Calendar clutter

I'm trying to get more organized. I know I'm wasting precious writing moments because I don't have my days scheduled well enough. So I sat down with my calendar. And I realized we are busy. I'm not sure how it happened, exactly, but the days are packed from 6:30 a.m. to bed time three days a week. That doesn't even get into soccer games and family activities on the weekend.

This is exactly what I didn't want to have happen. A few years ago, I read a few enlightening books on stressed out, overachieving kids. My main concern was giving my kids enough free play time to internalize everything they'd seen, done and felt that day. Oh, and ensuring they get enough sleep to feel good and focus the next day.

But how do you balance activities your kids really want to do with homework, play and bed time? In an effort to make our days more sane, I plan to:
1. Limit each child's activities to no more than two per week. My little one only needs one.
2. Structure my work as efficiently as possible so it doesn't spill into after school time.
3. Plan fast, healthy dinners so that I can spend that precious evening hour helping my kids with homework or driving home from an activity.