With a New Year come’s the chance to get organized. Even in the age of smartphones, it’s great to have a one-stop location for your family to have a go-to place to know what’s going on this week or month. We dub it the “family command center.” An information center for busy families to find out where they need to be and even leave messages for each other or reminders. People’s Trust Insurance wishes you and your family a happy and healthy New Year and hopes these organizational tips will help you and your family get organized in the New Year!
Make it yours
Just as there’s no such thing as a “average” family, there’s no one right way to set up a family command center. One family may find a single three-ring binder can hold all the information they need to make it to work and school on time each day. For others, the family command center will fill an entire wall with whiteboards, personal inboxes and cubbies.
To determine what your family needs in an information center, consider what information needs to be collected and shared in the household. Your command center components might include items like:
- Family calendar
- School calendar
- Household chore checklists
- Frequently called phone numbers
- Babysitter/emergency information
- School lunch menus
- Shopping list
- Coupon files
- Personal inboxes for each family member
- Whiteboard for notes and reminders
- Incoming/outgoing mail
- Bills to pay
- Receipts file
- Storage for pens, pencils, paper, markers and erasers
Location, location, location
Once you have an idea of what information you’ll track and how much space your command center will require, it’s time to give it a home. Where to set up your family command center? Again, it’s a choice as individual as your household. One family will add a command center to the family’s kitchen wall, while others claim the prime real estate of the refrigerator door. Some households prefer a desk-based solution, with file drawers at the ready, while others rely on wall-based messaging using whiteboards and sticky notes.
Wherever you choose, keep in mind that the center won’t work if no one can see it! Hidden away behind a door spells instant failure, so choose a spot that’s out in plain view and on the family’s fast-track each day.
A place for everything … and everyone
No matter how pretty–or organized!–the family command center may be, it won’t work unless you use it. Encourage the household to use the command center by giving each family member a “buy-in”: a place of their own for notes and messages. Mount magnetic paper holders to the refrigerator, labeled with children’s names, or create color-coded sections on a whiteboard to give everyone ownership of the information contained there. Hint: tuck love notes, a small treat, or a “get out of chores free” card into children’s message areas to make using the command center more fun!
Build regular checks into your routine
To bring the concept to full usefulness, build “command center checks” into your morning and evening routine. Knowing that there’s a thumbs-down entry on tomorrow’s school lunch menu gives you plenty of time to pack a substitute sack lunch the night before. No more morning panic!
Reminders
You can even mark when your homeowners insurance is due!
Source: Organized Home
This Blog is sponsored by:
People’s Trust Insurance Company