Schedule Organization: Keeping your family on track

Summer is on its way, and with our plans still in flux, I'm feeling a little stressed about our family calendar. I'm a firm believer in the daily planner for our family schedule, and it seems to also work for our nanny, Natalie, and my husband, Ron. The down side, though, is that it doesn't synch up with my gadgets, like my email calendar or Blackberry, and it's hard to always keep on top of it.

I figured I probably wasn't alone in my search for the perfect system for keeping my family organized, so I decided to call up Alicia Rockmore, founder and "Queen Bee" of Buttoned Up for some tips.

Read on for her advice from our interview on wrangling your family's schedule and activities—and keeping on top of it:

What is the first piece of advice you give to people looking to get their lives (both work and family) in order?

Alicia: Use the 80/20 Rule. If you tackle the most critical 20% of your life that needs to be organized, the other 80% will naturally follow.

What is the first step to streamlining your work calendar, your kids' activities, sports, and other family events?

Alicia: Find a system that works best for your family. For mine, it was a "family appointment book" that we keep in the kitchen with all of our most important family obligations and deadlines in it. My husband and I write our big meetings in it, as well as our daughter’s swim lessons or school projects. That way we all know who has what going on any given day.

How do you help people keep track of their various calendars and "little slips of paper" (To-Do Lists, notes, invitations, schedules from the kids' schools, etc)?

Alicia: The best way is to set up a "communication station"—which, again, usually works best in the kitchen—for all of the important incoming and outgoing mail, permission slips, and schedules. Each person in the family gets their own color-coded magazine box with folders labeled incoming, outgoing, and needs to be put on calendar. A simple system can go a long way in keeping your family "buttoned up!"

As a working mom, how do you streamline your daily planner and your Outlook calendar so you never miss a business OR a PTA meeting?

Alicia: You have to set a time that works best for you each day to sit down and fill in your obligations. I am an early bird, so I match up my planner and my Outlook calendar every morning before the rest of my family gets up.

What are your tips for setting up a simple and effective central calendar?

Alicia: Use overhead projector pens on a laminated calendar. Dry erase pens will get erased too easily, and then everyone will be in a pickle.

What are your favorite online systems and tools for organizing your life and your calendars?

Alicia: Google calendars are great. You can set them up by month or by week with all of that month’s activities, or make one just for your workout classes. Then you just print the neat, easy calendar. Best of all, it's free!

What are your favorite "real world" systems and tools for organizing your life and your calendars?

Alicia: I have to be biased here, but the whole concept of [my company], Buttoned Up, was to get people organized in a simple yet highly effective manner. Our current 25 products do just that, and we are launching 20 more products this fall.

Is there one single system you have for staying organized everyday? Or does it change by season, by life event, etc?

Alicia: The most important thing to remember about organization is that it’s not cookie cutter. Each person and each family is unique, so you have to find a system that fits with your personal style and schedule. And remember, being organized does not mean everything is perfect, it means everything is easier for your lifestyle.

What advice would you give to parents living in The Sandwich Generation—keeping tabs not only on themselves, their spouses, and their kids, but also their aging parents?

Alicia: Every family needs an all-inclusive binder containing their most critical family paperwork, from medical to legal to insurance. We created one for Buttoned Up called Life.doc that does just that. Systems like it will help you to be prepared so if someone gets sick or your car needs repair, you have everything you need at your fingertips. If you take care of aging parents, this is also extremely helpful as you can fill out all of the medications and legal information that you would not know off the top of your head.

We all start off with great "best-laid plans" for getting organized. How to you help people to stay on track, or come up with red flags for when it's time to get back on track?

Alicia: Everyone falls of track, but it's important to set aside a day each week to assess which organizing goals you've accomplished and which goals you fell short on. Sometimes you'll have a system that works great in the winter but horribly in the summer. The best way to stay on track is to be flexible and to keep trying.

Similarly, how do you know when you've outgrown one calendar or system of organization and it's time to create a new one?

Alicia: If you are using a system and still feeling overwhelmed, you need to switch it up. Again, be flexible. Use systems that are the most time efficient and easy. If it has too many steps or rules, ditch it. You shouldn’t have to spend more than 30 minutes a day on your system to stay organized.

Where do you draw the line on "perfection" or trying to be Wonder Woman?

Alicia: Women too often allow themselves to feel guilty or upset if they aren’t perfect, but the truth is, No one is! Know your own boundaries and set achievable goals. Organizing is supposed to help your state of mind, not add another level of stress to it.

What's your one area of disorganization? (C'mon—everyone has to have one!)

Alicia: I admit that my car is almost always in disarray. Between my daughter's juice boxes and cracker wrappers, my water bottles and work stuff, and the other random items, my car often looks like tornado aftermath. However, my car is emergency ready with a Collision.kit, which has pre-printed cards with all of the most important information in the event of an accident and a disposable camera with a flash. So, my car may look messy but I am still organized for safety.

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To read more of Alicia's tips or browse her company's catalog of products, check out www.getbuttonedup.com, www.seejanework.com, or Target Stores nationwide.

Have your own tips for getting—and keeping—your family's various activities and events organized and headache-free? Share them with the Care.com community by posting a comment!