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

What is the reason for discipline? To teach or punish? The answer seems obvious when it’s written out, but in the heat of the moment, it’s easy to forget that punishment isn’t the ultimate goal. We want to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, good and bad.

There are two types of motivation we can use to encourage the behavior we want from our children (and our spouse, our friends, and family members). Let’s talk about this in terms of management.

There’s the “push” approach and the “pull” approach. One involves rewards and the other punishments.

The push approach

When you use the “push” approach, you’re focusing on the punishments and disasters that can or will occur if something isn’t done or isn’t done correctly.

Why the push approach doesn’t work

The push approach depends on fears. In fact, it creates an atmosphere where fear of failure and the fear of disappointing someone thrives. Fears hold us back. Think of the phrase push through the fear. Have you ever heard it worded let the fear push you? Likely not, because fear usually pushes us to do the wrong things.

The pull approach

The “pull” approach focuses on the rewards and benefits of success. Coaxing your children (or significant other) with rewards—not necessarily things—will teach them not to be afraid to disappoint you because of some expected punishment.

How to implement the pull approach

• Offer incentives and rewards for the behaviors you want to encourage
• Make the rewards meaningful
• Follow through. Never promise a reward and then take it away because of something else.

Real world examples

This all sounds great, but how do you use the “pull” method of discipline in your own life? Let’s talk real world examples.

Susie has a messy room. Her mom wants the room clean, but little Susie would rather play with her Bratz™ dolls and pretend nothing is wrong with her unmade bed and the scattered crayons and coloring books. Susie loves to eat popcorn and watch television with her mommy and daddy.

Mom has the option to push Susie into cleaning her room, by threatening to take away Susie’s Bratz™. Mom also has the option to pull Susie in the direction Mom wants Susie to go. Mom can offer to pop some popcorn later when it’s tv watching time and sit down with Susie to watch tv together, if, and only if, Susie cleans her room.

Which method do you think is going to have the best chance of working on Susie?

The caveat here is that you must choose a reward that appeals to your child (spouse, family member, or friend). Meaningless rewards won’t work. Give your children reasons to chose to do what you want. And if Mom already has a ritual of eating popcorn with Susie, then the offer of popcorn if Susie cleans her room is not a true reward, because the implication is that if Susie doesn’t clean her room, she’ll be punished by having that ritual taken away from her.

Does your husband love a certain difficult to cook meal? Offer to cook that meal for him if he’ll do the grocery shopping for you this week.

Do your students listen when you teach? Tell them you’ll be giving a test after the lesson and that those students who do well will receive fewer homework problems.

There are many ways to apply the pull method to discipline. Be creative and see if it doesn’t work for you and your family.

Follow through. The single most important rule for discipline.

When we don’t follow through, we are teaching those who interact with us, whether it’s family, friend, or acquaintance, that we can’t be trusted to keep our word.

When someone has earned a reward with a certain behavior, don’t take that reward away because of something else they’ve done. Of course, it’s going to be impossible to always use the pull method, because different situations may call for different actions. However, it’s never fair to take away an earned reward just because something else has come up.

Would you like if it you had earned a sales bonus which was then taken from you because you didn’t finish a marketing report on time?

Finally, if there were two managers at your work and one used the “push” approach and the other used the “pull” approach, which would you rather work for?

Remember your answer when you’re managing your children—or your spouse.

Post from: Home Management Tips

Push Pull Discipline