Are you living in chaos?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
That’s me tearing my hair out at my completely chaotic, messy, ‘can’t bloody find anything’ life!
I need something to blame it on.
Let me explain something to you. I used to be really good at this stuff. REALLY GOOD!
Ok, I was never overly tidy, but I was pretty organised and could manage my work and life.
So what’s changed?
Well, I now have two little mini terrorists running amok in my life (plus one big one!). Whilst they do make me laugh, fill me with joy and are the loves of my life, they come with a lot of stress and mess!
But I can’t blame them. The real reason is a lack of routines and systems. Now, it’s not that I haven’t tried. Previously I’ve crash tested:
- My daily and weekly cleaning routines
- A morning routine that gets us out the door on time
- How to sort out all the family paperwork and bills
- Getting sorted with technology: Evernote
plus one routine we’re actually really good at
But you know when you just don’t keep things up and you end up in chaos again? Yeah, well that!
So, I’m going to revisit some of these crash tests, but I thought I’d do what I do well and ask Google.
I found the Australian Parenting website raising children network
Apparently the solution I’m looking for is called “Family Management”. I showed Crash Hubby and his reaction was,
What?!?!? So there is a manual for it! Four and a half years in and we’re only finding this now?!
According to the raising children network family management is:
- working well together
- sharing jobs
- routines and rituals
- managing finances
Hang on! That sounds a lot like running a company. I had to laugh when I made the correlation between the two.
Think about it:
Family missions and values >> Company mission statements, visions and values
Family communications and meetings >> Regular team meetings
Family jobs and responsibilities >> Job descriptions
Routines and rituals >> Systems and processes, company social events, team morale
Managing family finances >> Financial planning, control and budgets
If I was the head of a company
- there is no way I’d be letting two loose cannons like the CrashKids create havoc the way they do here at home!
- there is no way I’d let myself focus on one area of my responsibilities and let others deteriorate
- there is no way I’d hide my head in sand when it comes to finances until we actually ran out of money!
I’m such an idiot!
But to be fair I’m an emotional, tired mum trying to do too much without putting the appropriate systems in place to support me. Luckily I have CrashHubby onside and he sees what we need to do to reverse the chaos!
It will be a team effort!
What am I going to do about this?
Well, a crash test of course!
Crash Test
Over the next week (it’s going to be busy!), I’m going to re-visit some of the systems I’ve tried before, review them and improve them and also look for some new inspiration and ideas. My crash testing will help me to set up the following:
- A family manifesto to support our parenting and how we live our lives (I’m currently doing a 12 week course with Parent Wellbeing and this is well overdue!)
- A weekly, monthly and seasonal/yearly family schedule with the appropriate routines outlined to support our lives – home, social, work, and the kids.
- A family administration system to process all the ‘stuff’ we need to do including bills, shopping lists, kindergarten/activity forms etc
- An online admin system to process my email and ‘to do’ lists which will help facilitate my work tasks
- A family budget and monitoring system because I don’t want to run out of money again!
Looks like I’m in for a crazy busy week doesn’t it? Well, fortunately I’ve started some of these things already and for others I’ll be revising what I’ve tried before.
However, here’s where you come in.
I would love some help and inspiration. If you are already awesome at any of these things, please let me know in the comments. I am happy for you to leave links to tools/apps/systems you’ve used before, if you’re a blogger leave a link to your blog post.
Not only will it help me, but anyone else who ends up here looking for help with family management.
I’ll be back next Tuesday with my results.
Are you like me and living in chaos? Or are you a management guru when it comes to your family?
Laney x
UPDATE: Test Results are in – How to sort your life out with Google Calendar, HomeRoutines app, zendone and more
Announcement:
I’ve actually been a bit run down lately and have realised I need to slow down. I’ve made the decision to only blog here at Crash Test Mummy once a week. I think it’s a good thing, because I can focus on solving one area of my life at a time and come up with some really great crash tests and results for us all. I’ll be micro-blogging over on my Facebook Page and doing Condition Report vlogs on YouTube. The best way you can stay in touch with what I’m up to is via my once a week email update.
You can also use your same email address to register as a member of the Crash Test Community at www.crashtestmummies.com where you can:
- opt in to be on a Crash Test Panel to try and review products from the brands I work with
- get free access to a members only section with member only giveaways, deals and discounts
- get free access to member only resources like recipes and detailed tutorials (coming soon)
So please:
(click to register)
I love your ideas. I hope it goes well.
We try to be routine driven at our place – some days it is hard though, especially when Little Miss 4 throws her tantrum spanner in the works! Then it is “came as you are and hope for the best!”.
