You see, I had always used a pen. Once I began using a pencil, and only a pencil, I found that I actually quite liked using a calendar. Nothing is permanent, nothing requires Liquid Paper. All I need is my pencil with eraser and I have everything I need to keep a useful, working calendar.

These days I use a calendar software program. Because I want my entire family to have access to the calendar, I prefer a stand-alone program, independent of my email or other personal communications.

I use Sunbird now, but I’ve only recently converted from Windows Calendar, and before that Google Calendar. If you have a very internet savvy household, Google Calendar is a great option. Your kids can have their own calendars and share events or tasks with your household calendar.

Since my children are too young to keep up with their own calendars right now, and my husband still doesn’t see the need for a family calendar, I keep up with everything, and I enjoy using Sunbird as my calendar.

Unless you’re around your computer a lot, I suggest you go with the printed calendar. My personal preference has always been a weekly view.

How to make a calendar work for your household

Let’s start with the paper calendar. If you don’t have a calendar, but would like to be able to print calendar pages, I have a template you can print from. This monthly calendar template doesn’t have the dates, so you’ll need to write them in, but it prints nicely on an regular 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper.

Here’s how you can make a calender work for you. Not only will it help you stay ahead of household tasks, it will help you keep up with household events and family members’ appointments.

What you should put in your household calendar

• Add timed events
• Add scheduled recurring tasks and any other tasks you need reminders for

Add dated and timed events

These events have set dates and times that are usually out of your control, be it your child’s sports events and practices, or appointments for your household members. These events can’t be easily shuffled around, unlike your tasks.

Add scheduled recurring tasks and any other tasks for which you need reminders

Some organizational gurus suggest you never include tasks on a calendar because the tasks can be moved around and shouldn’t be assigned to specific dates. However, for a household calendar to effectively guide you as you try to get your household tasks done, your schedule is the perfect place to keep them.

Precede each task with empty check boxes or circles, so you can mark the task as complete. Using a pencil overcomes the issues of moving things around, as does using arrows –> instead of check marks to indicate that a task has been rescheduled instead of completed. Of course, reschedule as soon as you place an arrow through the box so you don’t forget!

Adding your tasks to your calendar also allows you to assign certain tasks to family members and then remember who did it last. This heads off arguments between your kids and can motivate them to get their chores done because they’ll quickly learn it’s no use arguing with Mom’s calendar!

Things to include on your calendar

• Family members’ appointments
• Doctor appointments
• School events & school holidays
• Work events
• Laundry days (see my article Staying Ahead of Dirty Laundry: 5 days to an empty laundry room for suggestions)
• Auto maintenance schedule
• Household maintenance schedule

This might seem like a lot to keep in one calendar, but having it all in one place really does make things easier to keep up with.

If you choose to use a calendar on your computer, you can segregate your tasks and events into groupings and create separate calendar views for each group. I do this. I keep calendars for household, personal, work, auto, and school. I keep all the calendars “on” most of the time so I see everything, but I can turn off any that I want, to eliminate distractions when I need to concentrate on getting tasks done for one particular group, such as household or work.

Give it a try and see if this doesn’t help you keep your household running more efficiently.

Calendars to try

• Mom’s Plan-It 2009 Softcover Engagement Calendar
• Mom’s Plan-It 2009 Desk Calendar
• Mom Organizer 2009 Pocket Wall Calendar
• Little Helper 2009 Planner
• Family Organizer 2009 Pocket Wall Calendar

If you have any tips for keeping your household calendar organized and up to date, consider sharing them in the comments.

Post from: Home Management Tips

How to use a calendar to keep your household organized

You might have noticed that sometimes it takes ten minutes to get into and out of the grocery store for a gallon of milk and dozen eggs, and other times it takes twice as long. These ten minute gaps of time can add up to a wasted hour or more of time in an average morning of errands.

For me, Monday mornings around 8:30 a.m. have the biggest payoff of time saved. The stores are emptier, the check out lines are shorter, the traffic is lighter, and I’m able to get my errands out of the way and off my mind for the rest of the week. Friday afternoons and evenings are the worst, and I always do my best to avoid running any errands at that time.

Sometimes the region of the country you live in can determine when is the best time to run your errands, but there are a few things you can do no matter where you live to get in and out quickly.

Make a list and carry it with you. At the top of the list write down all your errands, so you don’t forget any of them and have to backtrack. Also, list them in the order they’ll occur on your route unless they’re dependent on another stop first.

Next on your list, write down what you need to pick up or deliver to each location. That might only be your grocery items and pharmacy items, or it might include documents you need to drop off somewhere, grocery, pharmacy, and beauty items, appointments, and gifts you need to buy.

By having all this on one piece of paper, you eliminate forgetfulness and save yourself plenty of time–enough to more than compensate you for the time spent organizing your list.

Get out of the house early. If you want to get done with your errands quickly, you’ll want to beat everyone else to the stores, the bank, and everywhere else!

If you try these quick tips, I’m sure you’ll recapture some of your lost time on errand day.

Post from: Home Management Tips

Timing is key to reducing wasted efforts