Back-to-School Basics

If you're drowning in back-to-school advice, take heart. The principles that help keep academics, activities and family life under control aren't rocket science, they're mostly common sense. The key to any organizing strategy is implementation. No matter how well designed a chart, command center, or inbox is, it only works it you actually use it.

Figure out what's right for you.

It is essential to create a back-to-school plan that suits your family's specific needs.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What activities or chores are most stressful? (choosing outfits, making lunches, finding homework)?
• Are we morning people or night owls?
• What are the bottlenecks in our day? What consistently makes the family late, frustrated or exhausted?
• What is our desired pace? Are we on-the-go people, or do we prefer a more steady state (there is no right answer-understanding how your family functions will help you think through how to set up your day)

Solve the most pressing problems first.

Based on your analysis in section 1, decide what's tripping up your family's schedule, and find a workable solution. If selecting clothing is a daily battle, decide to arrange outfits the night before. If your daughter does a frantic search for home-work seconds before the bus arrives, establish a homework check-in before breakfast (no food until all the papers and books are in her backpack). The solutions needn't be mind-boggling, and it's likely that there are only a few bottlenecks in your day. Targeting these first will gives your family a sense of success (small consistent steps toward order are more effective than occasional leaps and bounds).

Be honest.

Your life can only accommodate so many activities. No matter how organized you are, if too many commitments are packed into too small a time period, you'll feel perpetually overwhelmed. Is your life really disorganized, or are you just overloaded?

Keep it Simple.

Complicated systems are fun to set up but are hard to keep up. I once started a house-keeping schedule that assigned specific jobs to certain days of the week, month and year. I kept getting derailed because, though I like the house tidy, the plan didn't allow me enough flexibility. I began to stress about what jobs didn't get accomplished. I finally realized the plan was too structured for me, and set up one with fewer rules.

To keep the school year under control, you essentially need systems for the following:

• An inbox for each child, stored in a central location. It should be big enough to keep homework, paper, and files with any other important information. Use a binder, a mailbox, or a magazine file box.
• An inbox for the parents, including files for each child, school, and sporting activity.
• A central location for school supplies.
• A calendar that coordinates family members' schedule. I prefer an oversized wall calendar, and I assign each child a different colored pen. That way I know at a glance who needs to be where when. Other families prefer a synchronized digital calendar or simply coordinating individual planners. Thinking through your back-to-school routine is worth the effort. Targeting trouble spots and setting up a workable system will help the whole family make the grade.