Back To School Organizing
This time of year, some things automatically go on the to do list. Stock up on school supplies? Check. Sign up for after school activities? Check. Back to school clothes? Check. You might also want to consider these five organizing tips to reduce the stress in your family’s routine, for the new school year.
1. Central Calendar
I see these in many homes, however I also see ways to make them more effective. For starters, keep only one calendar. It avoids frustration and confusion. The location is really important. The kitchen usually makes the most sense because everyone in the family passes through it every morning. This may require rethinking the location of a more decorative hanging. If the calendar is often removed from the wall, go with sturdy hooks over flimsy pins. Finally, don’t go nuts with the color-coding, just one color per child. Kids are more likely to respond to an event when they see their color.
2. Entryway
Choose just one area that is used most frequently as an entryway, whether it is a mudroom, garage, or kitchen. Dedicate it to family items that exit and reenter the home on a daily basis. Include sturdy hooks for backpacks and coats. Different height hooks may help keep it straight for different height kids. If you’re getting a bench for putting shoes and boots on, the variety with open space underneath for shoes, is likely to get better usage than the variety with drawers underneath. This is a very critical area, so relocate any non-essentials like plants and other décor.
3. Action files
School papers, like all paper, can be overwhelming. So, remember to always start by simply deciding if you are looking at a paper that you need to make a point of acting on or if it is a paper you just need to find reliably. Announcements, permission slips, and forms to fill out, all require action, so don’t file them away where they will be forgotten. There are many organizing products that can help with this, but the goal is to make your action items, vertical, visible, and minimal.
4. Findable Files
Items to find reliably, on the other hand, should not be taking up prime real estate on your desk. That compromises the minimal goal for action files. Instead, things like school handbooks, directories, and class lists should go either on a shelf or a file drawer. It is important that your file drawer is user-friendly. The first step to accomplishing this, is unclogging your file drawer of files that don’t need to be there. This would include archives, owners manuals and keepsakes.
5. Artwork Plan
Speaking of keepsakes, I often see parents struggle with the decision of what artwork to keep. My advice. Give yourself a break. Decisions are easier when seasoned with time. You know that every school year comes with a lot of artwork, so be prepared. Get an 18 x 24 paper portfolio for each child, from an art supply store. A file drawer won’t cut it. Some drawings and paintings may be honored on the refrigerator for a while, otherwise they go in the portfolio for now. At the end of the semester or school year, take a look at all the artwork from that portfolio. Seeing it all in context and seeing the quantity, makes it A LOT easier to separate the masterpieces from the scribbles.
Back to school season is a great time for a fresh start. With each new school year, comes new organizing challenges. Update these five areas and your family will be rewarded with the feeling of “I know EXACTLY where that goes!”
Please Share With Your Community
Related Posts
Testimonials
What some of our clients are saying
In the past several years, I had emptied 4 separate dwellings, my grandmother’s apartment, my mother's house, my mother-in-law’s house, and my mother’s next apartment.
Intrigued by the notion of death cleaning and the painful memory of the cleanouts, I too began to consider what I might choose to leave behind.
So, what began with a trial run, (a thorough clean out of my eldest son’s childhood bedroom) I was ready to accomplish something far greater.
When my kids learned of my intention to launch an attack on the mother of all clean-outs (the basement), they worried what this might entail both physically and emotionally, So, to my surprise, a plan was hatched for a consultation with organizer, Matt Baier!
Meeting with Matt, with the support of my husband, and in the presence of the madness (furniture from various owners, cardboard in every size and shape, school supplies from a lifetime of working in classrooms, and twenty-three plastic bins containing the details of my children’s lives)... felt like the perfect storm.
As we continued to mine through vessels of pottery, glass, random art supplies, remnants of carpeting, wood, and fabric, costumes, tubs, screens, windows, and a life-size stuffed man we called Ned, Matt was busy outlining a tactical plan of action. Meanwhile, as we stepped amid multiples of objects including, but not limited to, kitchen appliance, toys, exercise equipment, electronics, glassware, three TV’s, VHS tapes, cartons of emergency meals packed since 2001, and mountain of debris that hadn’t seen the light of day in years, Matt’s resolve only grew stronger.
