Now that school is back in session, most parents I know are relieved to have the routine of school back in their lives. However, along with the routine come loads of activities that can make most already-busy parents feel overwhelmed and overburdened. If you find yourself constantly on the go and struggling to stay on top of things, the following tips can help you regain control of the hectic school year:
- Create a family calendar – paper or electronic – and have everyone note all of their activities on it. You can use something like a medical appointment book or a teacher’s lesson plan book to create a separate column for each person, or a regular monthly calendar and use separate colors for each person.
- Have weekly family meetings to review schedules, to make sure everyone is on top of what’s going on that week, and to make sure everyone has transportation to their various activities. Sundays might be a good day for this – before the chaos of work and school kicks in for that week.
- Create an out-the-door checklist for each child using words and/or pictures of everything they need to do in the morning to get out the door without too much hassle. Include such things as “brush teeth”, “lunch in backpack”, “bring band instrument”, etc. My APPLES Resource Guide includes just such a checklist.
- Create a family information binder that contains all pertinent information for managing the kids’ activities: sports schedules, team directories, emergency contact information, school contact information, etc. Keep the binder in an easy-to-reach spot where all family members can find it.
- Consider limiting each child to 1 extra-curricular activity at a time. For example, if they want to play football, they can’t also play hockey in the fall. Not only will this make life less hectic for you, but it will allow your kids to have some unstructured time in what is typically an overscheduled life.
What techniques have you found helpful to keep your student and self organized for school?
Best wishes to you and your student(s) for a successful, organized school year,
A few years ago I entered the produce section of my newly remodeled grocery store to purchase some tomatoes, only to discover that it was going to take quite an effort to fulfill my mission. The new and “improved” produce department was at least double the size of the old one, and it took me 5 minutes of intense searching to discover where the tomatoes were located. There were dozens of tables displaying bin after bin of all types of fruits and vegetables, and I became increasingly annoyed at each bin that didn’t reveal the object of my quest. While some of you may have enjoyed such a hunt, it nearly brought me to tears – so many choices and so much floor space to navigate left me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
I recently encountered a situation with my client, whom I’ll call “Ann”, which exemplifies how some people think neatening is the same thing as organizing, and how detrimental that can be. Ann has several chronic medical conditions that generate lots of paperwork, leaving her buried in piles and overwhelmed. She also tends to be an over-shopper, buying things because they’re fun or pretty, not because she’ll necessarily use them, although she says she intends to give them as gifts someday. In addition, she has emotional attachments to gift boxes, greeting cards, stickers, ribbon, and other gift-giving supplies. Ann also envisions herself as being a great cook some day, so she stockpiles recipes and cooking supplies. I’ve worked with Ann on and off for several years to set up systems for her paperwork and create space for the emotion-evoking things that fill her small condo.
As I did around this time last year, I just saw a Disney-Pixar film that offers some great organizing lessons. This year it was Toy Story 3 that lured me from the comfort of my couch. The premise of the story is that Andy, who we met as a young boy in the first movie of the series, is getting ready to go to college and must decide what to do with his toys. This story tugged at my heart not only because I have son named Andy who’s in college, but also because I see many of my clients face the same struggles as Andy while they move towards creating a new, better life for themselves. Here are my observations:
A recent client of mine (I’ll call her Donna) struggled mightily with getting her clean laundry put away rather than strewing it across the living room couch. As we worked to understand the causes of her challenge, we discovered that she didn’t view putting the laundry away as being at all related to other steps in the laundry process. Instead, she viewed each step (sort clothes, load washer, run washer, empty washer, load dryer, empty dryer, fold clothes, put clothes away) as separate from and unrelated to any other step in the process. In her view, sorting and washing the clothes without having time to do any of the subsequent steps was better than having a mile high stack of dirty clothes. However, operating in this fashion sometimes (ok, often) caused Donna to have to rewash wrinkled clothes that sat in the dryer for several day, or even moldy clothes that sat wet in the washer for a few days.
Although organizing and exercising may not seem to have much in common, they actually have many similarities: both require discipline to keep it up; both help you (or your environment) look and feel better; both are good for you; and both sometimes require the help of an outside professional. I often encounter prospective clients who have trouble justifying hiring me to help them do what they feel they “should” be able to do themselves. One such prospect nervously asked me if all I’d do is sit there and watch her go through papers. I suggested that her concern was similar to someone who might ask if all a personal trainer does is count. You don’t hire a professional primarily for what they know and do, but mostly for what they help you achieve and become. After all, even the best professional athletes have a coach.
When an associate mentioned that she was feeling inspired to wash the windows of her home, I realized that the reason for her inspiration could also help people feel inspired to tackle an organizing project. She had recently purchased a squeegee and bucket and discovered that having the right tools provided her with motivation to do the job. In addition, those tools made the window cleaning easier and faster and provided great results. Before the squeegee/bucket approach, she rarely washed her windows and viewed it as a tedious, weekend-long task. With the right tools – and breaking the job into “evening” chunks – she got it done quickly and painlessly.
