5 Back-to-School Tips to Help Your Routine

We all know it’s coming – that time of year when the days get a little shorter, the vacations we spent weeks planning have come and gone and we start seeing school supply commercials at every turn. Fall is right around the corner. Establishing a back to school routine can help your kids – as well as yourself – shift back into the rhythm without feeling overwhelmed. So here are five back to school tips and tricks to help you (and your kids) get back into a routine that works for everyone. 

Tip # 1. Think ahead. Calling all my procrastinators out there! This one is for you. This is a critical first step in creating a successful back to school schedule. Dedicate one hour a week to look at your calendar and see what’s coming up. Are there any projects your kids need supplies for, events you’re volunteering at or uniforms that need to be washed? When you take time to stop and look at the coming week, you’re able to prepare what you need and be more proactive and less reactive. When you know what’s coming up that week, you can plan the rest of your schedule as well, so dinners and groceries are planned and ready. It may seem hard to find the time, but when you stop and plan, you don’t have to make frantic, last-minute decisions.

Tip #2. Write it down. I’ve learned from experience that if I don’t write something down – no matter how much confidence I have in my ability to remember things – I’m most likely going to forget it. If I don’t forget it, I’m usually so hyper-focused on not forgetting that one thing that I forget other things. So my next back-to-school tip is write things down. Whether you write it in your phone, on your calendar, a dry erase board where everyone can see or just your personal journal, write down the tasks you want to accomplish, the events coming up and the supplies you need for the next week. This frees up your mind to focus on other things and not drop the ball when something unexpected comes your way. Plus, it feels really great when you cross items off as you accomplish them.

Tip #3. Prepare. Planning and preparation go hand-in-hand. Preparing for a school morning routine or an after-school routine brings your planning to life. Before you go to sleep, check the weather forecast and make sure that outfits for the next day are not only picked out, but taken out and set aside. Take it a step further and pick out the shoes and accessories your child wants to wear so there’s no mad dash around the house when you’re trying to get everyone in the car. No one loves a stressful morning with kids yelling, “Mom! Dad!” every few minutes before the coffee kicks in. If possible, pack lunches the night before as well so you can grab and go on the way out the door. Preparing these little things before you need them reduces stress and distraction first thing in the morning and we could all benefit from less stress.

Tip #4. Plan for fun! Getting into a back-to-school schedule can be challenging for everyone. Adjusting to homework and less time as a family can overwhelm your kids, so don’t forget to schedule some fun into your weeks as well. Whether it’s going to a movie on Saturday or having pizza and a movie night on Friday – you know what your family likes to do so be intentional to also include fun activities when setting your schedule.

Tip #5. Give grace…to others and yourself! Don’t forget that no one is perfect and life doesn’t always go according to plan. Sometimes the best-laid plans fail – an outfit you thought was ready is dirty, the calendar was wrong and you’re not prepared, the chicken didn’t defrost in time – the best way to handle these little upsets is to remember they’re just that, little. While having a back-to-school routine is great for everyone, it shouldn’t be so rigid that you can’t recover when something doesn’t go according to plan. It’s in those moments of things not working out just right that we can demonstrate how to have grace under fire and handle the unexpected well – a valuable lesson that only you can teach your kids.

Establishing new routines takes time and can be difficult, but you can do it! The fall is a time to find your rhythm again after a fun summer and a great time to discover how to create an effective work routine. Take these back to school tips as guidance and make them work for you and your home. As you settle into your new routine, you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. Just remember to give yourself and others grace as you navigate the new normal.