Unequivocally, meeting Matt was the lifeline we needed to pull us up from the weight of what we no longer needed in order to pass it all on to those who could benefit from donations.
So with a plan in place, come that Wednesday, a team of three remarkable women arrived at 9:30 a.m. to bring order from the chaos, in two short days.
The process from day one would have been impossible to imagine. But these three incredible workers managed to remove everything from the basement in systematic stages, but not before passing each and every object, large and small, through my hands for my simple proclamation: keep, donate, trash or sell. Although daunting in scope, with each passing minute, the sorting really was simple, fast and surprisingly painless! Granted, I was a motivated purger, so nothing gave me more happiness than shouting: donate with as much gusto as I could muster!
These women were absolute angels. They were physically and mentally strong, determined to complete the work on time, and committed to organizing and reorganizing with thoughtful intention and microscopic precision to the work of sorting and discarding. In no time, as the basement grew unbelievably spacious, these three, then assembled new industrial shelving to accommodate clear, labeled bins (all provided by Matt) to create a visually consistent and clean appearance to this new system of organization
Through it all, Matt and his crew demonstrated common sense, sensitivity, practicality, wisdom, efficiency, an uncanny ability to problem solve and think on their feet, professionalism, most of all, kindness.
Included in the package was the capable Junkluggers crew. They arrived to haul it all away from my backyard: first to their charity center, then, to a consignment shop and finally to the dump to deposit my trash.
What a relief to watch them pull away with most of my basement firmly ensconced in the bed of their truck.
One week post clean out, I process the experience a little more each day. The sense of well being and gratitude I feel is immeasurable.
Thank you Matt!
We decided to use Matt Bowers organizers based on recommendations and meeting with Matt Bowers himself.
All of our expectations were met and more. His team of experts were great. They were true professionals in every aspect of the word. Always on time, very knowledgeable and experienced and very accommodating. All through the project they were very attentive to our needs and opinions. And not less important were always punctual and industrious.
Our house is so much more functional now and better organized while we managed to get rid and donate a huge amount of stuff that was just occupying space.
We highly recommend Matt Bowers Organization
Noni and Giora Davidai, New canaan CT
Matt and his team were very professional, responsive to my needs and were able to accommodate my aesthetic into their work. But most importantly they were fun to work with and I felt completely at ease discussing my challenges with them. They truly listened. I would recommend them for any project without reservation.
After several other moves, one of which we were only given a 24-hour notice to move all household items into storage, items were just boxed without labels. Since we had no idea where certain items were, duplicate items bought and used. Along came another move, and we continued to box and move those items again. Finally, we needed to combine similar items to reduce the clutter! The team worked so well, always exceeding my expectations by getting this massive project done! It is wonderful to be organized again and able to find items with ease.
The process with the Team is simple, and you work at your own pace. No one will pressure you to get rid of items. Also, there is a great option to donate items. We were fortunate to have boxes and boxes of kitchen items, household, and bathroom items neatly organized or donated to a charity. We can not thank the team members enough for all the work that they did.
We find so much more clarity with an organized home. The flow of our home is peaceful, and we no longer staring at clutter or rearranging boxes to get them out of view!
Matt's company came highly recommended by several local Realtors. At first, I was a bit concerned about the pricing seeming very expensive; I quickly realized that it was worth every penny and soon became a seasonal client.
The team arrives so prepared and professional; they know just what to do and I can be as involved as much as I choose; or not all. They just get the job done.
Just as an example, I had over 15 file boxes of papers and Matt's team organized and reduced it down to only 4 well organized drawers.
Our personal items were sorted, organized, donated or stored neatly throughout the house.
Matt's team was a life saver for my family. I would highly recommend their service; The results are well worth the investment.
Imagine An Organized Home