6 Organizational Hacks for Back to School

What happens is systems are not put into place?  When organization is not established? Well things get lost, it becomes chaos and you lose time looking for things! I have three kids in three different schools and our schedules are nuts. So now, more than ever, it is crucial for us to stay organized! Here are 5 hacks for you that I use to keep myself and my businesses as organized as possible and I promise will save you time (and maybe a little sanity!) 

• Sunday’s and night before prep! On Sunday, I plan out what I am eating for the week and get groceries. I plan it according to my schedule, kids, activities, etc. During the week, before we go to bed, I prep the next days lunches and waters so it is one less thing to do in the morning! 

• Establish a personal email for important communication ONLY. If you have an email for everything (including junk) consider creating a new email. I have a personal email that I only use for doctor offices and my kid’s school and functions. Email is such an important form of communication and it is important to separate out your messages. I have 13 emails! YEP! 🙂 I will cover this in-depth soon!
• Create a list with important information. I use Evernote but there are many note apps (One-Note, Apple Notes, etc). I create a note for each of my kids every school year, this note includes teachers contact information, bus routes, class schedules, links to online learning and passwords. This saves me EVERY year. I choose Evernote because I can just search for things easily and it is available to me on all my devices. Each kid has their own so that when my mom asks “What time is August’s lunch?” I can quickly look and respond.
• Each of my kids gets a folder. So much paper comes home, especially with the youngest one’s artwork. When they get home I filter through everything they brought home that day and keep anything that moves me. Fingerprints, writing that shows their personality, or any big accomplishment. “Move-me” things go in the folder and at the end of every year, I scan all of those things and then keep the originals of my 3 favorites. 

• Each of my kids has keepsake folders and a small box. Those 3 favorite things from each year go in the keepsake folder organized by year! Also in the box is things I can not part with. First outfit from the hospital. An ornament with handprints. Those types of things! I don’t need “all the stuff”, but I do want a way to look back and remember and for them to be able too! This allows that! I have this in a hall closet. You can see each of them have a folio folder and a small basket. 🙂

• Bottom line is you have to plan for it. Life might not go as planned but it is crucial you set yourself up to succeed! I do plan using a digital calendar but I have to visualize it all so I carry it all over and every Sunday I plan for success! Life might happen and I have learned to go with the ebbs and flows of life but just having a plan in place is huge!

Life is nuts. When you are trying to juggle everything, it is imperative that systems are put into place and workflows are established. These have all become habits for me, and now it is the only way I can operate without running around like crazy.

More organizational hacks to come! If you love this let me know! I added a bonus hack on Instagram so “heart” the image if you like and want more of this!

xoxo

KD