How to be a Great Dad - 12 Awesome Tips

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

I’m often asked about raising six kids, and being productive and achieving goals and changing habits in the midst of raising so many kids. But here’s the thing: I do all the other stuff, the productivity stuff, because of my kids.

They, and my wife, are my reason for being.

It is my lifelong goal to be the best dad possible, and while there are many ways I can still improve, I think I’m a pretty great dad already, when I sit back and think about it. I know there are some readers who are just starting out in their careers as dads, and this post is for you.

How can you be a great dad? As always, my list of tips:

Organize Your Family with a Family Binder

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

I’ve had a lot of questions and comments about raising six kids, which I have to admit is a bit of a challenge (and one that I thoroughly enjoy!). Most questions arise around the finances of a large family (which I’ve addressed before) and how to stay organized. I’ll address one of my favorite hacks for the latter question - our Family Binder.

Basically, there’s a lot of different information your family needs on a regular basis that often ends up being scattered around the house. The Family Binder makes it easy to keep everything together, in one reference book.

Putting one together is easy: Just get any kind of three-ring binder, and a bunch of plastic sheet protectors. Then just print out a bunch of forms (you can make your own, as I usually do, or find them on the internet) that you can fill in as needed.

What goes in the family binder? Anything you need. Here are some ideas (including some that I use) — but you should feel free to customize it as needed:

50 Tips for Grocery Shopping

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

As you might already know, I’ve got a big family — the wife and I plus six rugrats. Plus a cat and a dog. We can go through an awful lot of food. Groceries (along with the rent and car and gas) are one of our biggest expenses. I allocate as much in our budget as I can to groceries, simply because I want to make sure we’re never short on food. Also, cooking our own food is just so much less expensive than eating out.

And as I figure that most of my readers, whether they have big families or not, go grocery shopping now and then, I thought I’d pass along some of my favorite tips. These are not all my original tips — I’ve picked up dozens over the years from magazines, books and websites. But these are the best of them, plus some I’ve figured out on my own.

So pick and choose from among these tips, which I hope will be of use to you and your family:

Top 10 Tips for a Great Easter

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

Got kids? If so, chances are you’ll be spending today chasing after them as they run after dozens of boiled and colored eggs. It’s a great family day, but one that can be hectic if not planned well. Here are the best tips for planning a great Easter holiday:

Rainy days and Sundays are great family days

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

This morning it was pouring down rain outside — it was one of those hard rains that makes seeing very far impossible and makes driving downright dangerous. My first thought: “Oh no, that’s not good for our Family Day! We can’t play stuff outside.”

Then I remembered the days of my childhood, when it rained, and I would go outside in rain boots and play in the streams of water. These were some of my favorite days. In fact, I love rain so much that I named one of my sons Rain.

I realized that rainy days are no reason to spoil Family Day. Here are some tips for things to do with your kids when it rains outside — some of my favorites, anyway: