Back To School Organize + Energize: Managing Family Paperwork

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalProv Organizing Expert

It’s never too early to think about planning for the school year that lies ahead. This will be one of 4 articles relating to getting organized for back to school.

It seems most of us have difficulty with paper management. Get your kids in the habit of controlling their paper now so they will be able to have a handle on it through their school years, college, adulthood and throughout their careers. Start now by having your kids participate in the process.

Everything in its place

When purchasing back to school supplies, dedicate a color to each subject. For instance for English class, have a green notebook, folder and or binder. All paperwork for English stays contained in the English folders.

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Develop a kid friendly filing system. It can be a filing drawer, cabinet, accordion file, portable rolling cart, or any other filing system that will work for them.  Do not let paper takeover the kitchen, living room or dining room table. Have a designated area in the bedroom or office for their papers. Label the files and have them store important documents in the files throughout the school year. You can label them by subject and color code to match the colors you dedicated to each subject. Store artwork, class projects, papers, and any other important documents in these files. At the end of the school year go through the files and purge whatever you think you may not need for the future. Store the documents you want in a separate file and label with the school year and keep everything together in a separate storage box. Start each school year fresh by continuing to rotate the files.

Getting ahead of the game

Get your children in the habit of once a week cleaning out their subject folders and filing papers in their file drawer. Start these routines now and make it a habit of following up with them.

Your children should have a good handle on their papers if they have a system. If the system works, you won't have papers stuffed in drawers all over the home or their bedroom. All paper will be contained and have a home.

Your children will develop these organizing habits at a young age. These habits will stay with them and they will grow up to be efficient and productive adults. Work with your children to put this system in place and you will be one step closer to becoming organized for back to school. Make your plan now, even if it’s a to-do list to get started in the process.  Up next week: Making weekday mornings easier.

 

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. Kristin has appeared on air on www.talkstreamradio.com and Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio. Her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Her CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start and is available at the following locations listed here. She is also available for organizing workshops.

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