If given an opportunity to have a more fully engaged family would you do it?  What if it meant a change?  Is that scary? Uncomfortable? Exciting?  It may be a combination of all of the feels.  When we reflect on what we honestly dream of accomplishing as a family: Travel. Service. Laughter. Play. There is often a feeling of imbalance.   The things we do daily may not be getting us close to the desired goals. It’s as if we decided to be weight lifters, but never got around to picking up a weight.  So, the question stands;

How do you create family experiences that will become family stories for years to come, and manage your day to day?

Often, we are tempted to turn immediately toward money.  For most, an increase in funds would certainly make some of these goals more attainable.  However, I would like to challenge that thought with another.  What if it were time?  What if all you needed to have more desirable family experiences  was a better organization and use of your time? We all have access to a 24 hour day, how are you spending yours?  I tend to cycle between overcommitting and under utilizing the time I have.  If I am not deliberate with my time, I find myself drained.  Finding the right balance is difficult.  However, once achieved stress falls, focus comes, and accomplishments follow.

Freeing time to create family experiences can be done in a variety of ways.  I would like to share with you three of the most helpful tools I have found to accomplish this.

First, Time Block your Time Thieves:  

Time Blocking: When you schedule a specific time, as well as an identified timeframe to complete a task.

Time Thieves: Activities that pull you in, and literally steal your time.  You intend to spend only a few minutes with them, but before you know it an hour has past.  Time thieves are not necessarily bad, you just need to be aware enough to manage them.  Identify your time thieves and give them a limit. This is an initial step to being more deliberate with your time.

Finding time you did not know you had, is like finding money in the laundry, pleasant and unexpected.

Use this new found time to be spontaneous:

• surprise your kids at lunch
• stop in and see your grandma
• go on a mid-day lunch date with your husband

Another, great use of this time is to look for ways to make a long term goals happen:

• Look up discount tickets, or book tickets
• Start a saving plan/timeline for: Disney, Anniversary, Milestone Birthdays

Something as simple as carving out time can help accomplish family goals, and help you stretch your budget.

Next, Family Meetings: 

Every Sunday, we have a Family Meeting.  In this meeting we discuss an overview of the upcoming week.  We highlight any needs, or concerns.  We also use this time to hype up any family activities we have coming up, and ways everyone can contribute to make them happen.  Implementing this regularly, has changed the way our family functions.  We have all become more aware of what is going on, and what needs to happen to make our day to day, as well as our extra family experiences a reality.  Our kids are still relatively young, but if we tell them we would like to go do service as a family on Thursday or need to pack to leave early Saturday morning they are all over it.  They get excited and that excitement translates into help.  They will help make it happen, and that is beautiful.

Finally, We create a Live List:

It is similar to a bucket list except, it is not something to be crossed off when time expires it is something to help you live each season you are in to the fullest and remember it.  I first heard it called a Live List by Kelly Jensen in The Mom Conference 2016.  Before that, my family and I  created a local “bucket list” in  each area we lived because we moved a lot.  We would write all the activities we could participate in and calendar them out for the time we were there.  Food. Fun. Service. Music. Nature.  The sky is the limit.

Since we are currently more stationary, we have used Kelly’s Live List approach and done it seasonally.

• Our Seasonal list typically includes 15 items. Fun. Service. Activities. Family. Games.
• We calendar the activities
• Print the list with check boxes (Hung in a picture frame in the kitchen where everyone can see it) and check as we go.
• We also try to document the experiences as we complete them.

These three things have been essential to gaining some of the best family stories.  They do not need to be complex.  Most of the things we do are local, and free.  My kids love volunteering at the food pantry, and going to the airplane observation, and sledding was a hit considering we lived where it was not an option for two years .  If done right, small experiences can be really sticky for your family and they will love and remember them.  I hope this helps you on your journey to live more this upcoming year.  Let me know, what’s on your live list?