Family time is essential, but unfortunately seldom for many families. Between work, school, chores and other daily tasks and worries, it can be hard to find some time to really sit down and relax with one another. No matter how busy life can be, there are some life hacks that can help to maximize family time, regardless of your busy schedule.
Collaborative Meal Time
Studies have shown that families that eat together, and make a habit of sharing sit-down meals, fare better in many aspects of their lives – outside of familial bonding, kids who eat dinner every night with their families are shown to perform better in school and develop key communications skills as well. But making dinner, or any other meal, is only half the battle, so why not include the rest of the family in on the gig?
Having kids read instructions, gather and measure ingredients and perform other culinary tasks can help their reading, math, problems solving and even their domestic skills. Additionally, kids who help prepare their food are more likely to try new things or even eat their vegetables. But most importantly, by making and sharing meals together, you’re also creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Involve the Kids
Errands can get in the way of things you might want to do more, whether it’s family game night or going to a movie. But sometimes simply spending time in the same room together can be enough. If you can, try to complete menial chores like organizing, folding laundry, or even cleaning together with your kids. Getting chores out of the way is important, but completing them together can help make a difference. If you can find ways to compromise, like going through your receipts while kids complete their homework, can still provide for time together if while you’re getting separate things done at once.
Weed Out Time Wasters
Many of us do things out of habit and may not realize just how much time out of our day we spend doing those things. Scrolling through Facebook, checking email, playing games and other distractions can take up more time than you realize. While it’s still essential that everyone in the family have time to themselves, you might find that you do certain things more than you realized and that you could do with some cutting down.
Revise Your To-Do List
It’s easy to overload your To-Do List, and many people feel like their list just never ends. It may help to take another look at your list and see what’s actually feasible. One great way to do this is to categorize your tasks by priority. This way, you can still have important things listed that you may not get around to today, but don’t feel so bad about completing tomorrow. And while you’re revising and reorganizing your list, make sure to schedule in some family time! Time can easily slip away from people, especially those with already busy schedules, but penciling in a reminder is a great way to tell yourself that you should take a break and consider what’s really important in life for a moment, and make some memories.
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