Organised people, help me get sorted for the new school term

[hoppityhoppity]

So...we are 2 weeks out from the new school year starting and I want to turn over a new organised leaf. What do you super organised people do to make sure you are not chasing your tail once term starts and it's all go go go...thinking about broader house/life organising as well as specific things I need for school (will need to make daily packed lunches argh) so that my life is easier once Sept starts.

I have 3 young DC so hard to get much done without it being 'undone'...I often feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do, so was thinking a plan that meant I had to do a little each day for the next two weeks so that once Sept started I could 'tick over' might work, what do you think?

I started weeks ago. I labelled the new school uniform as it came into the house and at the end of the term took the too small/wrecked stuff out of the clothes drawers and put the new stuff away.

Ds is now at the age where he needs pens and pencils etc in his school bag so these are already sorted and hanging up on his peg ready to go in 2 weeks time. This only works because 1. he is away with his dad a lot in the summer and 2 because he knows there will be serious consequences if he touched them before September. In younger or more spontaneous kids having the bag made up and in a non obvious place is the way to go.

As of ds coming home from his holidays he will be going to bed 15mins earlier everynight and getting up closer and closer to the time he needs to get up ready for school. This is to help get him back into the school night routine. We will also be starting back into the routine of afterschool activities as his return prior to the school return so the routine will gradually build up.

In this house we are not morning people so it is important for us to leave as little to do as possible in the morning. Literally lunch box out of fridge and into bag, clothes on, breakfast eaten, teeth done and out of the house. So for us it is important to make sure that homework is done in the evening. Due to being tired and activities ds gets a snack and then does his homework almost immediately. I check his bag for letters as he walks in the door or more often then not when he has thrown them at me at the end of the day as he comes flying out of the classroom. Letters get dealt with asap. Lunch made whilst tea is cooking and put into the fridge. etc

A lot of younger children though, and ds was included in this find starting school incredibly tiring and thus we used to do ds' reading and phonics work in the morning prior to school so he wasn't to tired to concentrate. However, he was at this stage not doing after school activities and generally falling asleep in front of the tv before tea he was that tired. SO it does pay to know how your house and kids work.

Best tip I had was don't put anything off. Letters get lost/homework forgotten etc. So by doing a little bit here and there it does make it easier. Plus we have a door where we blue tac important pieces of paper and have a large wipe clean monthly calendar so it is easy to see which after school activity is when, when school trips are etc. This calendar has saved me for being more disorganised than I used to be.

School stuff works here, the house is a work in progress. The organised thread a while back had loads of tips.

I'm a professional organiser.

The things that make the most difference in my home are:

Calendar with a column for each family member. Everything goes on it.

On Sunday night DH does the bedtime stuff and gets all the swimming/ hockey/ tennis/ dance kits ready and hangs them on pegs inside the children's wardrobes. Meanwhile I update the organised mum magnetic weekly planner that lives on the fridge. That has all the weeks activities, the menu for the week plus who is doing school runs and evening activity runs on each day.

Then DH and I sit down with the weekly planner, calendar, our phones and diaries and a bottle of wine and go through the next 4-6 weeks. We sort out clashes such as me needing to be at a governors meeting whilst he is away on business and call in favours / book a babysitter at the time.

All uniform and my clothes are put out the night before including accessories, underwear, tights etc and I also change my handbag if I need to and pack my briefcase if necessary.

School bags and shoes go by the front door the night before.

School paperwork (and any other paperwork that needs action) goes into a daily or monthly bring forward file. Every night I take out whatever is in the next day's bring forward section and put it on my desk.

We meal plan and shop online.

Just adding that if you have a iPad or iPhone I can recommend the pocket informant and home routine apps. The latter is roughly based on the fly lady system but you can customise it. Lots of my clients love it.

