older children are capable of a larger variety of tasks and when you are devising a chores chart, this is a good time to discuss with them the ways they can contribute to the running of the household.
Take the time to discuss with your partner what your shared expectations are. Divide up the household chores so that there is a fair spread between you. Negotiating with each other ensures that you are both clear on what chores you will both be doing. Make sure the chores chart is placed in a highly visible place in your home; the fridge is usually a good choice. This ensures that it is a regular reminder to all family members about what their responsibilities are.
You
A crucial organising tip is ensuring that you are managing your time and structuring your day to ensure you get some valuable time to yourself. The demands on your time are usually ceaseless especially when you have children. Sometimes you will find that you need to be a bit more disciplined in your approach to how you structure your day. The long-term benefits are usually great. By devoting time in your schedule to things like laundry or cleaning up, you will usually find that you have more time for things you enjoy doing later on. If you leave tasks like this to pile up they can often become enormous and be all-consuming.
Creating a daily structure also means that you are supporting your mental health. By tackling tasks like these you are minimising things that will increase your stress levels or cause you anxiety. By scheduling time for yourself and working towards eliminating time wasters you are giving yourself a valuable gift.
