How to Keep on Top of Things
as an Activity Director

As an Activity Director, simplicity is bliss. Therefore, try adopting the following motto: K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Silly!

When coordinating activities for your residents, it’s important to stay organized. One ideal way to keep organized is to minimize your paper trail. You can do so by having these 3 items at your desk:

1. Daily Planner. In order to plan effectively beyond the current month, you need a daily planner where you can book your upcoming entertainers and events. (I know, I know. You already have a planner!)

2. Copy of your current monthly activity calendar. Make sure to keep a copy of your current activity calendar with you so when someone wants to use your Activity Room for another event at the last minute, you can easily make changes directly on your calendar. Then, you can use the updated calendar for your dailies (or whatever you use to list the activities for the day) and you will have the correct information handy. (You probably already keep a copy of your calendar close by as well. But do you use this…)

3. Activity Notebook. Throw away the Post-It Notes. You don’t need them anymore if you use one spiral notebook to write everything down: notes, ideas, things your Administrator wants to see in your activity calendar, etc. Having just one place where you keep all of your notes reduces the risk of losing important information. In addition, it keeps your desk neater because you don’t need as many little pieces of paper with information on them. Furthermore, later in the year when you want to repeat a successful activity and you can’t remember what supplies or which entertainer you used the first time, just take a quick look back in your notebook.