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Families don’t use their time efficiently. For example, recent studies reveal that parents only get 30 minutes to recharge during the day. Jobs, chores, and after-school events leave families exhausted. To help increase family connections, here are five efficiency tips and trips to utilize.

1. Map Out Daily Routines

Differing calendar appointments won’t help you sync. If anything, they raise the potential of missing an event. The alternative is to map the concrete routines for your family to increase efficiency. The method’s goal is to ensure there are no wasted moments when you’re at your busiest. Plus, it shows everyone available spaces should you need to add a last-minute event.

List items or draw pictures as visual reminders of the necessary steps to get from one location to another. Involve your children so they also understand the routines and buy into their ownership. In other words, they need to be responsible and ready if they need to get to their destination on time. Overall a routine map helps create good habits for the entire family.

2. Hire a Driver

To really improve your efficiency, you should consider hiring a chauffeur driver for your family. Families utilize drive-sharing organizations when the parents aren’t available to take their children to events. Why can’t a chauffeur take them places? The concept doesn’t involve a limo service. Instead, these drivers use your vehicles to help with transportation services. They’re certified in safe driving procedures and insured if an accident occurs. There’s a good return on investment in terms of maintaining peace in the household.

3. Establish Regular Bedtime Processes

An efficiency killer is a lack of a good night’s sleep. Children are prone to stay up well past their bedtime. In turn, it’s harder for them to wake up for a scheduled event. Their tardiness delays other family members and creates ongoing tensions. The solution is to have everyone take responsibility for their actions. Do this through established bedtime processes. Start winding down to calm everyone down. Dim the lights, put on soothing music, and speak softly to everyone. These have physical and psychological effects to make people tired.

Remove electronic devices from everyone’s room, including yours. Laptops and smartphones distract everyone from getting proper rest. If someone needs sound, purchase a white noise generator.

4. Prep for the Next Day the Night Before

School preparation is another time killer. Most people do this in the morning. The result is a rush of bathing, finding the right clothes, and making lunches. The scenario becomes hectic, tense, and leads to conflict. Avoid this by prepping for the next day the night before. Have everyone pick out outfits and make their lunches. Make sure your children complete their homework within a reasonable time the previous night. If not, ensure they get up early to finish instead of rushing through the work on the bus or in the car.

5. Carve Time For Family

A calendar filled with constant events doesn’t help family unity. On the contrary, it can pull them apart. Further, parents could start to feel that they’re simply drivers for their children and partners. Don’t let the situation get this far. No matter how it’s done, carve time out for family moments during the week. Have a meal together, go for a walk, or watch a family movie. Try to attend an event that’s not school-related to step out of standard routines every once in a while. It allows you to catch up with everything that’s happened and reconnect.

Conclusion

These five efficiency tips are a small group of tips & tricks your family should utilize. You can also get your kids to help with chores, get up a bit earlier to plan the day, and optimize online shopping to increase your efficiency. Regardless of what you choose, make sure to give yourself and everyone else time to decompress.

You weren’t put in this world to run from place to place. You’re here to make a difference. Through the methods mentioned above, you can make a change for your family. Eventually, you’ll create enough space to feel better about everyone.