Day to day life constantly feels as if it's zipping by quicker than the speed of light. More often than not, we get into bed at night and have difficulty recapping all the events of the day (could also be from getting older!), the last thing we want to do is attempt to keep all the needs and have to's in our mind. To keep a small business and a family of four schedules straight, we need one place to house everything. Enter the importance of a family command center.

Exactly what it sounds like, a family command center is the informational heart of the home. Every appointment, reminder, to-do is tracked here. Every. Single. One. Because without a centralized location to keep track of all the above, our home, minds and schedules would be a surprise around every corner. And we're not good with surprises.

What we have found that works best for our crew is one place to combine all items mentioned above with bookbags, homework and folders, permission slips, work schedules, and extracurriculars. You get the points. We keep a wall mounted dry erase board with a magnetic wall calendar that tracks every person in our house and their schedule. In one place.

When we schedule a client, it goes on the calendar. When homework schedules come home from school, it goes on the calendar. When we have a personal appointment, it goes on the calendar. You get the gist.

We also added these wall mounted mail slots to corral papers as they come in and out of the home. Our girls use them to keep weekly homework and any forms that need signing and returning to school. Below, a hook for bookbags for easy unpacking.

Any area in the entrance (that you use most frequently) can be turned into a family command center.  By doing so, it eliminates papers, bookbags, and clutter from entering the main living areas. And your schedule remains organized and stress free. Now that's a win-win!