OK, on with today's post! Last week I showed you our Monthly Family Goals page. Part of what helps us achieve our monthly goals is breaking them down further into weekly goals.
Today I want to show you our weekly notes memo board.
This is just a little whiteboard I got at the dollar store. There's a black dry erase marker that clips to the top. And of course I use a few coloured markers to pretty it up a bit :)
There are 2 magnets that came with the board too and I use those if I need to keep something handy (coupons I plan to use that week, tickets for an event that week, a receipt for something I'm returning that week, etc.)
Every week this board looks a little different. This week is filled with lots of Valentine's Day activities. And my hubby and I are going on a one-night getaway {yay!} while the kids stay with my in-laws, so some things this week are adjusted to accommodate that.
Each Sunday, I plan for the week ahead by filling out this board. Once I do, it's my "brain" for the week. I refer to it multiple times each day. It's kind of a combination of a weekly calendar, to-do list, and reminder spot.
Here's my process when I fill it out every Sunday:
- I take a close look at what's listed for that week on our monthly calendar.
- I look ahead to the following week to see if there are things that need to be taken care of this week.
- I look at our monthly goals and determine what we should do in the coming week to help us achieve our goals by the end of the month.
- I jot down reminders for things I'd otherwise likely forget (library due dates, school events or activities that require specific clothing or equipment, etc.)
- If I see that some days are extra busy, I try to schedule tasks around those days to spread things out where possible.
- I add in some housekeeping chores so my hubby and I can both be aware of things that need to be done and cross them off when we're finished {this is especially important during weeks that we're both working outside the home like this week so we can make sure the basics are covered}.
- I usually have some tasks that need to be done but that don't need to be done on any particular day. I record those in a little box in the bottom corner.
Now, one of the keys to making this weekly board successful is writing ALL our family activities on our monthly calendar.
This is the first year I've used this calendar and I LOVE it. I really like that the squares are nice and big so I can write more when I need to. It's not very full yet this month, but usually by the end of the month it looks a lot fuller.
It actually comes with a magnet strip on the back so you can hang it on your fridge, but I wanted to hang it as part of my command centre so I put a magnetic strip on my wall to hang it from.
Some people use different coloured pens for each family member and I've thought about doing that too. But right now so much of what my kids do is the same as each other that I found separate colours kind of awkward. When they get older and have more activities or project due dates I will probably change to a colour-coded system.
For now, since one of the features of this calendar is that each square is divided into 3 sections, I decided to use each part for something different.
- I record recurring events such as birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays in the top section.
- I write anything related to my kids in the middle section.
- And my hubby and I keep track of our activities or work schedules/hours in the bottom section of each squares.
Here's how the top part of our command centre looks.
Everything works well together and helps me remember all the little things that I might otherwise forget.
This is the fifth post in this series on my command centre. If you haven't seen the first four parts, here they are:
Stay tuned for the bottom part of our command centre. It's where I store the kids' school work and art work in a way that's no longer overwhelming :)
In the meantime, if you're looking for more ideas for a command centre, you can check out the command centres post I wrote as part of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series or my Entryways, Drop Zones & Command Centres board on Pinterest.
Do you have a weekly memo board? How do you plan for the week ahead? What kind of family calendar do you use? Please share your ideas in the comments so we can all be inspired by you!
Happy organizing!
I link up at these great parties - Check them out!
