Organizing Your Household and Family’s Activities

实用的策略，更好的组织和减少压力

我应该什么时候去杂货店买东西或者叫人来取?

What time is Johnny’s basketball game?

Who is taking Jane to dance class?

When was the last time someone changed the furnace filter?

Did I forget to schedule Max’s annual check up?

Do any of these questions sound familiar to you? For many people life is very busy trying to balance work, household tasks, activities and things for your kids or pets, 在做这些事情的同时也要照顾好自己. It can be a lot at times under the best of circumstances. When you are stressed, tired, 或者是在处理典型事情之上的临时问题, it can be even more challenging to not only get by, but thrive and be on top of everything.

为了让你和你的家人过得更好，这里有一些建议. Everyone’s starting point may be different, 所以你可能需要根据你的需要和其他因素来调整这些建议.

1. 不要试图依靠你的记忆来记录事件, activities, things you need to buy, and most other items. 你不仅不太可能在适当的时候记住它们, 但是，试图记住很多东西可能会给精神带来负担，并可能导致更大的压力.
2. 确定一个足够简单的系统，可以让你以某种形式写下活动和事件. Using an electronic calendar on your phone (i.e., Apple Calendar, Google Calendar) can work well. If you want a more robust calendar, consider exploring other calendar apps such as Fantastical2, Calendars, Cozi, or iCalendar (made by Symfonies). In addition, having a shared calendar with a significant other, co-parent, nanny, 或者其他任何参与与活动相关的共同责任的人都是有益的. This can also help reduce unintended conflicts.
3. 考虑一个任务列表来记录你需要做的事情. 也许把所有的事情都列一个总清单，并把它分成不同的类别(使它更易于管理和组织)会很有效. 然后，分配特定的时间段或天数来完成特定的任务. 在任务旁边或日历上注明预定的日期和时间，通常可以很好地帮助你完成任务. 适用于共享任务列表，以及希望在任务列表中添加大量细节并进行规划的人员, an electronic one may be easiest. Todoist、TickTick、Google Tasks和Asana是几个值得考虑的选择. Furthermore, for those who prefer paper, 用电子方式保存一份长期清单，每天或每周在纸上或白板上写一份清单，效果会很好.
4. 利用这些选项在重复发生的基础上跟踪事件和任务. 例如，你可以每年提醒自己安排一次体检. In addition, 人们可以每三个月设置一个任务通知来更换他们的熔炉过滤器，并在任务本身中保留更改日期的日志.
5. Regardless of what calendar, tasklist, or other written methods you use, 计划并不断更新日历和任务列表对于它们的有用性至关重要. 每天和/或每周留出一段时间来深入规划，可以帮助你保持在正轨上, make it easier to catch up if you’ve gotten behind on things, 让你提前发现潜在的问题，并在问题开始之前解决它们.

There are many ways to keep track of your schedule, tasks, activities and those of your family members as needed. For items that involve others, 帮助他们自己承担一些跟踪自己的责任也很有用，对孩子和青少年来说，这可以教会他们现在如何做这些事情，以便以后更容易. Therefore, 想想你目前使用的系统中哪些是有效的，哪些是无效的，并考虑进行一些调整，或者在必要时进行更大的检查，以帮助更好地组织, hopefully less stressed, and more productive.

在大多数情况下，生活不会突然慢下来，变得不那么忙碌. However, by taking more control over your organization and planning, 你可以把事情放慢一点，让它们更容易管理，这样你就能在日常工作中更加茁壮成长.