Can bringing work habits into the home help families feel more organised? Genevieve Roberts certainly thinks so – although she'll be leaving the corporate jargon at the doorGenevieve Roberts explores the hot topics and parenting issues she encounters while raising her three children in her weekly column,
We do already use some communication tools for our home life: when Astrid started school, almost three years ago, we started a joint diary using FamilyWall and I honestly don’t know how we’d cope without sports days, school trips and end-of-year-shows blocked out. My husband Mark and I can plan around each other, too.
Finding time to catch up with Mark about our own schedules is trickier. We both know how important it is to take an hour to go through plans and catch up on domestic life: air complaints; question decisions; notice consideration. We’ve attempted to do it weekly, but struggle to stick to it, probably because going through the diary doesn’t feel urgent when time’s limited.
Meanwhile, psychotherapist Susie Masterson tells me she uses Trello because it’s like white boards with Post-It notes. “We can have multiple boards and see where each other is in progressing allocated tasks. This stops what is perceived as nagging, or forgetting someone has completed a task: things that cause resentment and communication breakdown. It helps as an anchor point and relieves anxiety: think endless to-do lists running through your mind at bedtime.