2810: How to Create (And Stick With) a Weekly Schedule for Your Family by Kalen Bruce on Productivity

[00:00:00] Kundenservice kontaktieren? Für viele Menschen ist das der beste Weg, einen schönen Tag zu ruinieren.

[00:00:06] Aber bei Zendesk sorgen wir für eine bessere Customer Experience. Besser für die Großmutter, besser für die Floristin, besser für den jungen Mann in Hausnummer 3a, besser für sie, besser für alle.

[00:00:17] Denn während einige behaupten, dass der Kunde immer Recht hat, sagen wir, dass KundInnen immer Menschen sind. Und da wir auch Menschen sind, wollen wir etwas Gutes für uns alle tun.

[00:00:26] Zendesk – Customer Experience mit KI für Menschen gemacht.

[00:00:30] This is Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:00:32] How to Create and Stick With a Weekly Schedule for Your Family.

[00:00:37] By Kalen Bruce of freedomsprout.com

[00:00:40] And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam.

[00:00:44] Welcome back to another bonus Sunday episode.

[00:00:47] This is where we get to hear from one of the other shows in our podcast network.

[00:00:51] And today's comes from Optimal Relationships Daily.

[00:00:55] So with that, here's Greg, as we optimize your life.

[00:01:02] How to Create and Stick With a Weekly Schedule for Your Family.

[00:01:06] By Kalen Bruce of freedomsprout.com

[00:01:10] Weekly planning is easy when it's just you.

[00:01:13] When you're the only person you have to worry about.

[00:01:15] With the blessing of a family comes the difficulty of creating a schedule that works for everyone.

[00:01:20] I'm in the military.

[00:01:22] So there are times, such as right now as I write this, when I am deployed for six or seven months at a time.

[00:01:29] So our family understands the importance of structure.

[00:01:32] There are things we do when we're all together that make it easier when we're apart.

[00:01:36] Things like family dinner, nightly prayer, and activities throughout the week.

[00:01:41] It's important for our family to keep that structure, especially for our children.

[00:01:46] It's how we keep structure in such an unpredictable life that the military cultivates.

[00:01:51] Weekly planning makes it possible to plan and keep structure.

[00:01:54] And it takes out the stress of disorganization.

[00:01:58] Let's get into how we do it.

[00:01:59] And I hope you'll get some ideas for your own schedule.

[00:02:02] It starts with tracking.

[00:02:04] A family schedule works much like a family budget.

[00:02:08] You start by tracking your time and then you start planning.

[00:02:11] This ensures that you control your time.

[00:02:13] Otherwise, your time will control you.

[00:02:16] For at least a week, a month is best.

[00:02:18] Track your family's time, every hour, and write it down somewhere, like a notebook or a digital spreadsheet.

[00:02:25] Since you're the planner, you'll track everything from your standpoint.

[00:02:28] It will look something like this.

[00:02:30] 5 o'clock, wake up.

[00:02:32] 5.05, morning routine, shower, brushing teeth, Bible, prayer, etc.

[00:02:37] 6 o'clock, spouse wakes up.

[00:02:40] 6.05, spend time with spouse.

[00:02:43] 6.30, wake the kids up for school.

[00:02:45] 6.35, kids morning routine.

[00:02:48] 7.30, walk kids to bus stop.

[00:02:50] 7.30, spouse slash you slash both get ready for work.

[00:02:54] 8.30, head to work slash prepare the day at home.

[00:02:59] From here, it's going to be so specific to the individual that I'll leave it up to you, but you get the idea.

[00:03:05] On your overall plan, you would put a block of time for work, such as 9am to 5pm work.

[00:03:11] 8.30, keep your work day planning separate unless you work from home.

[00:03:15] 9.30, when you have a schedule for the entire family, you can plan each day the night before.

[00:03:20] We'll talk about a family calendar in a moment, but first let's talk about your schedule.

[00:03:25] 9.30, planning your minutes.

[00:03:27] 10.30, planning your minutes.

[00:03:27] Like I said, you are the planner.

[00:03:30] Since you are the one listening to this, you'll probably be the main one keeping the family calendar updated.

[00:03:35] That means your time is important to you.

[00:03:37] When you have a family, your time is often taken up by your spouse or your kids.

[00:03:42] The only way you're going to get margin is to plan the entire day.

[00:03:46] That sounds daunting at first, but that's because you may be looking at it as a make or break plan.

[00:03:52] Don't look at it that way.

[00:03:54] A planning schedule is designed to be flexible.

[00:03:57] If you plan your workout from 5.30am to 6.30am and it goes until 7am,

[00:04:02] you just have to adjust the times around it.

[00:04:05] Maybe you cut something out.

[00:04:06] Maybe you shorten something.

[00:04:08] Whatever you do, don't let your schedule dictate your life.

[00:04:12] Dictate your schedule.

[00:04:13] The entire point of creating a schedule is to gauge how long things will take

[00:04:17] so that you know what you can comfortably fit into your schedule.

[00:04:20] I started this by literally timing everything I did.

[00:04:24] I timed my shower, brushing my teeth, getting ready for work, everything.

