Simplify family life with these family routine ideas

Calendar and pens - family routine items.

If family life often feels rushed, chaotic, or full of constant reminders, these family routine ideas can help make everyday family life simpler, and more manageable.

From busy mornings, after school activities, mealtimes, and bedtime, having a few daily family routines can reduce stress, and make it easier for everyone to know what needs to happen next.

Here are some simple family routine ideas that you can start with, from morning and evening routines, meal planning, cleaning, and bedtime routines, you’ll find a family routine to suit every aspect of family life.

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Table of Contents

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What are family routines?

A family routine is a sequence of activities that help your family get things done.

A routine might happen at a particular time of day such as a morning routine, school morning routine, or bedtime routine, or it may happen on a particular day such as a Sunday night.

The purpose of routines isn’t to schedule every minute of family life. Instead, a good routine gives everyone a familiar sequence to follow, so you don’t have to keep working out what needs to happen next.

Why are family routines helpful?

Some of the benefits of family routines are that they:

Reduce the number of decisions you need to make every day
Give children independence
Make busy parts of your day predictable
Allow responsibilities to be shared between family members
Create more time to spend with family

Family routine ideas

Here are some simple family routine ideas that make family life easier.

Morning routine

Mornings can quickly become chaotic when everyone is trying to get ready at the same time.

A simple morning routine gives everyone a predictable sequence to follow each morning, as well as helping your children become more independent.

Here are some examples of the types of activities that can form part of your family’s morning routine:

Make bed
Eat breakfast
Get dressed
Brush teeth
Brush hair
Pack school bags
Put shoes and coats on

One of my favourite ways to make my family’s morning routine easier is by using a morning routine checklist.

For younger kids, you can use a picture based routine chart to list the activities in your morning routine, and for older children this morning routine checklist works well, both can be customised to the varying steps in your morning routine.

For older children this morning routine checklist works well, and is also customisable to your family’s needs.

The best place to put your checklist is somewhere your entire family can see it, like the kitchen, or front door.

After school routine

The transition from school to home can be one of the busiest parts of the day.

Instead of everyone coming through the door and doing their own thing, create a simple after school routine that helps your children know what happens next.

Some activities you can add to your after school routine include:

Getting after school snacks ready
Spending time outdoors
Completing homework
Eating dinner
Having some downtime

School bag and stationery - family routine items.

Evening routine

Here are some evening routine ideas that will make your next day more productive, and less stressful:

Get breakfast items out (bowls, cereals, etc.)
Lay out the next day’s clothing
Make school lunches and place them in the fridge
Check your calendar to see what appointments, activities, or tasks you need to prepare for
Place keys, school bags, and school essentials by the front door

Home reset routine

A home reset routine is something I do every night, where I spend 15 minutes tidying the most used areas of my home, so my home returns to a basic level of order at the end of the day.

Some activities you can do as part of a home reset include:

Tidying the kitchen
Loading or unloading the dishwasher
Putting things back where they belong
Clearing the main living areas
Preparing anything needed for the morning

Meal planning routine

Meal planning is when you write a plan of what meals you’re going to have over a dedicated amount of time, for example one week.

This doesn’t mean that every meal has to be homemade, healthy, or planned down to the smallest detail. It’s simply a routine that helps you avoid the daily “what’s for dinner?” panic.

Here are some tips to help you meal plan:

Choose a day to plan your meals
Decide where you’ll keep your meal plan, for example in a meal planner, or meal planner notepad
Go through your fridge, freezer, and pantry and make a list of what food items you have that can be used in your meal plan

Food items, notebook - family routine items.

Cleaning routine

Instead of working through a long list of cleaning tasks, I like to do smaller cleaning tasks regularly, which also means I don’t spend entire weekends cleaning.

Here are some smaller, quick cleaning tasks you can do each day, to help you keep on top of cleaning your home:

Wipe down kitchen countertops
Load the dishwasher and put it on each night
Put things back where they belong
Clear clutter from the main living areas
Put cushions and remote controls away
Get children involved with age-appropriate chores

Bedtime routine

Having a consistent bedtime routine for your kids is another one of the family daily routines that make family life easier.

The steps that could form part of your bedtime routine are:

Bathing
Putting pyjamas on
Brushing teeth
Preparing clothes for the next day
Reading together
Getting into bed
Lights out

Weekend reset routine

A weekend reset routine can help you start the week ahead on a calm note.

Each Sunday you could:

Review the following week’s calendar and prepare anything needed for upcoming events
Check school commitments
Check school bags
Write your meal plan
Prepare clothes or bags for Monday

Clothing, bag, notebook - family routine items.

How to make family routines work

Coming up with family routine ideas is easy, what’s harder is making them a consistent part of daily life.

Here are some things you can do to help you stick to your family daily routines:

Start with one routine

Identify the most challenging part of family life and start with a family routine that will help make it easier.

Once the new routine feels comfortable, choose another challenging area and start another routine.

Keep routines simple

A routine with too many steps is unlikely to work, especially when you’re short on time.

The best way to start a new routine is by keeping it simple and only adding tasks to it that are essential to making the routine work.

Get everyone involved

Determine which family members can take responsibility for each task in a routine, so an entire routine doesn’t become one person’s responsibility.

Stay flexible

Routines will need to change as your family changes, and may also need to change or stop on extra busy mornings, during school holidays, at the start of a new school year, or even sick days.

Staying flexible by changing a routine, stopping it temporarily, or changing the order of steps is the best way to ensure that your routines work for you.

Family routine ideas – a recap

Introducing family routines makes a big difference to how your family functions.

Whether you start with a calm morning routine, an organised after school routine, or a relaxing bedtime routine, the aim of routines is to make everyday tasks predictable and manageable.

You don’t need to introduce every one of these family routines at once. Start by choosing one area of family life that feels challenging, and choose a routine that will help make it easier.

With a few simple routines in place, you can reduce daily chaos, share responsibilities more easily, and create more time for the things your family enjoys.

Ready to get more organised?

If you enjoyed these tips, don’t forget to download your FREE Organised Mum Life toolkit packed with simple planners and checklists to help make family life easier. Get your FREE toolkit here.

Which family routine would make the biggest difference to your week right now?

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