Sam Stone’s last post..Freelance Your Heart Out!
Hey, some routine is better than none. I don’t expect that we will live stricly to a routine, it’s just not us and life doesn’t work like that does it? :)
We are kind a living in semi-organised chaos. Unfortunatley I don’t have any tips for you but will say that thanks for sharing as it’s made me feel like I’m not alone! I hope it goes well Laney.
Thanks for commenting Jane. Yes, it’s nice to know we’re not the only ones without perfectly organised lives ;)
Hey Laney – Glad you liked my latest post! I know you said to drop by with some links, but don’t want to overdo it – I do cover a lot of this on the blog – some of it was covered via the simplify your life challenge – especially weeks 3, 14, 19, 27-29 (http://www.homelifesimplified.com.au/52-weeks-to-simplify-your-life-challenge/) plus if you look at my household management and productivity category (and organisation category). for email i shared my top tips in this post http://www.homelifesimplified.com.au/simplify-email-productivity/. Email if you want me to hunt down posts on any topics – can never remember what i have as posts vs just sharing tips on facebook! I hope slowing down will be a big help for you. i plan on the same after our overseas trip next month…
Deb @ Home life simplified’s last post..7 tips to break through organising roadblocks and get unstuck
Thanks Deb! I’ll have a good look through. I like Leo Baubauta’s approach to email, ie using contexts.
oh what a great idea, and list of resources. I also suffer from child induced disorganisation.
I’m trialling putting some fun back into the chores list by making the chores into dice.
Check it out;
http://mummyonalearningcurve.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/cleaning-cubes/
cas webb’s last post..Cleaning Cubes
I blogged about a similar topic. I use to be easy going about running the house and chores but it wasn’t working. Once I put some rules in place and family members were all allocated jobs, life became so much better for us all. I hope it is ok to leave a link here about the rules, they were pretty simple but really changed the dynamics. http://www.averyblendedfamily.com/2012/10/blended-family-house-rules.html
Eleise Bott’s last post..{Competition} Dwight Yoakam and Lee Kernaghan
Leaving links with helpful advice is encouraged and appreciated – thank you! I think my two are old enough to pitch in help now. We’ll see how they go ;)
Take care of yourself Laney, we need you! Here’s a few posts that might help you and others out with ‘family management’
School Lunch Box Ideas – http://octaviaandvicky.com/recipes/ask-octavia-and-vicky-school-lunch-box-ideas/
Apps to Help Feed the Family – http://octaviaandvicky.com/home/apps-to-help-feed-the-family/
Home Organisation Apps – http://octaviaandvicky.com/home/home-organisation-apps/
Storing and Displaying Children’s Art – http://octaviaandvicky.com/create/storing-and-displaying-childrens-art/
Top 5 Meal Planning Resources – http://octaviaandvicky.com/recipes/top-5-family-meal-planning-resources/
Home Planning – http://octaviaandvicky.com/home/home-planning/
Kylie @ Octavia and Vicky’s last post..Toilet Training: Reality Check
Thanks Kylie – lots of reading there! I’m off to check out the apps :)
Oh Laney, you darling girl. No tips here (there are plenty of fabulous ones above). I just wanted to pat you on the back for realising you need to slow down. You know I’ve been thinking of you lately! Here’s to some peace, both of body (more sleep) and mind (less stress worrying about this place). J x
Jane’s last post..Some Saturday soul food: Brene Brown
Thanks Jane. It’s going really well and helping me to focus my efforts.
Can’t wait to see your results on this! I too feel like children has left me with chores and all the extras I used to love going by the wayside! :)
Bek @ Just For Daisy’s last post..Mummy, Can you spell LOVE?
Thanks so much for hosting the carnival Laney!
I live in constant chaos so I will be no help.
Good luck! Xxxx
Living in clutter seems to be the constant feeling at the moment…I know I need to plan more… I need to plan to plan! xx
tahlia @ the parenting files’s last post..Summer time at the beach
Ah Laney, this made me laugh! I come from a family of 54 (as in my grandparents, their 6 kids, and grand kids and great grand kids) and my Nan really does run the lot of us like a business. She’s the CEO. The oldest aunt is the CFO. My Pop? Silent partner (lol). Another aunt is the PA. One Uncle is the Public Relations Manager. Another uncle is the IT Manager. My dad and his other brother are the guys that don’t really do all that much but have been in the company too long to let go. You should see Christmas time, it’s hilarious! We have a family syndicate, family bank account, books, paperwork, maps, I LOVE IT! And I shit you not, we have Board meetings ;-)
BUT IT WORKS!
Kelly HTandT’s last post..5 Ways With Mince