How To Adjust Routines During Kids’ Busy Sports Seasons

Learn how to keep your routines (somewhat) organized during your kids’ busy sports seasons and stay on top of your day-to-day tasks.

It’s hard enough to create a set of daily routines that help you keep your home and life organized(-ish), but during your child’s sports season, things get more hectic than ever. Between managing work commitments, household chores, other family members, and trying to sneak in a hobby of your own every once in a while, your schedule is already jam-packed.

But when sports season starts up, there’s practices after school, games one to three times a week, scheduling conflicts, traveling to tournaments, and a lot more drive-through dinners. No matter what sport your child plays, and no matter how old they are, your routines are going to have to change in order to keep up.

Instead of feeling like you’re losing at the game of catch-up, this season I want to encourage you to embrace this time to adjust your habits, reconsider your commitments, and build new routines that allow you to actually kick back in that fold-up chair and cheer on your kiddo with nothing else on your mind. Here are my top tips to make that happen.

1. Use A Digital Calendar

I see you paper planner lovers rolling your eyes already, but hear me out. No matter what kind of calendar you prefer, adding a digital version to the mix is necessary for a smooth sports season. A digital planner allows you to add new events right as the coach throws in an extra practice or updates game days and times when weather forces a delay, and you can search the calendar for upcoming conflicts.

Another reason a digital calendar is so important is the ability to share it with other family members. One calendar with all the games, practices, banquets, and team trips can be accessed by your partner, children, grandparents, and carpool friends. Everyone is on the same page, no one has to worry about forgetting to tell everyone else the plan, and any changes made will be visible to all shared members.

If you love using a paper planner, you don’t have to put it on pause until the season is over though. Continue using your Erin Condren Lifeplanner that’s full of stickers and doodles, and just duplicate the sports schedule into your phone’s calendar or preferred digital planner app. And bonus points, most digital calendars let you set up reminders for 15 minutes to two hours in advance so you’ll never be late.

Need one more reason to give digital planners a try? They’re one of 2024’s top 10 organizing trends.

2. Organize Your Vehicle

You know that feeling when you get halfway to an away game that’s three towns over that you might have forgotten something? For most parents, the beginning of the sports season takes a while to get into the groove. Remembering things you’re not used to packing, getting your kids in the car with clean jerseys and the right shoes, and even just figuring out how to fit all that equipment in your tiny trunk is a challenge at first.

One easy way to get (and stay) organized during your child’s sports season is to organize and stock your vehicle. Having things already in the car makes it faster and easier to get out the door every day.

Add additional cup holders and tissue dispensers, put an expandable organizer in the trunk to hold sports gear, keep folding chairs in the car at all times, store drinks and snacks in an airtight bin or cooler, and pack a bag with emergency supplies and frequently-used items to leave in the car all the time. [Here’s a list of my favorite vehicle organizers.]

When your car is messy, things get lost, broken, or forgotten altogether. Take an afternoon to give your car a good cleaning, add organizers, and give everything a dedicated home so traveling to and from games is one less thing you have to stress about.

PS: This video shows my top favorite vehicle organizers and is a great place to get inspired!

3. Downsize Your Commitments

Okay fellow parent, here’s where the real talk comes into play. School is still in session. You still have to work at your job. You may have other children or dependents. And when sports season begins, you have to find a way to squeeze that into your schedule. Now is the time to really be honest with yourself about the way you manage your time.

It’s totally okay to put a pause on volunteer work, home projects, and taking on extra responsibilities at work. You don’t have to do it all all the time, and taking a step back from a few commitments will allow you to enjoy the season. You don’t have to say yes to every request from a coworker or friend. Remind them that this is a busy time and you just can’t handle anything else on your plate. No one will argue with that.

And your house doesn’t have to be immaculate all the time either. I promise you that dusty entertainment center can wait another day or two. If you feel like your home maintenance is really falling behind, consider hiring a cleaning service temporarily just for this season. A dog walker, lawn mower, or grocery delivery service can also really help you stay on track.

4. Batch Errands When Possible

Our regular day-to-day requirements don’t stop during sports season, but the way you execute them can definitely change. All you need is a little bit of planning to batch your errands in a functional and time-saving way.

If you have older kids you can drop them off at practice and use that time to take Amazon returns to the drop-off location, pick up dry cleaning, restock prescriptions at the pharmacy, or pick up a grocery order. For younger kids or teams that require parents to be present at practice, use this time to catch up on emails and phone calls, declutter your phone photos so you don’t run out of storage while filming a game, or clean out trash in the car.

If there is a store you need to go to that’s in a nearby town, order online and schedule the pickup for the day your child has an away game there. You can grab it on your way home. Load up donations from a recent decluttering session for a day you’ll be passing by the center. Anything you can loop into trips you’re already making will save you time, money, and energy later.

5. Make Mealtimes Easy

Every sports season you vow to be diligent about prepping healthy meals to go and loading up the slow cooker with a nice meal to come home to after a full Saturday of back-to-back games. But halfway through the season, the Chick-Fil-A drive through staff end up knowing you by name.

The reason your initial plans didn’t work out isn’t because you didn’t plan well or were too lazy to cook; it’s because you tried to make it too difficult. You don’t have to make fancy meals or pack cute little lunches in bento boxes for every game day, and that habit is not sustainable either.

Lower your expectations and try to do the least amount of work possible while still providing your family with a healthy and affordable meal. There are lots of dump-and-go slow cooker recipes on Pinterest that require only five minutes or fewer of prep work. And a plain ol’ PB&J sandwich and a bag of chips in a brown paper bag tastes extra good on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Remember that meals are just for fueling your body, and they don’t have to be complicated, especially when you’re on the go and coming home late. By planning ahead and keeping meals simple, you don’t have to sacrifice nutrition and money spent on pricey drive-through meals every day.

Additional Tips For A Less Stressful Youth Sports Season

• Order extra uniforms to decrease laundry days
• Consider joining or starting a carpool with other parents on the team
• Ask the coach to add you to a group chat if they have one
• Keep an extra change of clothes and shoes in the car (just in case of a rainy muddy day)
• Stash cash and change in your car in case concessions or parking don’t accept cards
• Buy a portable charger for each family member, and be diligent about keeping them charged

Need To Revamp Your Routines?

Since you’re likely going to bed later, getting up early, and rearranging how you manage your day, it’s a good time to update your daily and weekly routines. Things like laundry, bathroom cleaning, and even what time you shower can get thrown off during sports season.

Here’s all my tips for building a morning routine, and here’s my advice for creating a relaxing evening routine. Just be careful about changing too many things at once so you aren’t overwhelmed with an entire lifestyle switch. You can find more routine and time management blog posts here, too.