5 tips to get back on schedule

Tips to Get Back on Schedule

It’s back to school season and the relaxed days of summer are behind us! My kids went back to school two weeks ago and we are on a new schedule. Classes start 15 minutes earlier and end 15 mins later. Needless to say we all had to get used to the earlier drop off time in the morning! I’m sharing 5 tips to get back on schedule including some FREE printables.

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Tip #1 – Daily Routine

My kids all have a daily routine and these are things that everyone is expected to do daily. An established daily routine is also important for all of my kids since they know what to do each day and there is less fussing since they understand the expectations. This is a great visual for all my kids but especially my younger ones.

I have created this FREE printable daily routine chart for both toddlers and school aged kids to share with you!

CLICK TO PRINT

Tip #2- Paper Planner Templates

I’m one of those people that just needs a paper copy. I like to write things down and make lists so I keep it all with me in this clear planner binder. I’ve been working on going digital but it has a slight learning curve so I haven’t completely converted everything over just yet. So, if you are like me and still have a handy dandy paper planner I’m sharing a few of my favorite tools to organize your schedule with FREE templates below – blank calendar, to do list, meal planning, etc.

To Do List

Daily Planner

Meal Planner

Tip #3 – Command Center

According to Wikipedia, a command center is “a central place for carrying out orders and for supervising tasks.”

Now, we aren’t carrying out orders but what mom says goes, right?

My husband and kids all know that if there is something I need to read, sign or save then it goes in our command center by the front door. They also check the command center before asking me which saves everyone a little time. The one we use is from 1thrive and I have a dry erase board, folder, hooks, and plenty of space to write what is relevant for the month, week or day! The best part about this product is the set up …. it is customizable to what you want or need. The frame is what gets installed then you hang the boards in whatever configuration you need and you can purchase other boards to change things up.

Tip #4- Sharing iCalendars

My husband and I share our icalendar and let me tell you that was a game changer! This may not work for everyone but this was definitely the way to go for us. No longer do we need to text and call back and forth before scheduling appointments, sports practices, tournaments, get togethers, flights, etc. If an event is on the calendar then we know to work around it or we figure out how get different kids to multiple places .

This also works with linking, sharing and editing your google calendars just choose different colors if you like to color code things.

Tip #5- Digital Planner

This is a new one for me and I have to admit there is quite the learning curve. I find it fun and that there are a lot of options to customize it to however you want. There are a few digital platforms that are easy to get started on such as good notes, notability, XOXO adobe, etc. I chose to use the good notes app and downloaded a free digital planner template and imported it. Since I have enjoyed using a digital planner on my iapd I have debated creating one using Canva but currently the one I’m using is from Happy Downloads. There tons of digital planner templates out there for all different styles and niches but here are a few free digital planner download options…..