Organization: A Key to a Peaceful Life
From The Teaching Home Archives
Our home can be a peaceful place in the midst of this world's turmoil. Organization can be a key that opens the door to that dream.
We offer specific, do-able suggestions for organizing your life. These are simple and basic things that we all know. However, we can benefit from reminding and encouraging ourselves to work on organization until we have established the routines and habits that free us to do the priorities in our lives.
Start by Removing Clutter!
In Newsletter # 42 we covered the following topics.
* Removing Clutter for Fun and Profit
* The Four-Box Dejunking Method
* Prevent Clutter
* Online Resources
* Profiting from Your Castoffs (Selling on E-Bay.com)
For complete text online see:
http://www.teachinghome.com/newsletters/vol_2-no_42.cfm.
Let Good Habits Work for You.
Regular habits can minimize stress, save time, and enhance character development. These include:
* A regular daily routine (schedule).
* Good grooming and health habits.
* Courteous behavior and speech (starting within the family!).
* Concentration on studies.
* Initiative and thoroughness in chores.
After a more relaxed summer schedule, you may need to re-establish regular bedtimes, chores, and daily family Bible reading and prayer.
Get a head start on your school year by establishing these nonacademic portions of your program now, before academic studies begin.
7 Steps To Take Control of Your Time
1. Set Your School Year Schedule.
You can choose the traditional nine-month school year with 5-day weeks and three months summer break, or you can set up your own year-round schedule that includes some of the following features:
* A four-day school week with three days off.
* Three, four, or six weeks of school, then one week off.
* Eight or ten weeks of school, then two weeks off.
Take into account the number of school days or hours, if any, that you are required to document according to your state law.
2. Use a Planner.
A planner is a collection of all your organizational information such as goals, calendar, schedules, lists, telephone directory, plus notes and information your family needs to easily find.
The two rules of using a planner are:
1) Use a single planner for everything.
2) Take it with you everywhere.
You can buy a planner that is all set up for you, or you can use a large or small loose-leaf notebook and make or buy pages for it.
Organized Home.com offers free printable forms online with articles and helps for using them.
http://notebook.organizedhome.com
3. Mark and Coordinate
Your Master Calendar and Your Planner.
* Post a master calendar (with large boxes to write in) where everyone in your family can see it near your main telephone.
* Then mark both your master calendar and the one in your planner with the following information:
__ Your home-school schedule (see above) including school days, test days, vacations, library days, field trips, and support group activities.
__ Family health appointments.
__ Special interests such as music lessons.
__ Anything you need to be reminded of, such as number of library books and due dates.
__ Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and special days.
__ Church and social activities.
__ Weekly goals for a long-range project.
* Set family rules and procedures for accepting invitations and scheduling appointments.
* Check daily to see that you have transferred necessary information from your master calendar to your planner and vice versa.
4. Create Regular Daily and Weekly Schedules.
Now you can plan your family's daily and weekly schedules to incorporate your plans and goals. Your time budget assures that the urgent doesn't steal time from the important things you want to do.
* Establish regular times for family meals, going to bed, and getting up.
Note: It is generally acknowledged that many children suffer from sleep deprivation and it is generally recommended that children get 9-11 hours of sleep each night.
http://www.principalhealthnews.com/topic/sleepdepchild
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/sleep/starslp/index.htm
* Schedule a normal week's activities with chores, quiet times, schoolwork, play, family devotions, and other regular activities.
* Allow time to move from one activity to another and some leeway for the unexpected. In other words, don't schedule so tightly that a few minutes here and there will throw everything hopelessly off schedule.
* Post a copy where all can see it.
* Schedule your personal time with God in His Word and prayer to prepare for your day before your children get up.
5. Make a Chore Chart & Plan Meals.
* Write down chores to be done daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonally.
http://organizedhome.com/clean/index.shtml
* Make sure everyone knows exactly what to do and when to do it. If you missed it in our last newsletter, read "7 Ways To Teach Responsibility through Chores" at
http://www.teachinghome.com/newsletters/vol_2-no_45.cfm.
* Have a daily cleanup schedule and routine.
http://www.flylady.com/pages/FLYingLessons_Routines.asp
* Make a place for everything and put each item in its place.
* Plan seven menus and shop once each week. You can then arrange the order of your menus within the week, one day at a time.
* Start dinner early, use a crockpot, or try once-a-month cooking.
http://organizedhome.com/freezercook/index.shtml
http://www.crockerykitchen.com
http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm
6. Make an Ongoing Master To-Do List.
* Compile a master to-do list, a single continuous list that replaces small slips of paper.
* Add items as you think of them; cross them off when they are done (the fun part!).
* Assign items from this list to your monthly, weekly, or daily schedules or lists.
7. Plan Each Week in Advance.
* Once a week plan the upcoming week.
* Make lists of phone calls to be made, errands to be run, details to be tended to, and a goal or two.
* Evaluate anything that is bothering you and consider how you can fix it.
* Coordinate your week with your husband.
What To Do If Your Schedule Is Out of Your Control
* Allow for Interruptions and Emergencies
* Remember that your family is more important than your schedule.
* Find a workable solution for avoidable interruptions.
* Accept uncontrollable or unavoidable interruptions and use them for learning opportunities.
Remember to rely on the Lord. Work on your organizational skills little by little without becoming discouraged. Each small step will bring you and your family closer to a more peaceful home life.
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