Declutter Challenge {Day 8} Command Center

Friends, you are doing such a great job! I love seeing your homes and all the work you are putting into them!

Today, we are going back to one of those things that can easily overtake our lives- papers! If you missed the post about decluttering our paperwork last week, be sure to go back and check it out. It will make completing today’s task much easier.

Image Credit: Clean and Scentsible, How To Nest For Less, Not Just A Housewife

Day 8: Command Center

Your family control center, or command center, is the place where you keep track of all your family happenings for the week. This can include your meal plan, shopping list, your finances and the general running of your home. If you don’t yet have a control center for your home, today is your special day! I didn’t have one for the longest time, but when I finally got around to it, I wished I had started far earlier!

Now that your paperwork clutter is gone (right?), it should be relatively easy to set up your control center. Once it is set up, there shouldn’t be too much work that goes into maintaining it. I usually take the last day of each month and plan out the following month, to the best of my ability. Granted, my month will not be planned out completely, but I try to note which activities we have and plan meals and household jobs accordingly.

Your control center is what keeps your family on task- everyone should be able to look at it and see what you have planned. What do I suggest keeping in your control center?

• your calendar
• meal plan/shopping list
• a white bard and dry erase marker
• cleaning/chore checklists
• social obligation/gift lists etc
• important phone numbers
• instructions for sitters

In future posts, I will be going over how to set up a cleaning schedule that works for your family, but for now, let’s just set up the control center so everything is ready to go.

Assignment:

1. Hang control center essentials in a central location in your home (I keep mine in my kitchen) so that it is easy and convenient for all family members to reference it on a daily basis.

2. Make a list of each household member and assign them a color on the board. Some people prefer to assign a color to each activity instead (red for sports green for chores etc) which is fine also. 

 3. Make a list of your family’s favorite meals and basic ingredients for those meals. Write down those meals on your calendar.

 4. Create a cleaning schedule that works for you and your family. This is a good place to put your kids chore lists. 

 5. Fill in your calendar with any social obligations, extracurricular activities, appointments, tests, etc. Hang dry erase markers near the board, so it can be updated as needed.

 6. Create a list of important phone numbers and notes, and post them on the board.

Tell us, is this going to be a big change for your family? Have you used a command center before?