- Use only one calendar. If I were only allowed to offer one time management tip, this would rank high on the list. It is imperative that you combine all of the sports schedules, school schedules, social schedules, daycare schedules, etc onto one calendar. This way you can readily see well in advance any scheduling conflicts that you may have and you can address those immediately AND it allows you to discard that big pile of paper schedules that you normally have to shuffle through.
- Plan and lay outfits out the night before. This also helps to cut the anxiety level down in the morning for everyone! I know with two daughters, we had several outfit changes before they were happy each evening. Imagine if all of that took place in the morning!
- Go through book bags the night before. Set up a time each evening to go through bookbags, review and sign everything and then place them by the door. We usually did this after dinner & washing dishes each evening. Be sure to merge any new or changed activities to your calendar immediately.
- If you have a few extra minutes, leave early. One of the biggest mistakes people make is they have a few minutes left before they have to leave and so they decide to do one more thing before they go. Avoid this trap if at all possible. One more thing NEVER gets done in those few minutes and almost always results in you rushing out the door late.
