Five ways parents can stay on top of everything this school year
(BPT) – By now, the hustle of the school year is in full swing and if you’re a parent, you probably feel like you can barely keep your head above water. Each year seems to be busier than the last, with new extracurricular activities for your kids and new responsibilities for you. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ve added a couple of activities for yourself as well, like a new spin class, bookclub or wine club.
All of this commotion may have you wishing you could just hit the reset button, but getting organized is easier than you think. To help, here are five tips you can use to keep yourself and your kids organized throughout the school year:
* Start planning. If you feel like you’re living life one moment to the next during the weekdays, use your weekends to plan. Set aside some time on Sunday and get the whole family together to talk about the week ahead. Make sure you’re aware of any special events taking place that week and when and where they are so you can plan transportation (Do you need to drive them or can your significant other? Is there the option to carpool with a friend? Etc.) This is also a good time to make sure your kids are caught up on homework before it’s too late.
* Stay in touch with the right tech. In today’s busy world it’s good to know that modern technology can help you stay organized. If you rely on your smartphone to keep you organized, the flyp app can help. flyp allows you to create multiple numbers on your phone so you can organize your contacts and receive texts and calls from family, friends, work colleagues on one line, and people from your child’s school or sports team on another. You can add up to six flyp numbers with the option to view your communication in separate feeds so you can keep track of each area of your life. To learn more about how flyp can keep you organized this year, visit getflyp.com.
* Help your kids stay organized. It will be easier for you to stay organized if your kids are organized themselves. Help them out by establishing an afterschool routine and assign a designated area where they can do their homework. Add a whiteboard to this station so children can write down their homework assignments due tomorrow, and in the future, so no one forgets when that big project is due.
* Set priorities. If you feel as though you or your kids are constantly being asked to be in two places at once, you may have too many things on your plate. Make a list of all your current obligations starting with those you can’t abandon – like work or school – and build the list from there. Once you’ve built the list, review it to see what obligations can be dropped. Cutting a few less important obligations will allow you to donate more time to what you really care about, and help you stay organized.
* Work with your work schedule. If you’re a working parent, and your work schedule is making it difficult to stay organized in your personal life, perhaps you can make some adjustments. Adopting a regular work-from-home day means you can spend your former commute time on improving your organization and accomplishing tasks. Work-from-home days also make it easier to respond to those last minute carpool needs.
The school year may have you feeling behind, but there’s still time to recover. Utilize these organization tips and you’ll be ready and prepared for whatever the rest of the year offers. To learn more about the flyp app, visit getflyp.com.