Getting Organized

In today’s society we are overwhelmed and rushing from one thing to the next. We live in a time when you almost have to plan everything to get anything done. Many families are under so much pressure – and granted, there are many fun and good activities filling our lives – but when our activities are robbing us of joy, contentment, and a sense that we have a handle on our primary responsibilities, then something must change. A key to truly living and not just surviving is organization.


Let me place a little disclaimer here – I am not a truly organized person by nature. I am a little more on the artsy side and would rather take life one day at a time and cross each bridge as I approach it. But living life in this manner with kids, church, activities, and a home to maintain left me and my whole family a little frantic and unstable.

There are some things I have discovered along the way that have smoothed out some of the wrinkles and made life richer for the E’s. I’d love to share these things with you and I hope you can find something that can help your own family!

Setting Goals For Your Family
Running a household and home is much like running a business (there is my business background peeking in.) A business’ goal is to find a niche, satisfy a need, and turn a profit. These goals are met through research, budgeting, and setting goals. It’s important to ask yourself, “What’s really important to my family?” What is important to you?

Bryan and I sat down to determine what our goals were for our family. We discovered that our number one priority as a family is God. After that it’s our relationships with each other and friends, education for the kids, a clean house (for my slightly OCD husband), and healthy meals for family dinner time. We decided to prioritize and organize ourselves in order to reach these goals.

Set up Your Calendar and To-Do Lists Around the Goals
It’s important to set up a schedule to reach the goals. The following is a list of tasks that we put in place to keep us going. They are not always met, and we do re-evaluate and change them from time to time as our family grows.

Family meetings- monthly
*Is everyone moving most of the time in the right direction toward the goals?
*Evaluation behavior, what needs to be fixed, good things done, everyone can have their chance to voice what they are thinking about
Family Devotionals- weekly (in addition to nightly praying)
*Honeywell Bible – short lesson, prayer for week ahead
Homework- daily or as needed
*Depends on schedule with other activities, but must be done before bathing
Activities- depending on season
*Two activities at most per child – music lessons, little league, gymnastics, etc.
Chore evaluation- weekly- Saturdays (on chart) Paid accordingly

In order to hit my own targets, I set up my calendar at the beginning of each month and make a list of things that need to be done.  I also sit down on Sunday nights to update and review the calendar for the week to pace out what needs to be done. Bryan sets up our master family calendar, too, so we can all see what’s on each other’s radar. I highly recommend this on a large calendar where everyone in the family can see it. We hang a large dry-erase calendar inside our pantry door so we can all check it easily. I really helps to answer many questions on meetings, rehersals, practices, etc. Each family member has a different color ink to help the kids see what is their activity. (Please see the end of this post for some calendar links.)

I also have set up a weekly routine that I keep in order to schedule and plan accordingly. Sometimes, of course, appointments, friends, or Target happen that don’t fall according to my plan, so I move things around as needed. This is not in concrete for me, but I do my best to keep it without it keeping me…

Daily schedule for mom
Monday- Clean house, clean linens, do as much laundry as possible
Tuesday – Finish laundry, run errands, grocery shop, pay bills
Wednesday – Correspondence with friends, house project
Thursday – Bible study, dump garbages
Friday – laundry and something fun – craft, walk, meet with a friend
Saturday – whatever
Sunday – church, plan out week, plan meals

I hope you can use some of what I’ve learned to help you get more organized. Organization isn't fun, but it pays off in a big way.  Please share any tips that you have, too!


Board Dudes 18"x22" Home Décor Magnetic Dry Erase Calendar (84012UA-4)
Cra-Z-Art 3-in-1 Combo Board (Dry Erase, Calendar and Cork) Contemporary Sleek Silver Aluminum Frame with Marker and Two Magnets, 17 x 23 Inches (12195)
Cra-Z-Art Dry Erase Calendar Board, Contemporary Basic White Plastic Frame, with Marker and Two Magnets, 17 x 23 Inches (12174)
Board Dudes Unframed Magnetic Calendar, Magnetic Dry Erase Board, 14 x 14 Inches (13850UA-4)