The following is a guest post about organizing paperwork from regular contributor, Morgan from Morganize with Me.
It’s official, it’s now fall! This means pumpkin everything, plaid makes a reappearance, and the school paperwork begins migrating back into our homes. Paper overload is a reality, especially when you’ve got kids. But I’m here to help! Let me take a quick sip of my pumpkin spice latte, roll up my sleeves of my flannel plaid shirt, and give you some tools for how to easily organize kids’ paperwork.
Step One: Put paper where it needs to go.
Only touch paper once. I know you’ve heard this and you know it’s a good rule, but you struggle with touching paper over and over again. I get it, I do too. The easiest way to circumvent touching paper more than once (or twice), is to create a command center, or a place where all paperwork can be sorted immediately when brought into the house. And this should include a place to recycle and/or shred too. Once you have an easy to use system in place, teach your entire family how to use the command center.
One of my favorite ways to create a simple command center, is to use a tray with files. You can design the trays to be specific for whatever paperwork you regularly need to sort. The key here is to regularly go through the trays and to not let them get overfilled.
Step Two: Post paperwork that needs to be seen.
This is a game-changer! I recently shared on Instagram, a photo of a clipboard from a system we’ve used in our home. You can go many different directions with this. The vision is to categorize paper by groups and then post them somewhere visible for everyone to be able to see.
For example, if each of my kids is participating in a sport, I would consider creating a clipboard for each child. This creates an excellent place to hold all of the paperwork that coincides with their activity. Paperwork such as snack schedules, game schedules, fundraising, and/or uniform information can be held on the clipboard for easy reference.
Step Three: Place digital paper (emails) in folders.
While a lot of paper still comes in the form of physical paper, we are getting more and more of our communication via email. This is great, because it cuts down on our physical clutter, however it can all too quickly clutter up our inbox. One of the easiest methods to help keep your email paper organized, is to set up folders within your inbox. By placing emails you want to refer back to later, into folders, you’ll be able to more easily locate them when the need arises. This will also help to keep your inbox less cluttered too. Which I call a win-win!
Now, go enjoy your fall season! And remember to put paper where it needs to go, post what needs to be visible, and place important emails in folders. Happy organizing!
Morgan is the energetic and motivated, but also realistic girl, behind Morganize with Me. She is a list lover, fitness fan, and chaos controller! Her mission is to share tried and true techniques that she hopes will encourage her readers and clients as they focus on their health and homes. Join one of her Challenges and be sure to check out her Shop full of fabulous organizing printables!
Related post:
Organized Solutions for Easily Managing Daily School Papers
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