Getting Organized

Advice from
Mister Roger’s Neighborhood:

“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices.”
— Fred Rogers

Ready to Simplify Your Life?

In this section you will find tips to help busy parents feel more organized.

If your day feels “out of control” try these steps:

What is most important now?
Recognize your priorities, and then relax.
Be realistic about how much you can accomplish.

Next steps for to keep control of your days:

Create a routine.
Build a support team, who you trust will help you stay on track.
Help your children learn to organize their schedules.

Select a topic below:

Do You Feel Strong and Healthy?
Did you know that most parents wish for:
1. Less stress
2. More time
3. More sleep
4. Feeling more organized
What is Most Important to You?

Ask yourself 3 IMPORTANT questions:
What MUST be done today?

TIP: When you cannot do it all, focus on accomplishing what is necessary today. Know what you can delay until tomorrow.

Examples of what you need to do each day.
- Feed and care for your family.
- Keep or make appointments.
- Self-care like physical activity and relaxation.
- Feeling more organized
Ready? Make a “Priorities To-Do Today List”.
Do you enjoy your life?

Are you so busy being a good parent, that you miss time to enjoy family time with their children?

TIPS:

Schedule time to enjoy family time together.

Make it fun, a time to look forward to.

Family mealtime means more than just eating food.
Do you take care of yourself?

TIPS:
- You have an important job. Take care of yourself so you can continue to take care of your family. Learn more in the Wellness Tips for Women lesson.
- Keep your eye on the prize! Know what you most look forward to for your family’s future. Your priorities will make life meaningful!
- Know you are grateful and want to protect your family’s health and safety. Daily routines help build a lifetime of health and happiness. Everyone needs:
  
  enough sleep
  
  staying physically active
  
  eating well and
  
  maintaining a healthy weight
- Preventive Health Care is important! Keep routine health and dental appointments to stay healthy. These include:
  
  Monitoring your child’s growth and development.
  
  Staying current on vaccination schedules and childhood lead screening.
  
  Protecting your family from secondhand smoke.
  
  Avoiding tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and cannabis.
- Find more tips in the Info Hub: Info and Services, Be the Parent You Want to Be, and Resources.
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Could New Habits Reduce Your Stress?
Your habits and routines can help you stay on track and organize your day, budget, and home. Parents suggest these helpful habits:
- Plan ahead.
- Written “To Do” Lists and appointment reminders are helpful.
- Start early to avoid last minute stress.
- Manage clutter that can slow you down.
Written Reminders - Find One Location

Try the refrigerator door or a bulletin board organizer. Calendars are helpful.

Make it a family rule. Help everyone feel confident they know where to check for upcoming appointments, and shopping lists.

Remember to set an alarm on your phone.

Important Tips:

Setting a phone alarm can be an added personal reminder to stay on schedule.

Try to avoid keeping everything in your head.

Ask for help when available. Don’t feel you have to do it alone.
Why Do People Procrastinate?

Some people delay or avoid certain tasks. Common reasons are:
- To avoid making a bad decision.
- A belief that they are a “last minute person” and work best under pressure.
- Don’t enjoy something, like going to the dentist or doctor.
TIP: If you have delayed starting a new routine or project, try scheduling a “start day and time” on your calendar.
Ready to declutter?

Keeping the living space of a young family organized can be a challenge and not a daily priority. If your life begins to feel “out of control” when living in a disorganized space, it may be time to declutter!

Tips to Get Started:
- Start Small: Set an alarm for whatever time you can spare to begin to clean up a space. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in 15 minutes or one hour.
- Make it a routine. Set a schedule to organize and declutter a space.
- Teach your children and make it fun!
In the kitchen, pre-school age children can help “clear the clutter” when helping to prepare for or cleaning up after family meals.
- End playtime with a fun clean-up game! Set an alarm for 30 seconds or 1 minute. Challenge your kids to learn how much, or who can do the best quick clean up at the end of playtime.
Tips to Manage your Paper:

Try organizing your paper based on how long you will need it. Create files and label each as:
- Need Now: Needs your attention now!
- Need for a Short Time: Schedule a time to review and resort in a few weeks or months.
- Keep Forever: File these safely.
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Helping Kids Get Organized
When parents follow a daily routine, the regular structure helps your child feel safe and secure. The child learns what to expect will happen next and makes their life more predictable.

How routines help improve your child’s behavior during the day.

4 Steps to Structure:
1. Identify a Routine — Identify the activities and their order. Examples include bedtime and mealtime.
2. Explain the Routine — Make sure your child knows what you expect of them.
3. Follow the Routine — Your child may not always want to follow the routine. Try to follow it when reasonable.
4. Use Consequence — If your child resists following the routine, it is time to use consequences.
Having structure can lead to good.

TIP: Know when it is time to be flexible!
Step 1: Be Consistent (behave the same way)

Guide and redirect your child when needed. Give your child at least two chances to follow your instructions.

Celebrate and provide positive feedback when your child is learning to understand the expected behavior.
Tips for Parents
Step 2: Introduce Order to Activities
(talk about time and what comes next)

Most activities have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Talk to your child about:
1. Let’s get ready to _____.
2. Let’s do _____ activity.
3. Let’s put things away.
Two examples of daily routines with a beginning, middle and an end are:
- Mealtime: Prepare the food, enjoy the meal, and clean up the kitchen.
- Playtime: Set up the game, play the game, and put the toys away.
Teach your child two important ideas:
- Sequence: Parents teach kids about sequence by adding words or labels. Two examples:
  
  1 2 3
  
  A B C
- Time: Parents can teach kids about time with words like later and soon, or yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Your preschooler is ready to understand the concept of time (more than 5 minutes) and location.
TIP: Avoid giving multiple time limits. If you set a time limit of 5 minutes, stick with it, and move on to consequences. Multiple warnings like 5 minutes followed by 5 more minutes will confuse your child. Stick with your goal to act consistently.
Step 3: Give Everything a Place
(where to put things)

This teaches your child to recognize where things are and when they are needed.

Your infant will learn where they eat, and where they sleep.

Preschoolers (age 3-5 years) will be more independent when they know where to find things.
Step 4: Know when most children can understand and talk about the future.

When your child reaches 4 years old, he/she will begin to anticipate, predict, and plan.

TIP: Parents can introduce preschoolers to anticipate changes in schedules on weekends or scheduled days off.

Step 5: Help Your Child Solve Problems

As a parent solves less problems for their child, a child will begin to learn other skills like learning to be generous, or thinking about all the family or team members, not just being a player. Being a kid that sometimes has “nothing to do” creates the opportunity for kids to develop this skill. Teaching your child to be a “big picture thinker” will help them learn to consider all their options before making a decision.

TIP: Parents can use times when your child reports “having nothing to do” as an opportunity to help your child solve their problem.

Need more tips? Learn more in Be the Parent You Want to Be.

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Getting Organized

Creating Structure and Rules for Your Child