In the winter, we can fall into a routine waiting for spring and the summer, especially us boaters. With Family Day around the corner (Febuary 20th), here are some tips on how to schedule your home time to get the most out of winter and quality family time!

1. 1. Organize your week – It is recommended that you take some time each day to write down all of the events that your family has planned that week. This will allow you and your partner to determine where everyone needs to be and to make a game plan on how to complete everything.

   2. Prioritize your events and tasks – Having a schedule is important to determine what needs to be done, and what needs to be attended, but sometimes it isn’t possible to do everything.  By prioritizing your events and tasks, it will be possible to accomplish everything important, and reschedule other tasks and events for another time.  

   3. Review the schedule the night before – Spend time at the end of the day to review what is scheduled for the next day, and who is going to which events.  This will allows you to make sure that nothing important is forgotten, and to adjust the schedule if something cannot be achieved. Carrying a shared digital schedule on you at all times will make you more efficient, and allow you to schedule event at any time, making sure either you or your partner can manage everything.  

   4. Create routines – By creating routines around food menus, cleaning schedule, homework times, and family time, your week will be much more manageable. 

   5. Leave work at work – When you are at home, you shouldn’t be thinking about work.  In order to enjoy life, you need to have a good work-life balance.  Make sure you leave your work at work, and make home time about the rest of your life.

   6. Use free time to plan ahead – The unexpected is the biggest cause for stress and deterrents in your schedule.  If you have extra time at the end of the night, use it to plan for the next day. A simple task such as making your children’s lunches in the evening instead of in the rushed morning can help ease stress, and make the next day much better.

   7. Go to bed early – Going to sleep earlier will help you get the recommended hours of sleep. Even going to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual will help both your body and mind the next day.  This is also very important just in case something unexpected happens in the morning, and you need to wake up early.

   8. Put your clothes out – Early morning is not the best time to think about what to wear, especially since your mind is just waking up.  It is advised to take out your outfit for the next day prior to sleeping, including any accessories.

   9. Schedule some family time – When you and your family have a busy week, it is easy to forget to spend family time together.  Spending some time as a family will allow all of you to connect more, relax, and have some fun.  

Now that you have more time at home, here are some fun things we recommend doing on the water this summer!