Command Centre: Weekly Notes and Calendar

Last week I showed you our Monthly Family Goals page.  Part of what helps us achieve our monthly goals is breaking them down further into weekly goals.

Our Weekly Notes

Today I want to show you our weekly notes memo board.

This is just a little whiteboard I got at the dollar store.  There’s a black dry erase marker that clips to the top.  And of course I use a few coloured markers to pretty it up a bit 🙂

There are 2 magnets that came with the board too and I use those if I need to keep something handy (coupons I plan to use that week, tickets for an event that week, a receipt for something I’m returning that week, etc.)

This post was originally posted on my old blog in 2013. This memo board was part of my command centre for many years and it worked really well for me! I’ve since transitioned to digital notes for the same purpose, but it’s essentially the same process.

Every Sunday, I plan for the week ahead by filling out this board (or my digital notes).  Once I do, it’s my “brain” for the week.  I refer to it multiple times each day. It’s kind of a combination of a weekly calendar, to-do list, and reminder spot.

Every week it looks a little different.  When I originally took these pictures, that week was filled with lots of Valentine’s Day activities.  And my hubby and I were going on a one-night getaway while the kids stay with my in-laws, so some things that week were adjusted to accommodate that. But the basics are the same each week.

How to Use Weekly Notes

1. Take a close look at what’s listed for the week on your monthly calendar.  
2. Look ahead to the following week to see if there are things that actually need to be taken care of this week.
3. Look at your monthly goals and determine what you should do in the coming week to help you achieve your goals by the end of the month.  
4. Jot down reminders for things you might otherwise forget (library due dates, school events or activities that require specific clothing or equipment, etc.)
5. If you see that some days are extra busy, try to schedule tasks around those days to spread things out where possible.
6. Add in some housekeeping chores so you’re aware of things that need to be done and can cross them off when you’re finished
7. If you have some tasks that need to be done but that don’t need to be done on any particular day, record those in a little box in the bottom corner.  
8. If you create a weekly meal plan, you can see your week at a glance and plan your menu accordingly

Using a Monthly Calendar

One of the keys to making this weekly board successful is writing ALL our family activities on our monthly calendar.

I used this calendar for years and I LOVED it (now we mainly use digital calendars).  This is the MotherWord Mom’s Ultimate Magnetic Family Fridge Calendar. There are various versions of the MotherWord Mom’s Ultimate calendars, but I really like this one because the squares are big so you can write more when you need to. Usually by the end of the month ours looked a lot fuller than in this picture.

I also love that this calendar comes with a magnet strip on the back so you can hang it on your fridge. I wanted to hang it as part of my command centre so I put a magnetic strip on my wall to hang it from.

One of the features of this calendar is that each square is divided into 3 sections. I decided to use each part for something different.

• I recorded recurring events such as birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays in the top section.  
• I wrote anything related to my kids in the middle section.  
• And my hubby and I kept track of our activities or work schedules/hours in the bottom section of each squares.  

Here’s how the top part of our command centre looks. It includes our Weekly Notes board, our monthly calendar, and our Monthly Goals.

Everything works well together and helps me remember all the little things that I might otherwise forget.

This is the fifth post in this series on my command centre.  If you haven’t seen the first four parts, here they are:

Wall Files for Papers

School Gear

Routines

Monthly Goals Page

Stay tuned for the bottom part of our command centre.  It’s where I store the kids’ school work and art work in a way that’s no longer overwhelming.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for more ideas for a command centre, you can check out the command centres post I wrote as part of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series or my Entryways, Drop Zones & Command Centres board on Pinterest.

Do you have a weekly memo board?  How do you plan for the week ahead?  What kind of family calendar do you use?   Please share your ideas in the comments so we can all be inspired by you!

If you need help decluttering or organizing, contact me for in-person organizing services in the Mississauga area, or virtual organizing services anywhere else.

Happy organizing!