If you have trouble following daily schedules, READ!

[Misty]

I have always been very flightly and distractable, not staying with schedules very well. At the beginning of every school year I would always write out a really great schedule.. The problem was, I was too busy to look at the schedule!! I talked with my dh about this problem a couple of months ago. I told him that I needed something to TELL me when to do things because I just don't have time to keep going back to look at schedules and half the time I wouldn't remember anyway. So he did some searching and found the Kirby Alarm Pro Task Scheduler. We purchased it for $24.95, downloaded it, and OH MY GOSH!! I have never been on task like this! We are getting every subject in and every chore in!! It is amazing! I recorded my voice (using the Windows voice recorder) saying simple things like "Time for math" and "time for lunch and free play" and "reading hour". It wakes us up in the morning and it tells us when to do chores and when to eat breakfast & lunch. And I also put in 10 minute warnings for everything. So 10 minutes before we start school an alarm will sound saying "Thank you for doing your chores in a timely manner. School will begin in 10 minutes". We are FINALLY on schedule with everything.. Our house is clean.. our schoolwork is done.. and my kids are in bed on time EVERY night.

We have an ultra-mobile laptop computer that we keep on our kitchen counter hooked up to loud speakers, so the alarms are heard throughout the house. The computer has to stay on all the time, but it is a very small computer so it doesn't use much energy. I would say if your computer is on all day anyway then nothing would change.

I'm just sharing this because it has been such a lifesaver for me! I know there are other distractable moms out there who have a hard time staying on task. Hope this helps someone!

http://www.kirbyfooty.com/product-kirbyalarm.php

[JennifersLost]

That's a really cool idea. I wish there was a little thingy you could have sitting on your counter for that purpose instead of a whole computer, though.

[gandpsmommy]

Wow, that's something I'll have to consider. I'm definitely in the flighty and distractible category. I'll have to ask dh what he thinks.

[Elisabeth in IL]

So neat. I'll have to tell dh about this as he thinks that I'm not scheduled enough for myself nor the kids.

[klmama]

Another option you probably already own: Microsoft Outlook. You can set alarms to go with a schedule on the calendar. It doesn't work if the computer is off, of course, but it will ring to let you know it's time for something else. You'd have to look at the screen to find out what. If you had speakers attached it might be loud enough for all over the house, but I don't know. I think the voice recordings would be even better, but I don't think that could be done with Outlook. Anyway, Outlook has helped keep us on schedule, so I thought I'd share.

[falwyn]

Another option (free) - www.mycorkboard.com - I used to use this a lot but haven't tried it on my new laptop. I believe you can record voice messages to use with the alarms as well.

[Alenee]

This could be a really good thing for me. I'm great with the kids' schedules but my own get left in the dust. I am definitely telling dh about this!

[janainaz]

I have always been very flightly and distractable, not staying with schedules very well. At the beginning of every school year I would always write out a really great schedule.. The problem was, I was too busy to look at the schedule!! I talked with my dh about this problem a couple of months ago. I told him that I needed something to TELL me when to do things because I just don't have time to keep going back to look at schedules and half the time I wouldn't remember anyway. So he did some searching and found the Kirby Alarm Pro Task Scheduler. We purchased it for $24.95, downloaded it, and OH MY GOSH!! I have never been on task like this! We are getting every subject in and every chore in!! It is amazing! I recorded my voice (using the Windows voice recorder) saying simple things like "Time for math" and "time for lunch and free play" and "reading hour". It wakes us up in the morning and it tells us when to do chores and when to eat breakfast & lunch. And I also put in 10 minute warnings for everything. So 10 minutes before we start school an alarm will sound saying "Thank you for doing your chores in a timely manner. School will begin in 10 minutes". We are FINALLY on schedule with everything.. Our house is clean.. our schoolwork is done.. and my kids are in bed on time EVERY night.

We have an ultra-mobile laptop computer that we keep on our kitchen counter hooked up to loud speakers, so the alarms are heard throughout the house. The computer has to stay on all the time, but it is a very small computer so it doesn't use much energy. I would say if your computer is on all day anyway then nothing would change.

I'm just sharing this because it has been such a lifesaver for me! I know there are other distractable moms out there who have a hard time staying on task. Hope this helps someone!

http://www.kirbyfooty.com/product-kirbyalarm.php


That does sound very cool! I am not good with schedules and I think my son would love that, too!

Oh, and I am an Oklahoma City girl, too. Well, I grew up there, mostly. I'm in AZ now, but I still miss it.

[H.S. Burrow]

Sounds very Star-Trekish........and cool!