Mothers, especially single mothers, often have a mountain of demands on their time. Today’s moms work long hours or sometimes two jobs. Whether or not you have help running your kids around, keeping appointments and keeping a check on the children’s schooling it can all be a bit much. You may have a calendar that helps you keep track, or maybe you leave little notes for yourself but, there’s an easier way.

Let Me Help You

The free Mommy Organizer offered HERE by The Soundtrack Of My Life blog was created specifically to help you streamline your to-do-list and organize your household in a way where even the kids know exactly what to do. It helps take some of the responsibility off of your back and helps you to de-stress while making the kids more accountable.

So How Do I Use It?

I’ll break the organizer down section by section in this article to help you get a jump start on gaining more control over the precious waking minutes of your day. All you need to do is download the PDF file, print it out on your home printer or at your local Staples, have it 3 hole punched and grab a 3 ring binder to hold it all together. If you use this organizer in its entirety and you use it consistently, you’ll regain a lot of lost time while bringing down your stress levels.

#1 The Chore Chart

Depending on how many people live in the home and their varying ages, filling out this chart will look different for every family. Everyone down to your 2yr old should have age appropriate chores even if it’s just picking up their toys and putting them in a designated place. The chore chart leaves blank the month, dates and rooms to be cleaned so you can fill them out in ways that best suit your family. Here is a look at the blank chart.

It’s much easier to keep track of who is doing their part by assigning a specific room to be cleaned by a specific person weekly. If you choose to change assignments daily, you’ll run into the problem of having members of the house complaining that whoever was responsible for the room the day before left them with more than their fair share of work. Trust me, you don’t want that headache. You’re organizing things in a way that will help you de-stress, not create new headaches. Create 12 copies of the chore sheet each year and fill one out at the beginning of each month. Keep them in your organizer to always be able to keep track of who is responsible for what. Always remember to keep your original in your Mommy Organizer so you can always make more copies.

Here is an example of how this sheet could be filled out for a family of 6

Along with the chart, you should create a checklist of precisely what you expect them to complete in their assigned room. My paid version of the organizer has a list ready to populate for each room, but you could make your own. I suggest framing the checklist and hanging it like wall art in the room for which it is intended. This way, the list is always visible to all so there is no mistake about exactly what is expected (I PROMISE you if you skip this step, they’ll find wiggle room to justify not doing a good job). Be detailed in your list because smart children love loopholes left open by overly busy moms. If you have more than 4 children or fewer children, have them split and share some rooms. If they have to split rooms, be very specific about who is expected to handle what tasks in those rooms.

#2 The Weekly Agenda

This agenda should be tacked up weekly in an area you frequent. One that will always have your week at glance within your view. You should always check it before you schedule any appointments, activities with the kids, agree to do someone a favor etc. because it shows you at face value just how full your week will be. With anything new you take on, don’t procrastinate. Immediately schedule it on your agenda. There are only two available slots for any given day in your agenda. Why? Because outside of working hours, you need to stop stretching yourself so thin. Yes, you feel like superwoman and like you could do a million things on any given day…but don’t. Schedule no more than two things you need to do outside of work on any given day. Even Superwoman needs rest periods. Stick to this agenda to keep from overloading yourself. Here is a look at the agenda.

If someone seriously needs you to do something on a day where your two slots for that day are already filled, it needs to happen on a day where you have a slot free. Period! Stick to this and see how much more time you have on your hands for things you actually WANT to do as opposed to obligations. Here is an example of how to fill in your agenda.

If you can pay the car insurance over the phone or online, it doesn’t need to be on your agenda. However, I suggest adding a notification for it to your Google calendar so you don’t forget to pay it. Now that slot just opened up so you can schedule yourself to help cousin Reggie move. How fun right? LOL

#3 The Shopping List

Pre-planning your shopping, no matter what you’re shopping for, can be more cost-effective than just winging it. Having a set budget and a visual representation of what to buy via this checklist helps make sure you don’t forget anything. It’ll aid in making you a more efficient shopper. Find out how to best make this tool work to start saving you time and money in my full version which includes a budget planner. Here is a look at the shopping list.

 It’s best to keep this hanging on the fridge until your headed to the market. That way, as you realize you need things they can immediately get added to the list. It’ll also give you time to check and see if you can find coupons for the items you need. The organizer lists several sites where you can look for coupons. This will also give you an idea of how much you’ll spend in the store. Stick to your list and keep away from impulse purchases. Everything you actually need is on this list, anything else is taking you off budget.

If you use each section of this organizer correctly, it will help you get a jump start on regaining time and getting back on budget. Use it consistently, and let me know how soon you started to see the benefits. Get cracking Superwoman!