FAMILY COMMAND CENTER: The ONE System You Need at Your House

running a home has so many parts wouldn't it be great if the work of running a home could be a bit easier streamlined I'm Julie I'm your systems gal and here at the bossy house I'm helping families get it together at home with systems if you are not a systems thinker already not a problem today I'm going to show you the one system that I think every home needs kids or not to stay on top of everything it's a family command center and I've helped thousands of families put one of these into their homes and today I'm going to talk about what exactly this is why you need it and how to learn all my tricks for setting one of these up at your house also bonus I'm going to give you a little tour of my command center so you can see how we use it over at our house thank you are you ready [Music] why you need a command center so let's talk about running a home there are so many different parts to it and the mental labor involved can be overwhelming to cut down on that overwhelm and actually work less at running a home I teach people how to think about their homes as systems you already have tons of systems going on in your house a system is just a way you handle a task so there's a system for collecting the mail a system for managing kids homework a system for paying bills a system for dealing with everyone's schedules and a system for meal prep you've got systems for announcements and library books and birthdays and RSVPs to parties and feeding the dog and grocery shopping and chores there's probably even systems for what you do with jackets and what you do with backpacks and all of those systems might feel like they operate really independently but the truth is keeping them separate is taking you even more time to run your house and that's where the command center comes in so what is a command center first of all it's just a place in your home where you batch your systems for managing everything it acts as a communication hub for your family and a landing spot for all kinds of items at your house and because you put as many systems as you can into the command center you get a major organizational Boost from all those systems living together that's the power of batching [Music] so where does the command center typically go command centers work best when they're in a location you're going to walk by a couple times a day so the front door the back door even if you enter in through the garage those are the very best places and the place should be public so don't put it in a closet don't put it in the office where only the adults hang out every member of your family should have access to the command center because you're going to use this thing to help delegate some of the work of running your house and so everyone needs to see it and be able to use it if you have a choice I don't suggest putting a Command Center in the kitchen or in the living room because we tend to hang out in those kinds of spaces a lot and when the command center lives in a central place it stops acting as a reminder for you and becomes kind of wall decor you want it somewhere you're going to look at it and it's going to cue you for what needs to get done in your house remember that's the power of batching that's a big piece of it and we don't want to just have this space be a display your command center is for use by the whole family and so putting it somewhere that you're going to walk by several times a day is a good space for that queuing effect that you want and the reason the best place is in the entryway of the home whether you enter through the garage the front door or the back door is because you are always bringing things in and taking things out of the house and that transition point right at the door is a really tricky transition point we're always forgetting things where do we put something that we need to bring those things that you're bringing in and out of the house they can stay in your command center and help make it a productive space to manage your stuff backpacks purses jackets shoes all go inside our Command Center to help us manage the routines that we have at the door and this also is a little bit of a cue for you when you come in the door to do some of those routines that maybe you're batching together I have seen so many great command centers at entry points there are also great examples of command centers in kitchens in small spaces under the stairs and in hallways I've even seen amazing command centers in garages believe it or not my favorite command centers out there besides mine of course one is in a kitchen even though I don't recommend it and one is in a hallway they're both really brilliant examples of using small spaces to put a Command Center in to help you run all the things that have to happen at home in the links below I put a way to see those two command centers so you can explore on your own foreign now that we have an idea of where they might go what goes inside a command center so let's remember the purpose of the command center one batch our systems two act as a communication Hub and three be a landing spot for a bunch of stuff that goes in and out of the house so I want to talk first about Landing spots and how powerful they can truly be if the command center is located at a real entry point this will become a place for storing all the items that go in and go out of your home in our Command Center we keep jackets shoes literally all of their shoes in the house we keep in the command center and bags for school and work and sports so anything that we take in and out of the home we store here that keeps us from losing those things and we always know where they are when we're leaving again so backpacks aren't allowed in our house to come past the command center we empty them right at the door and we never lose anything important we also keep rainy and cold weather gear in the command center dog walking supplies and our library book bag in the command center the important thing is that you make it work for you and customize it to what you need as a family our Command Center also has tons of Landing spots for things going in and coming out of the house but also items that we store in the command center because we often need them in the entryway in the top drawer of our Command Center I keep sunscreen and bug spray dog treats and poop bags lip stuff and headphones and any other Tech cords that we're always looking for in addition to that we have some snacks that I can grab if someone gets hungry on the way out the door and other miscellaneous supplies we frequently need right there at the front door in the second drawer I keep cold weather hats and scarves and this is where I keep note cards envelopes and stamps if I'm mailing a letter or writing a card I am probably then walking it out the door why not put it all by the front door in the bottom drawer we have a trash can and packing supplies for mailing and if