Back-to-School Organizing Tips
Whether you have a child in grade school or college, organization plays an important role in getting good grades; leaving in the morning with everything you need for the day; and getting out the door in the morning stress-free. Our tips below will help your student develop good organizational habits, but may we suggest that every parent applies the tips to their own life to be more organized and productive.
Good grades are much easier to achieve when time management practices are in place. There’s no better way to develop time management skills than by using a planner. A planner allows you to see the “big picture” of your activities, commitments, and assignments due. When you see the “big picture,” you can adjust your schedule to insure completion of assignments and studying. Our favorite planner is the Academic Planner by Order Out of Chaos. Use coupon code PLANNER20 for 20% off your order.
A day starts off better when you get out the door stress-free and with everything you need for the day. To make for the easiest of mornings, prepare the night before. Put out every article of clothing from socks to underwear that you need in the morning, and have ready everything that you need to take with you from a packed backpack, and a lunch waiting in the refrigerator.
To test yourself on morning readiness, ask yourself if you did everything you possibly could the night before so you only have the bare minimum to do in the morning. If you overslept, you should be able to be out the door quick and easy.
To simplify the process of getting everything ready the night before, consider using a sweater hanger in your closet with a compartment for each day of the week. The night before, fill up the compartment for the corresponding day. You also can put items in the compartments as you come across them throughout the week.
If a sweater hanger won’t work, consider putting a large Command hook on the back of your bedroom door to hang your clothes on. Along with your clothes on the hanger, put your socks, underwear, and accessories over the hanger.
To help you keep you organized and on track, consider putting a dry erase board or dry erase week-calendar on the back of your bedroom door where the hook is. Jot down things you need to remember to take with you or do in the morning. This way when you go to get your clothes you will see the reminder.
If you need to take something to school that you can’t put with your backpack the night before, consider putting a Post-it-Note on your backpack. Previously a Post-it-Note may not have stuck well, but 3M now makes Extreme Post-it-Notes that will stick to wood, brick, hot/cold, and wet surfaces.
Nifty and neat are three products that make getting ready in the morning a bit easier. The first is a Tooletries holder for a toothbrush, toothpaste, and razor that grips to shiny surfaces. The second is a Tooletries anti-fog mirror that sticks to shiny surfaces. Lastly, is a sleeve to lay a hot curling iron down which when folded becomes a stand for your curling iron.
If you’re on the top bunk at college consider using bedside pockets to store your phone, glasses, remotes, tablet and tissues. If you’re not on the top bunk but don’t have a nightstand nearby, consider the using bedside pockets as well!
Happy back-to-school organizing!