HOW TO create a COMMAND CENTER BOARD!
If you want to learn more about how to create a COMMAND CENTER BOARD for your family then this video and post is for you!
I hope that by showing you how I made ours I can inspire and encourage you to make your own! This is an excellent tool to help organize schedules and meals plans and basically all of LIFE!!
LET'S GET TO IT!
I decided to make this board because I couldn't find one ANYWHERE that suited all the needs for our family. I envisioned a few key sections on this board; these lists where the ones I always ended up writing in notebooks or on small papers that randomly ended up around the house. SO, to keep us organized, here is what I came up with:
SECTIONS of COMMAND BOARD:
Month calendar
Week calendar by day AND person
Meal Plan
To Do
Notes
TO MAKE:
I used washi tape (https://amzn.to/3b2MIfY) and some hand lettering pens (https://amzn.to/2S8NcIF) on card stock paper on a giant whiteboard. I simply divided up the sections I wanted and outlined with the tape. I previously had drafted the layout on paper before applying the washi tape. After I outlined everything I hand lettered the headings and days and our names and taped them on from the back.
TO USE:
FIRST thing I do each month is put in the dates on the MONTH LAYOUT; and also MY schedule because the days and times I work vary every week. I dry erase markers like these (https://amzn.to/37LB7zM)
SECOND thing I write on here is any special events for the month - holidays, dates the school is closed, big events for Brandon's work, etc.
The THIRD thing I put on the board is the dates for the upcoming week. Since it's divided by person AND day of the week, I can see everyone's schedule, AT ONE TIME. I see who is taking the kids to school, if the kids have a doctor appointment, dentist appointment, etc. Dividing it by PERSON AND DAY of the week has been EXTREMELY helpful in organizing our week.
The FOURTH piece of information I add to the board is our MEAL PLAN. I like to brainstorm in the NOTES section of the board, meals I can do already with the ingredients I have on hand. ONLY THEN, will I make a grocery list of fill in items to buy at the store. I like to try and use what we have and get creative first. This helps us save money on groceries. For this reason, it's SUPER helpful to have the board IN the kitchen or at least VERY close. In our old house it was around the corner from the kitchen and I have to say that since we've moved to this house, the board has been much more useful because it's IN THE KITCHEN.
Once I have the Meal PLAN I write an "L" for lunch and "D" for dinner and circle the letter and write one of each for every day of the week.
The TO DO section is nice because I can keep a running list of things we need to do around the house or specific errands someone needs to run. I.E. put up the desk studio, do YNAB (our budgeting software), install curtains, etc.
If we had more space next to this board I would have hung up our wall file folder divider but instead it's around the corner and it's been working fine. In the file folder I put papers and things I need to keep for a short time or papers that I don't know what to do with because they are Brandon's and he's not home to ask at the moment.
The sections I created are: (top to bottom)
Brielle (mostly artwork from school, sometimes doctor papers)
Brandon
Brigitte
Bills (or renewals or receipts or financial things we need to hold temporarily)
ASAP (things needing a response or signature)
Benjamin (and his is lowest so that he can put his school papers there)
Also nearby is a large framed cork board that we use to pin up papers that change weekly or every other week. Things like the activities for the upcoming week for school or special events that are approaching. I also keep a couple school papers up there full time that have important dates or times on them.
(LINKS throughout the post are from Amazon *As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases*)
I hope this encourages you to try and make your very own COMMAND CENTER BOARD!
Don't let it be intimidating because you can do it! I believe in you and you will reap the rewards with a more organized life that has less stress!
