How to Stay Organized as a Mom: The Simple Reminder System That Runs Our House of Eight

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Last week, the school sent a note home: the book fair starts next week. I knew right away I'd forget. With six kids, there's always a form, a fee or a field trip, and a note from Friday doesn't stand a chance by Wednesday.

So that Friday, I set a reminder in Google Tasks: send the kids with book fair money. This morning, while we were rushing to get out the door, my wrist buzzed. I handed out the money, and nobody missed the book fair.

That's my whole system in one small moment. I don't try to remember things anymore. I write them down, and I let something remind me. Here's how I stay organized as a mom of six, from the grocery list on the fridge to the reminders I set months ahead.

Why I stopped trusting my memory

I used to count on the doctor's office, the dentist or the school to remind me. Sometimes they did. A lot of the time they didn't, and they'd just let me know when I'd missed something.

After too many missed appointments, I stopped leaving it up to them. Now I write everything down, and I can schedule months ahead for anything. Whether or not the reminder call comes, I already know.

Lists for everything else

Not everything needs a reminder. Some things just need to be written down somewhere I'll see them.

A whiteboard on the fridge. This is our grocery list. When something runs out, it goes on the board, and I don't have to keep it in my head.

Samsung Notes on my phone. For quick lists and shopping lists, so I have them with me at the store.

A scrap of paper. Some days, on my way out the door, I just jot what I need on whatever paper is nearby, with one of my favorite pens. It still counts. The point is getting it out of my head.

Google Tasks for anything with a deadline

Google Tasks is where my reminders live. If something has to happen on a certain day, it goes in Tasks with a date and an alert.

One-time reminders. The book fair money. A permission slip. Or my kid's teacher's birthday: I added it to Tasks with a deadline to buy a gift. That turned out to be a really hectic week, and I know I would have forgotten without it.

Recurring reminders. I set up the things that repeat once, and they come back on their own: my weekly and monthly sweepstakes entries, phone calls I need to make, and emails I need to write.

A shared calendar, so it's not all on me

Google Calendar is for appointments and anything the family needs to know about. When I make a dentist or doctor's appointment for one of the kids, I invite my husband to the event, so it's on his calendar too.

We also put house and car upkeep on the calendar: when it's time for him to change the oil in the cars, and when the air filter on the AC needs changing. Those are easy to forget until something goes wrong.

My oldest daughter gets invited to the events that involve her. At 14, she's old enough to keep track of her own plans, with a little backup.

The wall calendar by the front door

Not everything lives on my phone. We have a big wall calendar by the front door. My husband uses it the most, but it's right where everyone walks by, so the whole family can see what's coming.

Under it, I hang every school calendar for the year. With kids at different schools, that's a lot of no-school days and minimum days, and having them all on the wall means nobody gets surprised. I also enter the school calendars into Google Calendar, so I get reminders too.

Alerts that go off at the right time

Most of my reminders go off around 8 a.m., so I see what I need to do that day while there's still time to do it. If something has to happen at a set time, I set the alert for that time instead.

I wear a Galaxy Watch, so even when my phone isn't nearby, the reminder buzzes my wrist. That's how the book fair money made it out the door.

I also use the clock app on my phone for alarms: wake-up alarms, and medication alarms for the kids who take medicine. Those have to happen at the same time every day, so an alarm works better than a task. Our mornings run on a schedule anyway, which I shared in my school morning routine.

The box system I use for my brain

Here's what really makes it work: I don't try to think about everything at once. I keep things in boxes.

The daily box. When I wake up, I think about the day and what goes into today's box. That's all I need to carry until bedtime.

The weekly box. Every Sunday, I check the calendar to see what's coming up that week. That's what goes in the box. Everything happening in other weeks doesn't get thought about yet. It keeps my stress down and my energy on the week ahead.

The monthly boxes. Say the car registration is due in January, and the letter comes in October. I put it on my task list, then make a mental note that it's in January's box. If it crosses my mind in November, I dismiss it and don't stress about it, because it's not time to open the January box yet.

I also glance at the month ahead, so nothing big sneaks up on me. But day to day, only one box is open at a time.

A lot of mental load comes from carrying things in your head "just in case." Once it's written down and set to remind you, you can let it go.

How to start your own system

You don't need a fancy planner or a perfect setup. Here's where I'd start:

• The second you hear about something, write it down or set a reminder. Don't wait until later

• Give each kind of thing one home: groceries on the fridge, deadlines in a reminder app, appointments on a shared calendar

• Set recurring reminders once for anything that repeats

• Pick a reminder time you'll actually see, like first thing in the morning

• Share the calendar with your partner, so you're not the only one keeping track

• Hang the school calendars where everyone can see them

• Put everything in a box: open today's box when you wake up and this week's box on Sunday, and leave the other weeks and months closed until it's their turn

I still have hectic weeks. I still have mornings where everyone is running late. But I don't lie awake trying to remember what I forgot. And if your week needs a fresh start before any of this, try my Sunday reset. It's 30 minutes, and Monday feels a lot calmer.