I have used many systems to keep myself and all my many roles and responsibilities organised over the years – I’ve used paper and digital systems. This year I put it all together in one place and I call it “My Whole Life Diary”.

It started with SimpleMom’s daily docket, and has grown into my own system. Here are the sections in my binder:

• A monthly calendar where I write every commitment that we have as individual’s or family
• My own ‘daily docket’ (I’ve tweaked Simplemom’s so it fits all my roles and responsibilities – things I want to remember ever day) It has my daily routine on the left (which includes my cleaning routines) and on the right I have space to write reminders or to-do’s for training my children’s hearts, general to-do list, office work, cooking, teaching my children, and blogging.
• Homemaking and Business routines
• Menu planning and Shopping lists
• Homeschool overviews (only overviews and notes to self otherwise the binder gets too heavy!)
• Heart training notes
• Phone numbers
• Birthday / Celebration dates and plans

Keys to keeping myself organised:

• I set aside time each week to organise and plan my week. I print off a weeks supply of my daily docket (each day of the week is different) and then take my calendar and transfer this week’s commitments to my daily planner. I look at my homeschool plans and transfer realistic goals for our study times. I look at our week and plan my menu accordingly (I can’t think of anything worse than planning a roast on a day that has me out and about all afternoon!)
• I try and review where my children are at – spiritually, morally, relationally, academically and with their practical skills and talents each month. (Ideally this is one child a week)
• I don’t change my daily docket to suit my week. Some weeks are just so far from the norm but I don’t change my daily dockets on my computer to reflect that. They are a form or chart that reflects the norm. On these crazy weeks or days I just write something up by hand. These daily dockets, are simply a form that serves a purpose – they don’t have to look pretty. I only change the daily docket when a new season of life happens and the norm changes.
• I do what I can and let the rest go! As I have trained myself towards being organised I learnt very early on that there would be days (most days to be honest!) that I don’t get everything done that I plan to get done. This is okay. I’ve had to learn that it is okay! I also learnt not to squeeze that undone project into tomorrow but rather find its best time – eg if Friday is dusting day, and it doesn’t get done, we don’t squeeze it in for Saturday, but rather leave it till next Friday but it becomes a priority then. Of course there are things that we don’t get done that have to be put to tomorrow but not everything.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this system because it keeps all my roles organised – not just homeschooling, not just homemaking, not just parenting, not just business but each and every role I play gets a look in.