5 Weekly Planning Tips

Get life organized one week at a time with these 5 helpful weekly planning tips!

School is just starting, and my family life is already chaotic! From sports, medical appointments, and special events, it can be hard to keep track of everyone's busy schedules. To help make life run a little smoother, I have been working hard to make weekly planning into a permanent routine. I know that keeping up with a planner can be challenging, so I am sharing a few of my go-to weekly planning tips I have learned along the way to help you be successful.

First you will need some kind of weekly calendar: paper, digital, or even chalkboard! Since I am wanting to organize my family's busy schedule, I opted for the Imagination Starters weekly Chalkboard Calendar. There's large spaces to fill in each day, and an extra space for notes. I also love that it comes with hanging tabs so that it can be hung up and on display to see our week at a glance. Along with this calendar, you will also need some chalk markers and wipes.

Consistency is Key

Planning takes consistency, just like any new habit. If you're anything like me, the first couple of weeks will likely go off with a bang and then will slowly die down and be forgotten until life becomes chaotic once again. Make a conscious decision to allow weekly planning to become part of your weekly routine. Work together as a family to encourage each other to keep going to stay successful.

Organize with Color-Coding

Making your calendar is easy to read at-a-glance is important to helping keep track of it all. However, having everything listed and looking the same can be confusing and overwhelming. Color-coding using different colors of markers helps to differentiate family members, activities, special events, and important dates. To make things a little more fun and to fill in open space, add small doodles to your calendar! Doodles will also help younger children who can't read be able to understand what's coming up throughout the week.

Schedule Down-Time

With school, appointments, sports, and special events, time spent as a family can get lost in the shuffle. When you are writing down plans for the week, be sure to schedule specific times to spend together. Things like movie nights, date nights, and family game nights are ways to create memorable experiences together and prevent over-scheduling. With the down-time officially on the schedule, you will be more likely to follow through with the commitments.

Check-Ins

Even though everything is written down on the calendar, it's important to physically check-in with family members daily. Communication is a necessity to keep busy family schedules running smoothly. Talking with kids about the next day's schedule helps them know what to expect and to stay on track. I have a child with ADHD, and I'm giving her schedule reminders throughout the day help her to know what to expect. It also helps me as a parent to make sure she doesn't get too overwhelmed by trying to remember too many things at once.

Another great tip is to make time to talk to your spouse in the evenings about the next day. This can help make sure you're on the same page, and gives you time to work out any last-minute events, transportation, or childcare mix-ups before it's too late.

Schedule Weekly Planning

Because consistency is key, set aside at least 15-20 minutes one day a week (mine is Sunday evenings) to lay out the plans for the week ahead. If you are planning for the household, get the whole family involved. This is also a great time to review the previous week and make any adjustments to what worked or didn't work. Getting everything mapped out before the start of a new week will help you and your family hit the ground running. Want to REALLY be held accountable? Give your children the job of reminding you about calendar planning night!!

I would recommend using a dry-erase or chalkboard calendar because things can be easily erased and moved around as necessary. Plus, I love to write in all of the different colors!! Display your calendar in a central location where the entire family will see it daily. Places like the dining room, fridge door, kitchen, or living room are fantastic!

I hope these 5 Weekly Planning Tips will help you get inspired to organize your family's busy schedule. As always, I would love to see your creative organizing solutions! Share your creations on Instagram, Facebook, or leave a comment/photo on the project pin on Pinterest!

Did you know Imagination Starters is all about creativity with chalkboards? Laura from Me & My Inklings used a chalkboard table runner to use as an interactive table setting for kids, and Beth from Creatively Beth doodled on chalkboard place mats to make a birthday table even more special!

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