With the New Year upon us I wanted to share how I organize my year by months, weeks, and days as a busy Mom of 6. With my Husband wrapping up wild holiday hours. My being VERY pregnant and roughly a month out from welcoming Baby #7. Homeschooling our family year-round and working on our Blog Growing Confident. Add to that Holidays, Birthdays, Doctors Visits, Extracurricular Activities, Social Engagements, etc. and a calendar can fill up quick! Below is how I go about keeping our family organized and myself sane with all we have going on. This system has taken years to tweak and get it to where it is easy to plan and prepare for the upcoming year. Keep reading to learn how I organize my Year by Months, Weeks, and Days for our Big Family.
Set Aside Time to Plan
Set aside time in December or the very beginning of January to get yourself organized. For myself this looks like scheduling a few days after Christmas to plan for the coming year. I set aside a few days because I know realistically, I will not get this all done in one sitting. Spreading the planning out over a few days gives me breathing room for the interruptions that are sure to come.
I usually ask for a new planner at Christmas so I make sure to have that, pencils, Post Its, my phone, coffee, and any other items I may need to aide in organizing my New Year on hand during these planned few days. As I am planning, I typically keep myself organized by using Google Calendar and a Paper Planner as well. This way I can always access my plans whether digitally or physically.
Organize the Year
First, I look over the year and go month by month to fill in any Holidays. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Doctor Visits. Family Events OR Vacations that may be reoccurring each year. For some items I may not know specifically what week they will happen, such as a Family Event or Wellness Visits for the kids, but I can write those unknowns on a Post It and place it in the month they will take place. Then as the month gets closer, I can schedule and plan for those events accordingly.
I will also take this time to adjust our School Calendar. We Homeschool year-round so being “behind” isn’t really a concern as our goal is to finish by the end of July. After plugging in some of the items mentioned above, I block out days we may want to take off. Add any ideas to our Loop Activities List or books to our Read Aloud List if we are working through those items fairly quickly.
Sam and I will also spend this time to talk about and write out any Goals that we have for our Marriage. Personally. Our Family. Household. Work/Business, etc. during this time. From there we break these goals down by quarter or month to make them more manageable and plug those into the year where need be.
Organize the Months
After planning out any reoccurring events and mapping out our goals for the year we will go month by month and add in any Monthly Happenings based on the Season such as School Events. Berry Picking. Summer Break. Vacation Bible School. Week at Grandma’s, etc.
For example, in March I know we will have a St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Party for school. I will pick the days we will have those take place and add any ideas I have for those parties. With numerous Birthdays during the month of April I will be sure to block out some time in March to talking to the kids and planning their parties. If we are wanting to plant a garden I will check to see when the last frost is and break down any garden prep tasks and assign days to make them happen. This might include, building raised beds, purchasing dirt and any plants I may not have started from seed, etc. We will also make a list of Fun Family Outings we specifically want to do that month and roughly pick dates knowing they may need to be moved around as we get closer.
Organize the Weeks
I don’t actually plan my weeks out until maybe the Friday or Saturday before the week begins. So please don’t think I am planning my year down to the weeks and days during that time I block out in December. How silly that would be!
You have 168 hours in a week to accomplish all that you have planned, unless you are over scheduling yourself. Work. School. Appointments. Events. Meal Planning. Household Tasks, etc. For me this looks like setting aside time on Saturday to brain dump for the coming week, meal plan, order groceries, and from there plan out what each day will look like. What is Sam’s work schedule? Do we have any appointments or activities planned? What do I need to accomplish for the Blog? What schoolwork needs to be completed each day? Are there specific household tasks I need to get done? What are we having for dinner? Is there anything specific I need to purchase for the coming week?
Once I have figured these things out, I begin plugging them into my Google Calendar so as to organize my days.
Organize the Days
From there I customize each day and since I prefer a routine over a schedule I block things off by Morning, Noon, and Evening. Morning is usually for school. Noon is for Blog work. The Evenings are for Household Tasks, Dinner and whatever our Evening Routine is for the day. Maybe an Extra Work Session on the Blog. Movie Night with the Kids. Date Night with Sam, or our Weekly Cleaning Day.
Once I have figured out all this information, I then plug it into my Google Calendar on a specific day for it to be completed. Then every morning or sometimes the evening before I handwrite my plans for the day so I can not only check items off, but this helps me to be more present with the kids and not constantly checking my phone to see what task is next. For example, this is a skeleton schedule of what a Monday OR Friday might look like…
Monday Plan
- School Day + Make Birthday Card for Family Member.
- Work Day (Content Day)- Write Blog Post on Baby #6 Birth Story.
- Household Tasks- Fold + Put Away Laundry. Call Mom.
- Dinner Prep- Tacos w/ Chips, Queso + Salsa
- Work in Evening- Finish Writing OR Proofread Blog Post on Baby #6 Birth Story
Friday Plan
- Fun Family Day- Breakfast Picnic at the Playground.
- Household Tasks- Stop by Post Office for Stamps. Place Amazon Order for Baby Shower Gift.
- Dinner Prep- Pizza Night
- Movie Night with the Kids.
Have any addition tips on How to Organize Your Year?
Please share with us in the comments below!
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