Mum Organisation Tips for Busy Lives
*This is a collaborative post
Now more than ever it feels like my normal family routine has gone out the window. With the schools closed, and the lockdown period expected to continue for another few weeks at least, the girls are going to bed later and waking up later and we are attempting (and failing!) to balance home schooling with working from home and running a business. It’s hard.
The one thing that worries me a LOT is how we will adjust back to school runs and morning madness when normality, or at least some sense of it returns.
In preparation for some sense of normality, here are my Mum organisation hacks for busy lives, that will hopefully help us all feel more in control and together when the schools do finally return.
1. Prepare for school the night before – In the mornings, our house is nearly always madness. The kids need to be woken up (I’ve never had early risers), their uniform is all over the place, the PE kit is always put away ‘somewhere safe’ and I am madly trying to get packed lunches arranged, breakfast served, wrestle arms into coats and get them both out the door in time to join the back of the queue of school run traffic. For an easier life preparation is key. Make up your packed lunches the night before and put school bags ready and by the front door with their school shoes. You’d be amazed how much time these few simple steps can save you!
2. Organise your Accessories – If you have daughters, you will know only too well that hair bands and hair clips can quite literally disappear over night. You buy multipacks of 30, and within a week, there will be one solitary hairband left in the pack. Pill boxes can be a great way to keep them all close to hand and organised so they don’t get lost or discarded and if you are so inclined, you could even segment them by colour!
3. Batch Cook for busy evenings – My favourite dinners are chillis, shepherds pies and chicken and chorizo, but they take a while to prepare and by the time I get home from work during the week I haven’t got the time, or inclination, to start cooking from scratch. I recently got into the habit of batch cooking meals in bulk and freezing, then getting out on the morning of the day we want to eat them. This makes meal time with two kids far quicker and easier and allows me to prepare a meal with fresh veg in minutes rather than slaving away for hours at the end of a busy day.
4. Family Wall Calendar – When the clubs and classes start again, along with work meetings, appointments and travel, it can be hard to remember where everyone needs to be and when. With one child in preschool and one at in primary school, it feels like there is always something to remember. A family wall planner in the kitchen allows you to have a quick visual reminder about everyones whereabouts, and has proved a bit of a lifesaver when it comes to non uniform days and school trips!
5. Use Alexa to plan your shopping list – if you have Alexa or other smart home device, tell her when items in your fridge are running low and add them to your virtual shopping list. When it comes to placing your online order or heading out for your weekly shop, Alexa can remind you of all the items you need to remember!
6. Track your medication – If you need to take regular medication; either for long term conditions or for short term illnesses, remembering to take your tablets and keeping track of what you need to take and when can be a real challenge. Before food, after food, at four hour intervals – managing your medication around a busy life can often lead to missed doses and confusion! This FREE pill reminder app, available on both apple and android devices, can be used to take the stress out of medication, setting up even the most complex of dosage schedules, providing a timeline and sending personalised medication reminders!
7. Label Label Label – Every single week in this house the girls seem to lose another one of their belongings. Labelling is definitely the way forward, but I haven’t got time to sit sewing on name labels by hand! Iron on or stick on personalised name labels are so much quicker and easier, meaning a new terms uniform and accessories can be personalised in minutes not hour
8. Post-it notes – Just before you leave the house – pop a post it note reminder on the front door – as a final reminder for the things you must not forget!
