Back to school - how do you organise all the paperwork?

[Jemster]

I am trying to organise things ready for start of school but it all looks a cluttered mess.
We have a filing cabinet which is fine for filing long term things/information but what do you do with all the day to day things that mount up?
Here are the areas I'm struggling to know what to do with:

DH's post - he is rubbish at opening it & when he does leaves it to pile up in the hallway

School letters & nursery letters - I like to have them close to hand for info but there is so much how can I keep it tidy

Homework - ends up on dining room table or hidden under other piles. Would like to keep table clear for family meals.

General stuff that needs actioning & stuff I need to read (if i ever get A chance!!). Where do you keep all that so you don't forget to do things?

Currently I have a magazine holder
on a small table in hall where I shove everything but its not organised & I worry I'm going to forget to do something.

Any tips please for improving?

Book bag letters I read straight away act on & recycle, dates get put on calendar straight away for stuff like parents evening discos fairs etc

Party invites get stuck in fridge with magnets

Dh post gets put by kettle and then he dumps it on dining room table luckily we eat in kitchen

Homework gets put on kitchen side board not ideal

Agree. Stuff from school action immediately. Then bin. You usually get a reminder anyway. I did file it in an a4 file one year but abandoned it a few months in.

Homework - keep in bag when not being either on? Desks in their rooms?

This is how we do it - not perfect but it works for us!

Each child has a box file for books / homework / spelling lists etc. Once it's finished with it goes in the bin. Woe betide the husband person who does not put the things back in the box.

All post goes in a pretty box in the hall and is dealt with once a week at the Sunday night family "board meeting" - along with calendar updates, allocation of school pick ups / drop offs and booking babysitters, cinema / restaurant for date night etc. This is when bills get paid, parentpay accounts get topped up and other admin gets done. We plan at least 4 (usually 6) weeks ahead as we both work at a distance sometimes and need to make sure that we don't schedule both of us to be 100+ miles away on the same day. This process is greatly improved by a nice glass of wine. It often takes two hours but it is worth every minute for the impact it has on our weeks.

I have a bring forward file for school stuff and things like MOT reminders, car insurance etc. One pocket per month. Every Sunday evening that month's stuff (and the next month if we're near the end of the month) comes out and gets dealt with or deferred for the next week. So for example a trip letter with a deposit payment now and payments in November, February and March would go in the post box until Sunday then the first payment would be made and it would then go in November's pocket. I know where it is if I need it but I don't need to see it until the next payment is due. In November it gets moved to February and so on. Party invites go in the box until Sunday then on the calendar and into the appropriate month's bring forward pocket. I menu plan on Sunday too - after the meeting so I know who is in for dinner.

My bring forward folder is a bit like this one:

www.paperstone.co.uk/filing-archiving/expanding-files/glo-polypropylene-expanding-file-12-part-a4-fuschia/p-64687?p1=DQQKOQxBuJ01&gclid=Cj0KEQjwvJqvBRCL77m2-uKczsIBEiQAkx8VjEoScXHn_shwcswO0rKCsdoB0UPBoMTn0np6rneFPPMaAqAF8P8HAQ

Things that are happening this week go on a series of magnetic day of the week pegs on my fridge like these:

www.livelaughlove.co.uk/Days-of-the-Week-Decorated.html

I have learned not to have an "action when I get a chance" pile - it never gets actioned so I now bin anything that isn't important enough to have a deadline attached to it.

The 'bring it forward' file sounds like a great idea! I have resolved to be better at keeping on top of school paperwork this year. (A girl can dream.)

DH's post, if I know what it is I open and file it straight away. I know this doesn't work for everyone but DH is more than happy for me to do it and stops him from opening it, putting it back in the envelope and dumping it on the nearest available surface.

Important letters and photographed on my phone, so I have the info I need wherever I am.

Stuff to be read is often kept in the car. Then I read it if I'm early picking them up from school or whilst they're in swimming lessons or similar.

Homework, I have no magic answer!! In an idea world it would be done straight away and taken back to school. In our world it gets put on the table, then moved to a chair, then panicked about the night before it's due in!

anything that needs action - action the first time you pick it up. school letters that need a reply slip etc, fill them in put them back in the bookbag to go into school, dates in calendar on phone. If I can't action them immediately they stay on the side in the kitchen - but usually only a couple of things max. school letters with info that I want to keep gets clipped on kitchen notice board in date order, so the top one is next, removed once it has passed.

homework - in bookbags / school bags. DS1, going into Yr8, I don't want to see it, books live in his school bag, he sorts it out. DS2, going into Yr5, I check his bookbag, get him to do it and put it back in his book bag.

dp1 post - upto dp, usually stuffed in his drawer, but not my problem.

my post - very little of it, generally straight in the recycling, some needs keeps and going in the filing pile in the spare bedroom cupboard where the filing is kept.

We have a weekly school newsletter on Friday, I read it carefully and note dates on the calendar. We get the newsletters by email but can collect/request a printed copy. I do find printed stuff easier to read/highlight and try to put these in a ring binder for reference, along with any PTA stuff/minutes that I get.

I put reminders on the calendar (big wall one in the kitchen) eg sign up for school clubs on x day, buy tickets to blah, blah, blah.

The ring binder has sections for each of the after-school stuff that DD does, so invoices/newsletters etc get filed in there. when I take them out of the magazine holder where I throw everything

It was DD's first day back today and already I've put two things on the calendar. FFS!

We have one of these in the kitchen. One for each of us, me, DP, DSD and DD and one for general "home". Everything gets kept in here for bloody ages a few days until I sort. Means everything off the kitchen sides and at least we know where it is. I am 1/2 implementing a monthly file where I store important things for each month then I can bin them/file them at end of year. Things like receipts/bills etc.