Thanks Helena I will look at the apps, I think my main problem is I am so tired by the time the kids are in bed the thought of getting stuff ready for the next day is horrific so I don't and then I start each day on the back foot and am constantly running to catch up. I am also not naturally good at routines, so while I may sit down and plan this Sunday night, I struggle to do the same thing every week (ie sit down and plan at the same time) but I can see that it needs to be done. I do feel that I am struggling to keep all the plates in the air and that there will be more and more as the DCs get older and do more, but also that I should have more time during the day as they become less dependent (hope). Also, I will be working a bit from Sept so definitely need to get more organised. The thought of it is quite stressful, which is why I thought giving myself two weeks to get to a neutral position (get app for organising! Tidy up, declutter etc) would help once Sept comes and we are again deluged with notes from school, playdates, parties, artwork etc! I am also trying to do this without spending money as historically I have bought storage tubs rather than actually thinking about our storage if that makes sense!

hoppity how old are the children? Could they have a checklist? One with pictures on if they can't yet read? A picture of shoes means put your shoes by the door, a picture of a vest and pants means put them on your chair. A laminated checklist and a dry wipe pen might make it a game?

Mine are 6 and 10 and they've both had lists since they were about three.

I had a client who seemed averse to routines so we drew up a checklist for get to work through so at some point during the week she'd do an online shop, at some point she'd do the ironing. It would've driven me crazy but she liked it.

They are 2,4 and 6 - they are good at one off 'jobs', eg washing the car, fixing things, putting pictures up; getting them to do daily tasks (clearing away toys but also brushing teeth etc) is a battle. Even star charts etc lose their appeal after a while. I probably don't sell these things v well as I find them dull as well!

I quite like the idea of a to do list that has tasks for specific days and then must get done this week and must get done this month. I love ticking things off, but once I get behind I lose the will to get back on track.
I do also worry that constantly running to stand still is not the best example to set, and I would love the DC to feel their home (and mother!) was calm and organised

Google organized home.com, it' an american site that does downloadable printable forms for things like daily checklists of things to remember before leaving the house.

It's better than I'm describing it.

Ooh I looked it up, thank you. I like the idea of us all having a basket each to put things in to make the mornings calmer, although not sure where ours would go, but it's something to ponder as I attempt to take the clutter in hand over the next fortnight!
I am tackling the DCs toys today. I am hoping to get rid of some, and to separate the others into smaller storage containers so that they are easier to pull out and play with. Managed to distract the DCs sufficiently yesterday to get a whole load of artwork into the recycling bin!

I read a tip on here once that said put anything you need in the mornings ie shopping list or letter to post on the doormat.

Excellent tip but the house we were in at the time had a cat flap and the cat put pawprints all over the outgoing post.

Another one who does everything the night before apart from making up sandwiches and chopping fruit and veg, which I do as soon as I get up. The DC pack their school bags before they go to bed. I write notes for the teacher, sort out money and sign forms as soon as get in from school or activities. I lay out lunch boxes on the kitchen counter and put in all the non-fridge items.

I set aside a couple of hours in the week before school starts (next week in fact) to go through absolutely everything that the children need in terms of uniform, pencil cases, shoes etc and label them. I use mynametags and get it all done in one job lot. Then it's put away ready for the start of school.

I make up a weekly schedule for each child with their music practise, homework and other extras that fits around their Afterschool activities and this is on the kitchen notice board. This works for the whole term and means that the children can look for themselves to see what they need to do after school.

I have a list of 30 meals that everyone will eat and meal plan for the week. This allows a bit of variety but doesn't tax my brain too much. I know that I have something for dinner each night and I take the relevant ingredients out of the freezer before we leave for school. I have a one in use and one spare system for just about everything so we rarely run out of things. I really think this makes a difference as there is no last minute panic about toothpaste/shampoo/juice boxes (obviously the latter is a pack rather than individual) and no expensive 'pop to the supermarket' bills. Anytime we start on the spare, it goes straight onto the shopping list that hangs by the fridge.

I use an Organised Mum Family Life Book and everything goes in it ASAP. This means no double-bookings and lots of planning time for birthday presents or costumes. I put a note in a week (or however long you need) before to post or buy gifts. I bulk buy birthday cards in August and then use a folder to put specific ones away ready for that person's birthday. I have a box of spares, including wrapping paper and gift bags.

I have a weekly list of cleaning jobs, somewhat like Fly Lady and just work my way through that. Little and often in the cleaning department (my least favourite part of my routine).

