You’ve just read the title of this blog post and thought to yourself, ‘that just isn’t possible.’

Right?

Well, while it is highly unlikely any family will ever be completely organised, I’ve found that there are some simple ways you can all work together to be more coordinated and on top of everything.

Here’s how to get your family organised:

Have daily and weekly to-do lists

One of the hardest things about coordinating each and every family member is the amount of stuff you each have to do. It’s so easy to get distracted with something, forgetting that important task you were just doing.

So, to prioritise everyone’s chores and tasks, start putting together daily and weekly to-do lists. You could use an app, wall calendar, chalkboard or diary to do this.

List each family member’s name, their tasks for the day and week ahead – and for that much-needed incentive – what they get if they complete everything on time.

By just being able to see everything you all need to do, it’ll help you feel far more organised and on top of things. Plus, this is a great way to get the kids involved in day-to-day things and teaches them great time-management skills.

Get everyone involved in cooking meals

If your kids are quite young, you’re not going to be able to leave them to their own devices in the kitchen. However, while it’s tempting just to take over and get dinner served up as quickly as possible, try to encourage them to help you prep and cook meals.

Making sure everyone has an input in cooking your family dinners really makes food more exciting. And, as the kids get more adept and older, you might even be able to take it in turns cooking – so you can put your feet up. Sigh!

Also, you can take this one step further by planning your meals for the week ahead. Ask everyone what they’d like and work this into your schedule (i.e. pizza might be easier on swimming lesson night). This too makes mealtimes more exciting – and it’s great for helping you plan the weekly shop.

Buy Birthday cards for the entire month at once

This is a pretty simple tip but is a great example of how you can get organised with certain tasks so you a) don’t forget to do them and b) don’t feel as stressed.

At the end of each month, look ahead at the next month to see whose birthday is coming up. Then, put an order in at somewhere like Card Factory for all of this month’s cards. You could even write them, address them and stamp them (adding the date in the top right-hand corner), so all you need to do is drop them off at the post box a few days before the date.

Getting organised is often a case of working out the best routine for your family. And while getting everyone to do their chores on time, take part in to-do lists and plan meals ahead may take some doing, once you all get into the swing of things you’ll soon be one of those enviable families who seems so in control of everything!

*Collaborative post