August and September can be crazy months in any household. The weather is getting colder, you may be trying to wrap up some last-minute summer vacations, and, of course, the back-to-school season is in full swing. With so much going on at this time, it gets hard to keep your home in top-notch organizational shape! Here are ten quick and easy tips to organize your home for back-to-school month:
- Create a “Command Central” in a front room or hallway with a calendar, whiteboard for notes, and clips to hang receipts and bills. This keeps all of your daily information in one accessible place!
- Tired of backpacks and shoes being flung all over the place after school? Hang a hook for each child’s backpack and place a box or basket for their shoes underneath. No more tripping over discarded bags and shoes!
- If your family just doesn’t do mornings, use Sunday as a prep day for the rest of the week! Plan the kids’ outfits in plastic bins, write out a lunch plan, and help them make sure any big assignments are taken care of early.
- Utilize online resources! Pinterest has plenty of links to free back-to-school printables so you can customize your organization as much, or as little, as you like!
- Designate a “Homework Station” whether it be the dining room table or a desk in the office. Keeping the work area consistent will help productivity!
- Be creative in how you use things! An over-the-door shoe organizer can also hold all of your school supplies and a hanging closet organizer can be great for outfit planning.
- Invest in a dry-erase board in the kitchen for weekly meal planning. This can also help streamline your grocery shopping!
- Create a file box for each child’s school papers and memories. They can be organized by grade, year, or however you see fit!
- Set out a basket of dry after-school snacks to stave off the afternoon munchies! Pretzels with peanut butter or cups of applesauce will keep your kids happy and full.
- Make chore time more efficient with an easy-to-use checklist! For younger kids, make a magnet for each chore that they can move over to the “Done” side when finished. For older ones, a simple dry-erase board that they can check off gets the job done!
Back-to-school doesn’t have to be a stressful time! Utilize these tips, and this next month will be a breeze!