Papers, papers, papers, papers!

Papers everywhere!  Papers on the table.  Papers in bedrooms.  Papers on the floor.  Papers on the counters.  Papers in the car.  Papers from school work done at home, Sunday school,  and Homeschool Co-ops.  As a mom who once homeschooled four children simultaneously, I understand the frustration of drowning in a sea of paper.  But just how do you combat this mess and stop Paperzilla?

The method that helped me the most is to be prepared at the beginning of each school year by creating a file folder for each subject, for each child. Plus I’d make extra folders for each co-op they belonged to, church, and any other extracurricular they were involved in.

Obviously it’s not the beginning of the school year now, but it’s never too late to start!  Starting now, purposefully set aside some time to get organized.  Create a file folder for each subject for each of your children.  Once you do this, make a central place to collect all papers for a given week.  Ask your children to make sure all papers make it to this collection point every day.  At the end of each week take all the papers from the collection point and separate them by child.  Afterward, separate by subject and then place each stack into the appropriate folder.  If you have older children, enlist their help in at least sorting into piles per child.

Utilizing this method helped me a great deal to maintain control over the paper mess. It also cut down on the time it would take me to locate a specific paper and made it much easier to pull together a portfolio at the end of the year.  As a bonus, when the school year was over, all I had to do was open the file cabinet, remove the file folders, plop them into a box, seal, and label.  Voila!  The year was complete!

Another bonus to consider is that you are also training your children how to be more organized and responsible in how and where they place their papers while showing them how to sort and organize.  It’s a win-win all around!

Do you have a favorite organizational tip?

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