Creating a Family Schedule That Works for You: Day 5 – Adding it up….

Day Five

Adding It Up……

Hello there!  So glad you guys are joining me as we create some family schedules that work for our families!

At the end of last week, your task was to create your Activity List, either on a piece of paper, or using the Free Family Scheduling Template I created for you.  (NOTE: I made a small modifiction to the Family Scheduling Template for this post so that only the items selected for that particular family member will show as options under that same family member on the final schedule.  You can use either version, but this one might be faster.  If you want to upgrade, just download the new version, then copy and paste your revised activity list from the old file into the new document.)

Now that you have identified the activities you need to do, and want to do, it is time to step back and see what is actually realistic.  This will be fun – in a weird sort of way….

You see, the first time I did this, I figured my schedule would be full – I mean, I already knew it was too full, that was precisely the reason I was creating the schedule.  There were too many things to be done in a day and I felt like the trivial got most of the focus while the most important items were put off for another time.  So I decided to create the detailed schedule to help me become "more efficient" with my time.  I wrote down everything that I needed or wanted to do in a regular day, and estimated how much time those activities really took.  I ended up with 45 hours in a day.  Big problem. I guess there are actually only 24 hours in a day – who knew?

But since I am a habitual try-to-overachieve-then-end-up-exhausted kind of gal, I wasn't really that shocked.  The shocking part came later.  I did the same thing for my (then) 6 1/2 year old daughter.  Her schedule had 32 hours in it.  Yikes.  My personality was obviously rubbing off in the way I was directing her schedule as well.  No wonder our lives felt hurried and exhausting – they were!  There was so much to be done – and all the things in the back of my head that I "hoped" to get done and then felt guilty over not being able to get them done.  Silliness really looking back, but until you have done this exercise, how can you really know?  So here it is:

 

Your Mission:

Using your Activity list from last week, assign these activities to family members, and estimate the time each item takes.  If you are using the spreadsheet, you can go to the second tab at the bottom labeled "time allowance". Modify the Names on the columns (this spreadsheet works for up to 10 people), which will now flow through to your schedule at the end. Your activities should automatically drop-down from the Activity list you made yesterday.  Keep in mind that sometimes the same activities will have different time allotments for different children. 

Important to Note:  The schedule you are creating is for an average day.  You might have days that are bustling with activity (Tuesdays for our family are like that).  This schedule is for the days that reflect more of a routine.  However, we will develop it in a way that will help on those busy days as well, but more about that later this week.  My point is, for today, select the activities that would happen on an average day.  Keep that group of days in mind as you develop your time lists today.  

See you tomorrow!

 

DOWNLOAD THE FREE SCHEDULE WORKBOOK HERE!!!  (This is a Microsoft Excel File)

 

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Intro 1

Intro 2

Day 1: Developing The Vision

Day 2: Narrowing the Path

Day 3: Establishing a Beginning and End

Day 4: Activity List