Hands up who’s ready for school to go back? ME!!!
I’m really not a mum who survives the holidays well, so I get super excited when its time to start getting ready to send those kidlets back to the classroom.
I have a feeling you might be over it too. Over the arguments, over them eating you out of house & home, out of boredom busting ideas, out of sanity.
Yep, I hear you!
2019 hasn’t been the best year for us, so I’m raring to get 2020 underway so we can start afresh and get some good stuff going on. Starting by breathing a little easier knowing someone else will be listening to my child talk non stop for 6 hours (my apologies, teachers everywhere).
Today I’ll be sharing my 5 Top Back To School Organising Tips. Things that never fail to help me get set, get ready and barge into a new school year like a pro.
None of them are particularity difficult or take a lot of time, but they will make your life a hell of a lot easier if you follow them.
Trust me on this.
So! Grab your beverage of choice and let’s jump in.
Meal Planning
Want to know the best way to get dinner on the table in under 15mins? Meal. Plan.
No word of a lie, dinnertime is the biggest and most horrid time suck in anyone’s day and if you have no idea what you are eating on any given night, you can easily waste a shitload of time, even more money and probably wipe 5 years off your life just trying to deal with the stress of figuring out what to cook, all of which may just make you get a little shouty, and go order completely overpriced Thai food that no one will eat till 8pm. Not exactly ideal.
Creating a meal plan is really easy. Start by jotting down a list of all the things your family loves to eat. Split that list into a) really easy stuff and b) everything else. Pick the simplest & easiest things to make from list A, go through your pantry & list out what you need to purchase to cook those things, then go and buy them. Put up a list, sheet or noticeboard on your fridge so that everyone knows what’s on the menu for each night (Check out our family planner printable here!).
DO NOT start trying to be Nigella Lawson here! pick the simplest, easiest things you know will get eaten. You can always try new things and add to your list after you have your routine in place. For now, we just need you to get into the swing of things.
Food Prep
As soon as my groceries hit my kitchen bench each week, I get prepping. By adding this to a meal plan, you will find that you can save even more time every evening. It’s not a huge job, but simple things like portioning meats into smaller bags for freezing (so you don’t have to defrost the entire 2kg of chicken and then figure out how to use it before it goes off) can really save time daily. Chopping veg into smaller sizes ready for adding to meals is also a really big help.
Depending on what you are cooking that week, you might find you can combine a lot of ingredients before freezing or refrigerating, which will save you doing so on the night. For Instance, if you are having Satay Chicken, you can put your meat, spices, coconut creams, etc all in a big ziplock bag and then just chuck in in the pan when you are ready. Super Time Saver.
Stocking Up
Creating a stockpile of stuff in the cupboard so you won’t run out is SO helpful. I mean really, who wants to have to run to the shops mid-curry cooking because you’ve just realised you ran out of coconut cream?? NO ONE, that’s who. Ensuring you have a few of everything in your pantry or store cupboard is an absolute sanity saver at dinnertime.
There are two main ways to do this. The first is to just grab a few extra things you know you always use (tinned food, rolls of foil, rice, pasta, etc) when you do your regular shop. This way you build up a small stockpile over time.
The second is to do a specific shop just for store cupboard items. This is a lot easier but I do suggest you take a full inventory of your pantry first and only buy what you know you will use.
Planning To Win
Organising yourself is just as important as organising your home. It’s all well and good to make goals for yourself but if you don’t bother scheduling time to do them or recapping what’s been done, you are bound to fail.
I do this with a paper planner, but if you would rather use your phone that’s just as good. Start from the end goal and work your way back. Do you want to clear out your garage by June? Great. There are approx. 24 weekends between now and then. So, every weekend, you have to schedule in time to go and clear out that garage.
Grab your diary and add in a garage clear-out event every.single.weekend. Add in a reminder or an alert if you need too. Just don’t forget. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you miss a weekend, you are already a step behind. Every month, recap what you have done. Are you on track? do you need to up the pace?
Establishing Good Routines
Establishing a good home routine is actually really simple. It’s all about creating good habits. Doing the same thing, at the same time, every day. For instance. In my house, we empty the dishwasher in the morning and stack it and put it on after dinner. The washing gets put on in the evening, uniforms and work outfits get hung on hangers to dry. Lunches get prepped on a Sunday afternoon. There is no forgetting, as it just becomes second nature.
Right, so, you’ve got all that? 5 simple steps you can take to ensure you are organised for back to school time.
Meal Planning – so you know what you are eating and can get it on the table fast;
Food Prep – to save you even more time in the evenings;
Stocking Up – so you never find yourself rushing out of the house mid-cook;
Planning To Win – because if you don’t bother checking up on your own goals, you will never achieve them; and
Establishing Good Routines – so you can almost automate your daily jobs and know they won’t get forgotten.
That’s It. Get On It!
Just Be You, Everyday