Running a house is a lot like managing a big project or even a company.
You’re overseeing the big picture as well as taking care of all the details. This includes coordinating multiple schedules, planning family meals, keeping the house organized, maintaining the family budget, communicating important information to family members, all while tending to your own needs and priorities. Whew!
To take the stress out of running a house, you'll definitely want to use productivity and project management techniques. By breaking things down into smaller pieces and keeping your eye on the long view, you’ll be able to stay organized and be an effective “family manager.”
Below are some of the best productivity and planning tips to help you manage your home and stay on track.
Maintain a family calendar
Whether you’re a two-person household or a family of five, you’re going to have lots of different appointments and deadlines to juggle. Instead of trying to keep everything in your head–which you’ll likely forget–schedule it in a calendar.
School picks-ups, doctor’s appointments, music lessons, sleepovers with friends. These are just some of the activities that you’ll have to maintain. And if you have little ones, you’re basically in charge of their schedules and making sure they’re getting to school and submitting their homework on time.
Maintain a dedicated family calendar to keep track of everyone’s schedules. Have a monthly paper calendar and place it in the kitchen where everyone can see it. And have an online calendar so that you can access it when you’re away from home.
Here’s how to maintain your family calendar
Record all important events and activities for the year. Start scheduling appointments, projects, and holidays for the year. Scheduling out your year will give you a sense of how your year is shaping up and you won’t get blindsided by your child’s upcoming recital or school project. Make sure you and your partner also enter your appointments, social events, business trips–anything that will affect your family’s schedule.
Look at your calendar at the start of the month. This way you can keep your eye on the horizon and know how to plan for the month. For example, if you have a family trip coming up at the end of the month, you can start preparing in advance, so that you’re not pressured to do everything at the last minute.
Update your calendar every week. Appointment changes, homework assignments, play groups, add them all to your calendar.
Color-code your calendar. To keep your calendar visually organized, assign a color for each category of tasks. For example, school projects can be highlighted in pink. Doctor’s appointments can be highlighted in blue. Or, you can assign a color to each family member so that you can quickly glance at your calendar to see who has what going on.
Manage household tasks with a project dashboard
Managing a family means that you’re essentially managing multiple projects all at once.
Things like meal planning or planning a family trip all involve lots of micro tasks, and different timelines and schedules.
To stay organized, maintain a project dashboard so that you can view all the big household projects and their corresponding tasks at-a-glance.
A project dashboard, much like the dashboard in a vehicle, captures all the important information you’ll need in one place. So instead of keeping ten different to-do lists for each project, you’re keeping it centralized with a dashboard pad.
You can use a notebook as your project dashboard or our Ink+Volt Dashboard Pad. Here are some ways to stay organized with a project dashboard:
Organize your household chores and tasks into various categories. For example: cleaning/organizing, meal planning, errands, etc.
Write down all the mini tasks/chores you have to do under each category. For example:
Cleaning/Organizing
- Declutter medicine cabinet
- Declutter kitchen drawers
- Clean out fridge
Cross out each task upon completion. Not only will this keep you organized, but it will give you a big sense of accomplishment each time.
Delegate tasks and chores
Running a household is no easy feat. Whether you’re the sole parent or sharing responsibilities with a partner, you’ll definitely need help in managing tasks and chores.
If you have kids, try getting their help with chores around the house. Even little ones can get involved. They say that toddlers as young as 2 or 3 years old can help with simple chores like putting away their toys or clothes. You can even give them their own little calendar that has their chores written out for them. Kids love routines and a calendar can create a sense of comfort and familiarity to their day. Little treats like gold stars and stickers will keep them motivated and add a sense of fun.
Older kids and teenagers can help with meal planning and prepping and cleaning/organizing.
Make sure to communicate clearly so that your kids know what is expected of them. And refer to the family calendar so that everyone’s schedules is well-balanced and no one is getting overwhelmed with tasks during a busy week.
Maintain a family budget
Whether you’re calculating costs for groceries or squirreling away money for college tuition, a family budget will help you get your finances in order.
It will help to identify your financial goals for your family. You can even get the whole family involved and hold a mini “retreat” to define your goals. This can help teach your kids about the basics of budgeting and goal setting. At the end of the retreat, write down your goals and keep them somewhere nearby where you can see them. Financial goals will help you and your family be more intentional about your spending and saving.
You’ll also want to track your weekly and monthly expenses like school supplies, groceries, utilities, rent, insurance, credit card payments, etc. Monitoring your expenses on a spreadsheet or notebook will help you stay accountable with your money goals and also build awareness around your spending patterns and habits.
While being a family manager is a huge responsibility, you can run your house more effectively with the right tools and techniques.
Written by JiJi Lee
