A Quick Guide to Staying Organized as a Parent

When you have kids, life can just be crazy busy. I mean, I’m sure it is busy even if you aren’t a parent. But organizing your life, as well as the life of a couple of tiny humans, can be busy and quite tiring. When you are a parent, it is so important to be as organised as you can be. Otherwise, you will just be running around like a headless chicken! Life would be much more chaotic if you don’t know where you are meant to be and when. Even worse when you don’t know who is meant to be where and when.

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Some people are naturally organized and will have it down from day one. Some others of us; not so much! So here are some tips and advice for being as organized as you can be, when you’re a parent.

  

Having a large calendar is a key thing for me. Being able to visually write down and see what the plans are for the week is a must. I find that it is a good idea to take one evening, or an hour or so, to write in and review the upcoming week. Then if there are any conflicting events, they can be planned and dealt with in advance. For example, your son is at tennis class and it clashes with picking up your other child from a play rehearsal. You need to be able to arrange a ride with another parent or get your other half involved. Planning is so important to stay on top of being organized.

Like a calendar, I think it is a great idea to meal plan when you are a parent. Being able to plan out what you will be eating and when is most useful. You can deviate slightly, depending on what you want to have on that day. But it helps you to know what is in the house to eat. It also helps you to know if anything needs to be prepared in advance. If you have planned a slow cooker meal, you could start the prep for it at breakfast time. Then it is good to go when you need to start the cooker off.

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This might take an hour or so to compile, but the next piece of advice is to have a bit of a cheat sheet written out. This needs to include your phone numbers, grandparents phone numbers and emergency contact lists. Think about the doctor's office number as well as the number of a 24 Hourly Dentist. In an emergency, you want to have everything prepared. Make a note of children’s allergies or medications they are on. Information about the school’s number, address and picking up routine is great in case of an emergency. If you had to dash off in the day and a babysitter needs to collect them at school, they will have all the information they will need. It helps you know who you need to call in an emergency too.

Do you find any of these things work for you?