Spending quality time with family: 7 steps to making the most of your family time in 2023

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Are you happy with the amount of family time you’re currently getting in your life? All too often, the priorities of our hectic schedules take precedence, and, before we know it, the clock has run down on yet another day where, despite our best intentions, family time with our loved ones was forced into second place.

So, how can we make sure that we not only make family time a priority as a parent but that we also free up more time in our lives to take advantage of it? The trick is to free up extra time by working smarter and also creating more shared activities. Ultimately, though, the biggest impact comes from prioritising family time rather than fitting it in after everything else. If you can do that, you’ll be amazed at how the rest of your life will accommodate it – you just need to take that all-important first step.

1. Keep a time journal

Until you know how much time you’re spending on what, you won’t be able to spot the obvious places for clawing back some time. A time journal allows you to see precisely how you’re spending your time, and (just like keeping a food diary), it nearly always throws up some surprises. You don’t need to do it for long – just keep an hourly, high-level journal for a fortnight, and you’ll quickly get a handle on where the lion’s share of your time is going, as well as seeing exactly how much family time you’re actually spending. The results may shock you.

2. Prioritise your family time

Have you noticed how you somehow manage to get everything done the day before you go on holiday? You’ll beaver away, you’ll delegate, and you’ll defer. But you never don’t go on holiday. Better still, there was no disaster because things weren’t done perfectly or were delivered late. Welcome to the magic of your diary’s immovable object, the event that will always happen no matter what. So, to make family time an event that is always guaranteed to happen, make it an immovable object in your diary. Something non-negotiable that occurs regardless of any other events around it, rather than one that takes place only if you’ve any time left. You’ll be amazed at how you’ll automatically do everything else that truly needs to get done if you take a non-negotiable stance on prioritising your family time.

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3. Make chores a family event

We both know that, bless their little cottons, the family can be more of a hindrance than a help with getting stuff done around the house. After all, it’s far more effective for you to whiz around and do everything yourself. But by making chores an event that involves the entire family, you’ll be killing two birds with one stone. Be sure to make it fun, though. The goal is not cheap labour but rather something the family can enjoy doing together.

The list of chores is almost endless, from cooking and cleaning to helping out in the garden, washing the car, or tackling DIY projects (kids love to fix stuff). And rather than secretly begrudge less than perfect results, make a point of being grateful for their help. There should be warm glows all round and a shared feeling of a job (just about) well done.

4. Helping your kids with their schoolwork

All too often, homework time comes at the expense of time with the family, and it’s usually a solo activity. While you shouldn’t do your kid’s homework for them, you can certainly take the time to help them. Find out which subjects they could use more help on and practice these together, or help older children with a discussion or some research on their projects. Homework is a great opportunity for you to get involved in stuff that’s important to them and build a stronger bond.

5. Let your kids choose a family activity

As parents, we think we know best, but this can lead to us making assumptions about what our kids would like to do rather than simply asking them. By allowing them to choose an activity in which the family gets to participate, you can make it a regular feature of the diary. You might need to inject a dose of pragmatism occasionally, but by respecting what interests them and participating as a family unit, you create another win-win.

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6. Discover the joys of batch cooking

Ok, joy might be overstating it, but it’s amazing how much time you can save by doubling or tripling up on quantities when cooking meals. We may like to think we ring the culinary changes, but we tend to stick to cooking the same few meals, week in, week out. Cooking twice as much doesn’t take twice as long, plus a defrosted meal takes a fraction of the time to prepare and saves you time during part of the day that can be ideal for family time. As ever, when it comes to saving time, a little planning can go a long way. Plus, you can also batch cook with your kids for a double slam-dunk.

7. Outsource your life

Outsourcing work is an excellent way of freeing up your time, but why stop at work tasks? Outsourcing your daily routine can free up far more time, but for some reason, we tend to think that WE have to do everything. You can easily save a couple of hours by grocery shopping online rather than dragging yourself around the supermarket, yet it costs less than a fiver. Hiring a gardener would be a little pricier, as would getting a part-time cleaner. But if it gets you back some all-too-precious family time, who’s to say it’s not a good investment? The trick is not to think you’re saving money by doing these things yourself but that instead, you’re buying back some family time. And what price would you put on that?

Ian Child is the author of ‘Your Own Personal Time Machine, a guide to getting your life back’, available exclusively from amazon.co.uk. in paperback and e-book.

Father son photo created by gpointstudio, Family outdoor photo created by freepik, Family activity photo created by bearfotos

12 comments

  1. I love the idea of making chores a family affair. It’s a great way to teach the kids how to help, how to keep things clean, and to make some memories.

  2. I love the idea of batch cooking as it saves so much time each day. We normally have one day a month where we all get together as a family a do something.

  3. We do prioritize our family time and often fill it up with activities that would be enjoyed by the entire fam. Thank you so much for the tips, they’re on point.

  4. I’d love to make chores a family affair. Wish the kids felt the same. I do tend to ask the kids what they’d like ot do rather than assume. You never know what they’ll come up with.

  5. Great tips and info! We love spending time together as a family & try to take time out each week to do things together. We try to go out & explore new places, we have board game nights, we have movie nights, and more 🙂

  6. I don’t have kids yet but this are great ideas. Thank you for sharing. i will keep this in mind.

  7. I think making moments that may usually be stressful or daunting like schoolwork is a great opportunity to create a different memory by making it fun and something to look forward to as a family unit. Great tips here!

  8. I agree with prioritizing your family time. it should always be there for one another and stand by each other’s side

  9. Prioritizing family time is important. There will always be something else that needs to be done, let it sit awhile and get that quality time in with the family. The ‘things’ will still be there when you’re ready to do them and no one will be worse for the wear that they didn’t get done.

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