[00:04:29] And I did it leisurely to add a buffer.

[00:04:32] Now that I know exactly how long everything takes, I can plan around it.

[00:04:37] It's funny how we misjudge time in our minds.

[00:04:40] We may have always thought we needed 30 minutes to get ready for the day,

[00:04:43] but when we time it, we only need 15.

[00:04:46] Or it could be the opposite.

[00:04:47] If you're often late, it's probably the opposite.

[00:04:50] Adding an extra 5 or 10 minutes could prevent you from ever being late again.

[00:04:54] Now back to the family schedule.

[00:04:57] A Family Calendar

[00:04:59] The only way to get everyone on board and stick with a family schedule is by using a family calendar.

[00:05:05] And while digital is typically my preferred method for planning anything,

[00:05:08] a physical calendar works best when multiple people need to see it.

[00:05:12] I've used fancy calendars before, like the magnetic calendar that's on our fridge.

[00:05:16] You don't need to spend $20 on a calendar, unless you want the fancy markers and design.

[00:05:21] I like the monthly planners to give the entire family a good overview as to what's going on for that entire month.

[00:05:28] If you prefer, you could always get both a monthly planner for an overview and a weekly planner for the specifics.

[00:05:34] Finally, I like the idea of having a yearly calendar so everyone knows where to look for special events,

[00:05:40] vacation times, birthdays, etc.

[00:05:43] All of these calendars are reusable.

[00:05:46] Just erase and write the month, week, and day.

[00:05:49] Just by putting a calendar up, you're going to be more organized as a family.

[00:05:54] Start slowly by adding a few events, and eventually you'll get to the point where you have the family's weekly meal plan listed.

[00:06:00] The more you can include on the calendar, the better.

[00:06:03] But again, don't get caught up on making sure everything happens.

[00:06:07] Be flexible with it.

[00:06:09] The entire point of having this calendar and schedule is to eliminate stress, not create it.

[00:06:16] Adjustments and ideas.

[00:06:18] If this is your first time planning a schedule for your family, or if it's been a while since you have, there will need to be adjustments.

[00:06:25] Go one week with a schedule, and then adjust for the next week.

[00:06:29] It really is just like a budget.

[00:06:31] Once you get your schedule down, you'll be able to add and take away things that aren't serving your family well.

[00:06:36] And you'll be able to start including everything on the calendar.

[00:06:40] Include time for everything.

[00:06:42] Here are some ideas for things you may want to have on your calendar eventually.

[00:06:46] Routines, morning and evening.

[00:06:48] Study time.

[00:06:50] Homework.

[00:06:51] Quiet time.

[00:06:52] Vacations.

[00:06:53] Holidays.

[00:06:55] Chores.

[00:06:56] Events.

[00:06:57] Prayer.

[00:06:58] Meals.

[00:06:59] And you can add or subtract things as you see fit.

[00:07:02] These are just a few ideas.

[00:07:03] Do something today to start planning your family's weekly schedule.

[00:07:08] Buy a calendar.

[00:07:09] Write some things down.

[00:07:10] Time activities.

[00:07:11] Do something to get started.

[00:07:13] Getting started is always the hardest part.

[00:07:16] It won't be perfect in the beginning.

[00:07:17] You don't have to get it right.

[00:07:19] Just get it started.

[00:07:21] That's why you need to start today.

[00:07:26] You just listened to the post titled, How to Create and Stick With a Weekly Schedule for Your Family.

[00:07:32] By Kalen Bruce of freedomsprout.com.

[00:07:36] And thanks so much to Kalen for helping us add some regiment to our lives.

[00:07:40] Lots of great tips in this one.

[00:07:42] He always has a lot of information to provide.

[00:07:45] And this one might have rubbed some people the wrong way.

[00:07:48] You know, obviously a lot of us can feel restricted by all the planning and order and want maybe more balance than Kalen talks about.

[00:07:55] But that being said, if there is pushback to this idea of mass scheduling, it's important to remember that the more we have planned, the more valuable and free the unplanned space is.

[00:08:07] That might sound obvious.

[00:08:09] But normally when we're not focused on a certain activity, we might find ourselves scrambling to figure out when we're going to schedule future tasks.

[00:08:18] And the more we have planned, the more of that mental space we get back.

[00:08:22] So it does provide a unique freedom to it.

[00:08:26] Your time and your mental space is more easily labeled as free or occupied.

[00:08:31] And when that happens, it can be really refreshing because when these spaces are more nebulous, like when you're doing something but wishing or wondering about free time, or when you're free but wishing or wondering about when and how you'll do the things you have to do, it's harder to be fully present and appreciative of both.

[00:08:50] So look, it's not for everyone, but it is certainly something worth experimenting with.

[00:08:55] Okay, friends, that's going to do it for this episode.

[00:08:57] Thank you so much for being here and I do wish you a great rest of your day as always.

[00:09:02] It's time for me to get out of here, but definitely come back tomorrow because our weekly Q&A episode is coming up.

[00:09:08] Hope to see you there where your optimal life awaits.