I find that all of this planning means a smoother time at home. Then I have plenty of time to help with homework or listen to music practise even if I'm tired after work and running the DC around.

Thanks Great I had a feeling the answer would be something like this. I just need to up my game really.
I am good at the meal planning (generally) which I resisted for a long time as it made me feel like my MIL but everything feels more under control in that department now. I also do the one in use and one spare, so am giving myself some brownie points for that!!
I have gone through 2 rooms in the last 2 days and decluttered. I am planning to do the cupboard under the stairs today. My plan is to go room by room this week, although more difficult now the weekend is over and so have the DCs on my own.
There is no school uniform here but I need to go through and work out what new clothes my DCs need for autumn/winter, as they have grown over the summer lots of trousers I think...but it's a good reminder that I need to check labels on things, especially summer clothes bought this year that they will still be wearing in Sept/T shirts they'll be wearing all year.
I think a lot of this is coming to terms with my own innate laziness and realizing that once the DCs are in bed I still have jobs to do before I can relax in a heap on the sofa. The mornings were pretty hideous last school year, so am really keen to improve them.
Will also look at the organised mum site. Thanks again, and any other tips you think of, keep them coming...

Rather than night before we get up very early (dd2 needs physio meds and is an uber slow eater), this gives us time for the usual delays and nonsense. I like getting to schoolearly as it sets them (the dd's) in a better frame of mind for the rest of the day.

I agree, Pre DCs I always got everywhere early and much prefer that but have not got the routines to ensure I can do that with 3 DCs in tow.

I just wanted to add that I'm a naturally lazy person and find that this system actually gives me more time to relax! This way gives me blocks of time rather than minutes here and there, which works better for me. There is still lots to refine and work on in our home.

hoppity re the getting behind and feeling a need to catch up thing i've had an idea for you.

How about if you divide the things into seven sections but don't label them Monday, Tuesday etc just numbers 1-7. Then if you miss a day you can, in the words of Flylady, "just jump in wherever you are". Alternatively divide all that you need to get done into five sections rather than seven. This means you can either give yourself two days breathing space in the week when you need them or work like a Trojan and get the weekend off.

Like great I'm a naturally lazy person too. My system means I get time to do the things I like. I'm off out with DH tonight but my little and often system means it won't impact on my week too much.

Thanks Helena, that might work. It is just motivating myself to keep going and not just slack off. I need to go and put a wash on, clear up the kitchen and I want to sort out the cupboard under the stairs, but want I really wan to do is have a cup of tea and faff about on my iPad! I like the idea of having a few days 'off' a week, I think I always fall off the organised wagon after a while as it seems so relentless and I never get to the stage where I am so organised that there is v little to do to just tick over. I don't know if this makes any sense, but it is really helping me stay focused to write it all down!

As a naturally disorganised person... A noticeboard with school letters on by the front door make sit harder to forget things like school trips.
Before the start of term, go through uniform and clothes to make sure there is nothing in circulation that doesn't fit or isn't labelled. Order what's missing online, and book an evening with a film and a stack of nametapes. Only buy one kind of socks per child.
Book them in for school meals- it's easier, saves you time, the kids eat better and it doesn't matter if you haven't shopped. Also keeps the school meals service viable.
Pegs for coats, PE bags etc by the door, also hairbrush and detangling spray kept in a pocket by the door with the car keys.
A spare set of keys for when the first set have disappeared at 8.39.
Have a clock in each room and set them all 10 minutes fast.
I am also about to institute the 'no morning telly until you are dressed and holding your breakfast' rule.
The key to it being possible to tidy up is that there is actually a place for everything you own which is where you need it to be when you want it. So cutlery is next to the table, cups are by the kettle, shoes are by the door, toys are at child level, swimsuits are in the going swimming bag, dvds are next to the telly.. Don't expect things to be in their place all the time, but if there is a place they are supposed to be you have a start! Either find it a home or recycle it. Which is another story, anyone else driven around for a week with the box of stuff for the dump in the boot?

organizedhome.com/seasonal-spin/back-to-school-tips-get-organized
HTH it has some very good charts/lists on