Quick Tip: Never Forget the Book Order Again!
Theme Alert! November posts on the blog will be all about “to do list hacks”. I use the app “Toodledo” for my to do list, and you may use something else but I am sure you will be able to find similar features for what you use. If not, email me and I’ll help you find a way! thehackermom@gmail.com
As the school year is in high gear over here, I need my to do list more than ever to help me with my mom brain. One of the ways my to do list helps my brain offload tasks is to have recurring reminders for the “specials” my kids have on specific days. These are those classes like library day, PE/HE days (can’t forget those proper shoes and pants!) and the random dress up weeks that we never seem to know about ahead of time.
Anything out of the ordinary goes into my to do list. If it’s something that will reoccur each year, I add in a To Do and make it due around that time next year. Then it’s out of my brain! Here are some quick wins that you can add to your To Do list to clear up space in that brain.
First, my kids always bring home a weekly schedule at the beginning of the year with the days of the week that they will have special activities and I get those reminders on my list. For example, if Library day is on a Thursday, I’ll add a reminder on my To Do list for every Wednesday night and Thursday morning so that I can help my kids remember to gather their books. If PE (or HE as it may be called now…sometimes) is on Monday and Wednesday, I add a to do item for Sunday and Tuesday if I need to make sure they have certain shoes. I love having it off my brain.
Also at the beginning of the year, I usually find out what day of the month the class book order will be due. This takes some time to have my kids look through the order and decide if we are going to get anything, so I add a to do task to be due the first Sunday of the month with the due date in the title of the to do item (ex. “Book Order – due the 23rd). Then, if we have the book order, I’ll have my kids look it over. If the book order hasn’t come home yet, I’ll move the reminder a week and then wait for it to come up again. That way I know when the deadline is since it’s in the title, and I know when we really need to get a move on.
Another time I try to help out future me is around those pesky little “dress up” weeks. You know the ones, where every day has a different them? Usually we see these weeks pop up around homecoming time and around Red Ribbon week. Finally fed up with finding out about the week on the day of, I started adding a reminder for future me. Using the Red Ribbon week as an example, this week usually occurs around the 3rd week in October. Knowing this, I create a recurring task that comes up every October 15th that just reminds me to look up Red Ribbon week and see when it’s coming. Boom, done. I have lots of warning and can be prepared. Yes! Future me is happy.
What about you? Are there any repeating activities for your kids that need a reminder? Or something that happens yearly at your school that you could use a reminder for next year? Get it in your task list, set a future date and forget it! Future you will thank you.