How to Organize Your Day to Spend More Time with Your Kids

Every family feels the hustle and bustle of daily life. Parents have an intricate balance of home and work life, and kids have school, activities, lessons, and sporting events, all of which are important. But, how do we make those schedules all come together? Here are some tips on how to organize your life to maximize your time with your kids.

Prioritize and Simplify

When each member of the family is running in a different direction, there aren’t enough hours spent together. Prioritize which activities are the most important and get rid of the others. If your child has homework, soccer practice, and piano lessons on the same day, maybe it’s time to think about which of those things are the most important. And the same goes for parents. If your down time is filled with hobbies, friends, and activities, prioritize which are the most important and cut out the clutter that gets in the way.

Turn Off the TV

With more than 500 channels to choose from, sometimes it’s hard to pull our kids away from the TV, but a lot of TV time could be better spent in a family activity. Get active and involved. Go for a family walk or bike ride. Go to the park and play tag.

Make it a Family Event

If you’re finding it hard to get everything done in a day, why not turn your every-day duties into family activities. Have your kids ride their bikes while you go jogging. Assign each child a task to help prepare for dinner. Have the whole family attend the soccer game together. Turn everyday activities into memory-building events.

Make Goals

Often we say we want to spend more time with our families, but the time just slips away from us. Instead, write down a concrete goal and put it in a place where everyone can see it. For example, reading together for thirty minutes. With a common goal, the whole family can hold each other accountable and it won’t be a forgotten promise.

Make a Weekly Family Night

With busy parents, sometimes an extra thirty minutes isn’t there. Try having a weekly family night that involves everyone. It could be as simple as playing a board game or a game of hide-and-go-seek. Even if it’s once a week, your child will form lasting memories of the time you share together.

Diane Johnson primarily writes about adult education, pell grants, and anything else that interests her. She enjoys traveling, reading, sledding, and sports.