I'm returning something I stick it in that drawer and that's how I remember to take it with me when I go also in the command center we have Landing spots for stuff I'm bringing to work so if on the weekend I take out something that I want to remember to take to work I just throw it in that spot and then Monday morning I know I can check there for what's on my list to take to work right now it's masks and business cards we have supplies we need here for the car but we replenish from the command center so wipes and poop bags more cords and cold weather scarves and we have a clipboard here that serves as a chore chart for when my daughter has completed her drawer she can check them off on the clipboard on the other side we have Landing spots for shoes supplies like inserts and laces which we just typically need right here at the front door and supplies that we take to the park like binoculars and keys more cold weather gear and socks to help my daughter streamline the shoe putting on process right at the front door the command center is also going to operate as a communication hub for you and your family and those needs are really important too so whatever materials you use now to communicate with your family a calendar a to-do list a grocery list these all can go in the command center we have a weekly and monthly calendar in hours and that helps us have a weekly chat on Monday morning about what's going on for the week I put in their carpool stuff major events happening things for us to remember and then all of our babysitting needs go on our monthly calendar so that when I'm saying goodbye to a babysitter I can ask hey do you have availability for these other dates and I use a patterned piece of paper in a frame as a whiteboard this is where I write my self reminders or check off major things my my to-do list is really in my planner but for things that we're sharing or weekend to Do's we sometimes put them on this whiteboard and then have fun checking them off together if I have notes for babysitters or for anybody else that's helping out around the house that's where I put them so think about the systems that you are running in your home and consider putting all of them into the command center so while you're handling the calendar the command center itself can remind you oop it's time to take care of the grocery shopping or oh just take a look at the upcoming birthday calendar to see who's got a birthday coming up our system for managing communication with my daughter's school happens in the command center so one of our clipboards is where we put School notices or things I have to sign when we empty her backpack at the end of the day we post anything there that I need to use as a resource announcements phone lists calendars stuff like that the middle clipboard is for outgoing items like mail or show tickets or something I'm giving to a neighbor and then the far right clipboard is for displaying artwork and school work that my daughter's proud of so we empty her bag and she picks a few things to throw onto that clipboard that stay up in the display and I can easily toss what I don't want later five I find this where's my high five yay all right [Music] I also have my file system that you might see in an office tucked away somewhere else in the house I have it in my command center right by the front door so Bill's important paperwork receipts that I'm saving artwork that I'm saving anything that I'm gonna file somewhere else but at the moment at three o'clock in the afternoon I don't feel like walking it all the way back to my file system this is a great place to keep a file system needs to be stored somewhere else later but you need a low stress way to have a landing spot for it until you feel like filing things put it in this file system and of course we have our birthday calendar grocery list those things live in the command center too as well as note cards and pens for quick notes to teachers so this is our Command Center but your command center will be customized to what you need that's the most important part customization you can go down to a big store all about home organization and you could install one of their pre-made command centers in your house but would it address all the things you need it to address when you build it yourself you're way more likely to keep up with it because it's just what you need to manage at your house and when you make it your own you can also create ways for your family to be involved once the work is visible it's shareable right so I love the power of batching your systems delegating tasks that help the house run well I am all about reducing the mental stress of running a home so that you can spend more time hanging out with your family and having low stress time in your house so what do you think would this be helpful over at your house I know I've given you some ideas here but if you want to go deeper I have a whole workshop and it's free where you can learn all my basics for setting up a command center and it's an hour long totally free and when you're done you'll have a basic understanding of what might go in your command center and how to start thinking about customizing it for your family so you would go sign up put your email in and then I will send you an email with a link to the workshop right away like you know what I I know I want to set one of these up I'm ready I want everything I have an intensive workshop for my die hards it's two hours we go step by step and in depth and it includes my Made For You templates these are things that you can just print and put into frames right away to get your command center set up this weekend so those templates are in my shop those are typically twenty seven dollars and the Intensive Workshop is 89. just saying it's kind of a good deal so the free Workshop will give you a great idea of the command center Basics and how I work you'll know if you want more after that so just go sign up for the workshop put your email in it's low stress you'll get an email from me with a link and you can go right to it and watch your one hour Workshop I know a command center can make a huge difference for your family I've helped so many people customize theirs for what exactly Works to help their family get it together and it's a way to bring the power of systems to your family to reduce your mental stress I am cheering you on as you put some custom systems in place at your house so the laundry the chores the schedule they're not bossing you around instead you're the boss of your home good luck [Music] thank you [Music] [Music]

Channel: The Bossy House

Views: 15,918

Keywords: family command center, command center organization, command center, family organization ideas, motherhood, parenting hacks, equal household chores, delegating tasks to your team, home organization ideas, home organization

Id: DaTF2sqNAQE

Length: 15min 7sec (907 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 28 2023