7 Back-to-School Organizing Tricks Parents Swear By (and Cleaning Pros Love Them Too!)
Start mornings strong with visual routine charts for your kids.
Batch tasks like snacks, outfits, and school papers to save time.
Create drop zones for backpacks and stash homework tools nearby.
For parents of school-aged children, the jump from early to late August practically requires a paradigm shift. Your habits and routines that keep your family organized have to literally change overnight.
This year, go in with a game plan. Here are 7 organizational tricks that will make the transition from flexible summer days to structured school ones a breeze.
Meet the Expert
Katie Day is a mom of four and a five-time certified mindset and success coach. She offers practical tools for achieving goals and balancing creativity with everyday motherhood chaos.
Shara Arora is a mom of two and the executive director of Sugar Mill & Meadow Montessori Schools in the Houston, Texas area.
Jade Piper is the operations manager for BetterCleans, a professional cleaning company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Do a Sentimental Paper Dump
If there's one type of clutter that seems to multiply faster than anything else, it's paper clutter. While it's always a good idea to sort through your kids' school papers daily to look for permission slips and such, give yourself your own permission slip to address the sentimental papers like artwork and cute worksheets later.
Katie Day is a certified mindset and success coach and busy mom herself, and she encourages her clients to designate one spot in their homes for a daily "paper dump." This could be a bin, drawer, or oversized folder.
"Let everything collect there without judgment," she says. "At the end of each semester, sit down and pick 10 sacred favorites to keep, and kindly release the rest. No guilt. No clutter. Just sweet, curated memories."
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Make a Visual Routine Chart
It takes kids a while to memorize the new routines that come with a new school year. That's why Shara Arora, mom of two and executive director of Sugar Mill & Meadow Montessori Schools, recommends making a picture routine chart.
"Instead of constantly reminding kids what to do next, use a simple picture chart for mornings and evenings," she says. "My kids love checking off steps like brushing their teeth, packing their backpack for the next day, and getting dressed."
Starting Your Morning Routine at Night
In the Day household, morning routines actually start in the evening.
"Anything you can prep in the evening—do it," she says. "Pack lunches while you're already cooking dinner, set out clothes, and sign the permission slip. You'll be amazed how much calmer the [morning] feels when the [evening] version of you was gifting you a gentler, easier morning."
Create a Homework Basket
A universal point of contention during the school year is homework supplies getting left out. Cleaning professional Jade Piper has noticed that creating a designated homework basket seems to work best for her clients and keeps the pencils, erasers, and computer chargers corralled.
"Homework stuff should not end up across the whole living room," she says. "Use a portable basket with a lap desk. Store it near the sofa or under a console table. When homework's done, the whole basket goes back. It keeps the clutter (and arguments!) contained."
Start Batch Working
Batch working is a productivity hack that involves accomplishing multiple similar tasks back-to-back. Arora is a big fan of batch working when it comes to planning daily school outfits and packing snacks.
On Sundays, her kids pick out their clothes for the week and place them in a five-shelf hanging organizer, and they make sure to look at the school calendar to see if there are any theme days happening.
Since her kids have to bring a snack to school every day, she also uses this time to put all of their snacks for the week in a gallon-sized ziplock bag in their backpack.
Keep a Trash Can in Your Car
Sometimes the best cleaning solutions for problem areas are the simplest. Such is the case for a messy car.
"School runs turn cars into fast food garbage cans," Piper says. "Keep a small trash bin or even a reused plastic container in the car."
Create a Launch Pad By the Door
When your kids get home from school, the first thing they want to do is play or rest. Arora says to honor that and designate a place for putting their backpacks, jackets, and shoes right by the door.
They won't have to walk all the way to their room to put things away, and everything will be easy to grab and go for the next morning.
"My kids each have a hook for their backpack and a basket below for extras like jackets or library books," she says. "Shoes go underneath."
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