Back-to-School Season: Organization Tips & Tricks!

It’s August, which means summer is starting to wind down, and school will be in full swing before you know it. With school supplies shopping, helping with homework, coordinating after-school activities, and playing chauffeur to practices and games, back-to-school season can be challenging for even the most organized moms.

According to a survey conducted in August 2022 by Evernote, a productivity app company, most mothers perceive that they handle the bulk of back-to-school tasks and errands without much help. Evernote partnered with global public opinion and data company YouGov and surveyed 1,083 moms to determine just how stressful back-to-school season can be. The results verified what practically every mom already knows: back-to-school is a busy and chaotic time!

Of respondents, more than a third (34%) said they handle everything that is back-to-school related, from scheduling (and taking kids to) doctor appointments to back-to-school shopping and everything in between. Just over one-fifth (21%) of moms said they handle the chaos of the behind-the-scenes action by themselves “most” of the time, with their partner stepping in only occasionally.

Other top stressors include organizing drop-off/pickup schedules (54%), managing extracurricular activities (52%), managing their children’s platforms and apps (44%), and arranging for childcare (35%).

We are here to provide you with a crash course in organization to ease into back-to-school season. The following tips can help you get your home and kids ready for the busy days of homework, practices, and parent-teacher meetings that are just around the corner.

Post a Daily Schedule

Stay organized to set yourself up for success as the school year begins. Create a detailed checklist to ensure you stay on top of all your tasks, from waking up bright and early to tackling homework in the afternoon. Start the day right with bed-making and breakfast, and wrap up each evening with assigned chores and bedtime routines. With a well-planned schedule, you can conquer it all!

Establish a Family Command Center

Stay organized and reduce stress with a family command center. Create an efficient hub for sports schedules, menus, homework assignments, and more. Say goodbye to chaos and hello to sanity. Many families use organization apps such as Trello or Evernote to help manage the chaos.

Put Your Mudroom to Work

Clutter can get out of control in no time if backpacks, folders, and textbooks get strewn about the kitchen or living room. When you’re thinking about organizing for the back-to-school season, try to create a place for all of the family’s school items. Consider turning your mudroom or entryway into a locker room of sorts by hanging hooks on the wall for hoodies, scarves, and backpacks and by placing a shoe rack by the front door. Additionally, give each child a wall-mounted magazine holder or filing bin where they can store syllabi, workbooks, permission slips, and even school-issued tablets or laptops.

Create a School Supplies/Backpack Corner

In the process of getting organized for going back to school, you’ve likely accumulated a lot of brand-new supplies, such as scissors, glue sticks, pencils, and crayons. Unless this is your first back-to-school rodeo, you know that these items will quickly disappear if they don’t have an assigned place. Use a shower caddy or tackle box to corral supplies and create a makeshift craft kit. Or, if you prefer, place spare rolls of tape, extra sticky notes, colored pencils, crayons, and the like in the compartments of a clear over-the-door shoe organizer.

Make Sure the Kids Have a Place Of Their Own, Too

Few children are thrilled with the idea of homework, meaning they'll welcome distractions wherever they find them. Help your kids focus and get down to business by designating a quiet room as the homework zone. Make sure you have everything they'll need to work, such as pencil sharpeners, crayons, scissors, and extra paper, so that they don't have an excuse to get up and wander the house in search of these items.

Have Outfits Ready to Go

Simplify your back-to-school routine and save precious time in the mornings by creating labeled outfits for each day of the week or utilizing hanging shelves with designated cubbies for each child. Let your little ones participate in picking out their outfits on Sundays, including sports or other after-school activities attire for each day, and enjoy stress-free mornings all week long!

While organization tips are super helpful for small, daily upkeep, don’t forget that we are on your side and ready to help you out with the bigger tasks. The increased frenzy of activities that accompany the back-to-school season could leave you less time to follow a daily housekeeping schedule.