Okay, it’s time. The whole “make it up as we go” system of getting everyone ready and out the door in the morning just isn’t working. It’s definitely time to create a more organized system that will make mornings less chaotic.
Gather your kids and your spouse or your roommates and work together to come up with a system that everyone can accept. When getting started, you might want to post a schedule. You can draw up a simple timeline on a dry erase board or a piece of poster board, or you can simply type it up on the computer, print it, and hang it in a prominent place, such as on the fridge.
You may decide that your family members or roommates would do well to get ready in shifts. Perhaps you’d like to get up first and get yourself ready and then begin waking up others. This may be an especially good idea if your household shares only one bathroom.
Providing personal storage containers is also a smart way to get more organized. Each person can bring his or her things into the bathroom in the container and remove them upon leaving. This way, counter tops won’t be cluttered, causing people to stop and take time to look for their items in the midst of everyone else’s.
You may also want to set specific times for each person to get in the shower. Large households may want to stagger shower times even further by having some take showers in the evening and others in the morning, to avoid not only timing issues, but to prevent the person who is last in line from ending up with little or no hot water.
Setting up centers is another good idea. Have one person in a certain area making lunch, while someone else is in another area pouring the morning coffee. Keep all the lunch items in the appropriate center, and do the same with coffee supplies or breakfast items (we’ll take about organizing breakfast in the next article).
Top Five Tips for Keeping Clutter in Check