Make Your Own Simple Household Management Binder

Over the years, I’ve tried lots of different home management methods. Some were designed by others, some were thrown together by me. None of them worked. They were either too elaborate, taking more time than they saved or they weren’t thought out well enough to be efficient.

Over the past year (2012), I’ve been thinking through plans for a Home Management Binder. I jotted down ideas, created templates with google, made lists and prioritized. At last, I think I’ve come up with a SIMPLE system that will work for me, and just might work for you too.

The Simple Household Management Binder includes:

• 1-inch binder
• plastic pocket write-on tabbed dividers
• pencil bag
• colored sharpies, highlighters, pencils
• daily-weekly all-in-one docket
• monthly cleaning schedule
• two-week menu planning template
• double-page monthly calendar
• blogging schedule template
• habit chart
• project page
• to buy list/wish list

Everything is held together in a sturdy, 1-inch view binder and organized with plastic pocket write-on tabbed dividers (just like I use in my coupon binder). I used the single pocket dividers but you can get dividers with pockets on front and back if you want to increase your storage capacity.

My categories are: Home – D (daily), Home – M (monthly), Menu, Family (calendar), Blog (schedule & maintenance), Habits (my habit chart), Projects (list of projects I hope to accomplish this year) and To Buy/Wish List.

Your categories may be similar but you’ll want to customize them to fit your life and needs. In what areas of life do you need help staying organized? Those become your categories.

I don’t like chaos. I don’t like clutter or stress in my daily routine. I like to stay organized and be productive and proactive so life’s regular ups and downs don’t add more stress to my days.  However, I don’t want to spend more time with my household binder or cleaning my house than I do with my family or doing other things I enjoy (like blogging).  I like keeping things simple, so I created ONE page (shown above) that covers all my daily and weekly tasks for one whole week.

It lists daily tasks at the top with a place to mark off each completed day. The bottom left corner shows weekly chores with a place to check them off as I go. I did not assign days to the weekly chores as my schedule tends to vary greatly from week to week and then I end up feeling off balance if I’m not checking things off on the appropriate days (yes, I know, there’s medication for this).

In the bottom right corner is a box that holds weekly to do items that are outside of the realm of household chores, like running errands, making phone calls, projects, etc.

You can print a blank docket HERE to customize with your own tasks.

The next category is for Home – Monthly and consists of household chores that are to be done on a monthly or semi-annual basis, like dusting the ceiling fans, wiping down the doors, jams and knobs, vacuuming baseboards, etc. It also includes those items that need to be done less often like cleaning carpets, purging closets, etc.

You can print a blank monthly schedule HERE.

Next I have a two-week menu planning template for dinners only. It has a space to list things I need to buy for specific recipes or to complete a meal.

The next section is the spine of our household – the family calendar. I like a two-page, monthly calendar with room for notes and to do items for that month. I purchased mine with customer rewards at an office supply store, but you can download and print for free HERE.

I keep track of my family’s current and future schedules as well as things we need to accomplish during certain months on the calendar. Then I can write in these items in the “to do” section of my daily/weekly docket as they come up.

I also assigned each member of the family a specific color and keep fine tip sharpies handy so that each calendar item is written in the color that corresponds to that person. This helps me to see at a glance how many different directions we need to go on any given day.

If your family is more technology oriented, then there are lots of great apps to keep you on task. The Hubs, however, hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon yet so we stick with the paper version. I also like to be able to see the WHOLE picture at a glance instead of screen by screen so this tends to work better for me.

Next is my blogging schedule. Again, super simple. Just the backbone of what I need to do each day and areas to help me maintain the backend.

The last three sections are things I included that help me keep looking forward and being proactive:

• My Good Habit Chart – this is a chart that was actually created for kids to encourage them to form good habits and mark their progress. It provides an area to map out the new habit you want to develop. Then, since it takes about 21 days to develop a habit and sometimes more than one attempt, the form gives you three sections to record your success and maintain accountability. You can print it HERE.
• Projects – This is just a two column table that allows me to write down projects I’d like to accomplish in the foreseeable future. Some are DIY, some relate to service and others are just tasks that may take me several days/weeks to complete.
• To Buy/Wish List – This is a two column table that gives me an area to keep track of things I need to buy and things I’d like to buy. This helps me to keep it fresh in my mind so that I can hunt down the best price/product. It also helps me to avoid being impulsive. Sometimes things get marked off the list simply because I’ve thought it through and decided I don’t really want it after all.

Last, if you’d like to use the cover I created for your own binder, you can download that HERE.

I hope this post helps you in your own journey toward being more organized, efficient and intentional.

Do you utilize a household binder already? Or another system that helps you maintain your sanity?