5 Tips To Help Keep You Organised #mumlife

Organisation Tips

If you really know me, you'll know that I love to be on time, organised and I like routine for my kids and family. It helps keep the chaos of life to at least an organised chaos. It can be frustrating and difficult to stay organised when a shortage of money and space seems to create even more chaos on top of the standard day to day stuff. Throw in the curveballs that life tends to throw at you and it can become quite overwhelming to get back on track. Here are some of the things that help me stay organised;

1- Morning Routine

School mornings can be really hectic, we need to be out the door by 7:45am to drop our oldest at high school before the younger three at their primary school. We have the kids 5 Steps for the morning routine laminated and on their wall;

Get dressed
Breakfast
Check school bag has the daily necessities
Teeth & Hair
Check their Daily Tasks & Responsibilities Roster (it becomes a positive process if we avoid using the term ‘chore’. The roster has two tasks a day on it for each member of the family, including Mum and Dad, for jobs from feeding the four-legged kids to taking the rubbish out and helping sort the laundry)

I don’t know about your children but two of mine are great at getting up and getting moving, the other two are at best sloth like and need nudging the whole morning. My husband and I always make sure we lay uniforms out the night before, with socks, shoes and undies. This means it’s the first thing the kids see when they wake up which gets the ball rolling. It also helps the unnecessary time wasting of diving head first into the laundry pile trying to find matching socks.

2- Limit Washing

Our three in primary school have two days a week where they wear their sports uniform and three a formal uniform. It’s a day by day assessment on whether or not I wash their uniforms on non-sports days. They get out of them as soon as they get home and hang them up for the next day. We also colour co-ordinate towels, as with four kids we found we were endlessly washing towels. They all have their own colour and hook and it saves so much time and means it’s one load of towels a week instead of seven. A routine of allocated days for each family members sheets also works well as there is no way my sanity will allow me to strip, wash and remake five beds worth of sheets and quilt covers in a day.

3- Homework Drop

I have set up a homework drop box, as well as a library book box and school form box. The kids get homework on Fridays and it goes straight to the box, it’s all kept in there even when completed and put back in bags every Friday. Same goes with library books; luckily, they all have library borrowing on the same day. The books stay in the box unless they are being read. They are returned straight away after reading. This has helped immensely on saving time and looking for them on the morning of library day. If a library book ends up on one of the countless packed bookshelves in our home I could lose half a day finding it.

4- Afternoon Routine.

The afternoon routine is similar to the morning with only 5 tasks to complete. When the kids get home;

1) Put their lunch boxes and drink bottles straight on the bench 2) Change and hang up their uniforms
3) Empty their bags and put them away
4) We then sit down to afternoon tea

5) Check daily tasks roster and do a little homework
I unpack their lunch boxes ready to go for the next day. Their lunch boxes are the soft cooler variety so they go in the wash Friday afternoons to keep them clean. Not sure how it happens but the wi-fi seems to be off when we get home and after tasks and a little homework is completed, it miraculously comes back on!

5- Family Wall Calendar

We have a calendar three months in advance up on our kitchen wall. Everyone in the family can see it and write on it. My husband is a fire fighter and has a rotating roster, he has two day shifts, then two night shifts then has four days off. We colour code his roster so we can easily see what he's doing at a glance. Getting the kids involved also helps with sharing the responsibility of remembering school important dates, requirements and events; they tend to remind you about what’s coming up.

6- Car Box.

When my kids where still in nappies, the boot of my car was complete organisational bliss. I had spare nappies, clothes, hand sanitiser, wipes, sunscreen, snacks, drinks, swimmers, PJ’s, towels, shoes and more. You name it I had it organised in our boot. I would replace stock when it got low and I was never caught out. As the kids are all in school and a lot older I don’t really need the same epic level of preparedness however I still like to keep my boot organised with a spare pair of shoes, hand sanitizer, wipes, hats and sunscreen. As well as non-perishable snacks and drinks. It makes my life so much easier as one child will always leave the house without shoes on or their hair done or god forbid still in PJ’s (Thank you Miss 12)

7- Hair Station.

With three girls a hair station is a necessity.I have a basket in out bathroom thathas all hair ties, clips, brushes, detangler and hairspray. Everything that’s needed to do hair. I also put my son and husband’s hair gel in there as well. This makes it so much easier when trying to find a hair tie or brush in the mornings andcauses less stress.

8 - Clean as you go

Part of my morning routine involves cleaning as I go, when I walk into a bedroom in the morning I spend a few minutes making the bed and tidying the rooms. I always make sure the kitchen is tidy before leaving and dishes are all in the dishwasher. I also leave my shower until the end when the kids are having their free time before we leave. Lunches are packed, kids dressed, hair done, beds made and house tidy. I’m usually left with 20 minutes and I manage a shower, hair wash, quick makeup application and get dressed. Then we are out the door and I put a load of washing on as we pass the laundry and the kids get in the car. By the time they have put their bags in the boot and resolved who gets the front seat, I’m ready to go.

9- Get up before the kids.

For some people this is a must in the morning, having time to yourself before the kids get up, relishing in the silence of the morning and getting yourself prepared for the day. THIS IS NOT ME. I loathe early mornings and if I have to work early and up before 6am there is a good chance there will be adult tears. Therefore, I plan my day around the fact I get up at 6am with the kids. If you're a morning person though, I've heard this morning ritual is a great way to get a head start on your day.

10- Make a list.

Lists, lists, lists, are great to keep yourself on track. Write it down, get it done. You can’t always rely on memory and when you see things played out in front of you it’s so much easier and helps you stress less. As I go about my day and remember stuff or things crop up, I try to compile my list for the next day rather than thinking about all the things to do in the morning. The night before is a great time to review your list of things to do and get some type of a plan of how the day will run. Otherwise, the 5 hours that everyone makes a point of asking “What will you do with all your spare time now all the kids are in school?”, just doesn’t seem like enough.

Rosie Luik8 October 2018Comment