I’m back to share the next productivity secret with you:

You aren’t in this alone!

You are only one human, and you can’t be expected to be fully responsible for the day in, day out tasks for all of the other humans in your household. There are some great tools out there to help get your family on board with your homemaking endeavors. And there’s no reason to feel guilty for involving your kids – teaching them responsibility little by little from a young age is going to be a lot easier on them than suddenly getting tossed in the deep end when they go away to college!

If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to getting your kids involved with household tasks (and sometimes just with their own personal care – that’s where my 4-year-old is at right now!) you may want to try something like the 5 finger system. Now I must admit, I didn’t come up with this one on my own. It’s from an ebook by Angela Davis titled Child, It’s Time to Get Off Your Butt – which might sound a bit like a redneck guide to housekeeping but is actually a quick and easy guide to setting up a morning routine that sticks.

If you’d like to read what she has to say, the ebook is available as part of the Ultimate Productivity Bundle. But today I wanted to share how I’ve adapted that system for my own household. My daughter is a little young to be motivated by or even understand a system where you assign a task in your morning routine to each finger. I made up this cute little chart and stuck it in a cheap, Target picture frame in her room. Every morning she uses a dry erase marker to cross off what she has done (got dressed, made her bed, brushed her teeth, etc) and if she crosses off every task, she gets to put a little pom pom in a jar.

Now let me tell you, my plan all along has been to take her to the dollar store and let her pick something out when her jar fills up. But she doesn’t even know that reward is coming and she loves just crossing off her tasks and getting to put a pom pom in the jar. Kids like the feeling of accomplishment, even if they complain a little about the work along the way. (Think about it – even us adults sometimes complain about the things we are most proud of while we’re in the middle of working on them!)

We’re still learning a lot about independence and initiative in my household, but this chart has been a great first step! You can click the image below to pick one up for yourself!

If you’re looking for even more ways to get your family involved in your homemaking and productivity, I’d recommend these resources from the Ultimate Productivity Bundle:

• Child It’s Time to Get Off Your Butt ($7 Value)
  A simple system to get your people off the couch, ready for the day, and your home maintained.
• Housekeeping Chorebox for Kids and Families ($9 Value)
  Kemi Quinn wants to help you set up an Awesome system of housekeeping that includes your children and can grow with them.
• Family Chore System and Planner ($17 Value)
  The Family Chore System & Planner from Life Your Way is a unique system designed to help families work together to stay on top of the daily, weekly and monthly chores as a team.
• Life Management Binder ($24 Value)
  Giving you the ability to track all aspects of your life, the Life Management Binder will not only help you get your home-life in order, but help you feel like an organizational rock-star!
• Mastering the #MomLife Juggle ($67 Value)
  Learn the incredibly simple secrets to mastering the #momlife juggle so you can get more done in less time, be more present with your family, and start living a life that you're wildly passionate about.

Just those 5 resources are worth $124, but you can get the entire Productivity bundle, which includes those 5 things along with 41 other resources for just $37 for just a couple more days. Get yours here.

TL;DR (too long; didn't read): Click here to watch the video about Secret #3 instead.