Ending the school year well organized – how to deal with end of the school year clutter

For the kids, it is freedom. School is over and the summer stretches its loving arms out to envelope them. But here you are stuck with a stack of yellowing papers, well worn book bags, smelly gym gear, art projects, pens and everything else that was stuffed into their lockers all year.

Before you go into a panic, inhale deeply and start on this task right away. You might wonder how such small people can accumulate so much junk. Instead of dwelling on that fact, it is best to get started sorting through it all. Leaky pens, holey gym clothes and old papers can be discarded.

One clutter free way to keep those A+ papers forever is to photograph them and save them digitally. If you are really on top of things, you have been doing this throughout the school year. But do not beat yourself up for not taking photos before now. Try to only keep one spectacular project per child per year. If you add it all up, by high school graduation, you will have plenty of memories.

If your kids are at that “growing like a weed” stage, you will probably need to go through their closets and drawers and remove anything that no longer fits. Depending on the age of the children, they may help you with this project. Unfortunately, a trip to the mall for summer garb may be in order after a good closet cleaning.

Old clothing can be handed down, donated or tossed, depending on how much wear they have had. If you have space, winter clothes can be moved elsewhere in your home. Bulky sweaters and coats can take up a lot of room.

Schedules will change, especially when all of the adults work outside of the home. While there are no more school carpools, there are kids that need to be entertained and watched all summer. Since there is no homework, summer chores can be added to their schedule to help you. And since most parents are not above bribery, special rewards or privileges can be offered in exchange for a job well done.

Try to do something fun with your kids at the end of the school year. Visit that new restaurant, play some arcade games, go camping for the weekend or take them on the trip they begged you about all year. Try to do an activity that you will all enjoy, and give yourselves a nice bonding moment at the same time.

Organizing your entryway

Does this scenario ever play out in your home? You walk in the door after a hard day at work, a long school day or a fun night on the town. You toss your keys, throw your coat and kick off your shoes. The entrance of your home can quickly pile up with all sorts of items. That is the first part of your home that a person sees when they come through your door.

Whether you live in a house or apartment, the entryway seems to be a dumping ground for shoes, gloves, scarves, keys, mail, baseball mitts, umbrellas, dog leashes and anything else you might have when you walk in the door. Keeping that area organized can be a challenge, especially if you have a lot of people living in your home. However, this is a challenge you can meet and conquer.

By setting aside an hour or two for this task, it can be completed. Go through the entryway closet. There are probably coats, jackets and sweaters that are not needed this time of year. If you have somewhere else to put things for the summer, you can move them and make more space for items needed during the warmer months. Sports equipment, especially if there are kids in the home, can make for a treacherous entryway. Finding a nice place in the closet can help reduce the clutter.

There are things you can buy to help organize your foyer or entryway. A set of hooks for your keys can save time and frustration. Once you get in the habit of automatically hanging your keys on the hook immediately upon entering your home, you will always know where the keys are without the need for a keychain GPS unit.

A basket for incoming and/or outgoing mail is another idea. Only mail that needs immediate attention should stay here. This can end up as a trouble spot if it is not regularly attended.

Some entryways have enough room for a piece of furniture to help organize the sports equipment. A bench with storage inside or cabinet will ensure all of the scarves and accessories have a nice place to stay. Even an umbrella stand or hat rack that can hold hats, scarves and light jackets can make a big difference in minimizing clutter. If there is no room for a piece of furniture, a small chest of drawers can be put on one side of the closet as most jackets, hoodies and sweaters only use half of the vertical space. The long winter coats and full-length raincoats can go on the other side.

An eye-level mirror will give you the opportunity to check your face before you leave the house. If it is a large mirror, it can help make the area look larger. Instead of seeing the entrance as a combat zone, you can turn it into an organized place that gives a great first impression.

Crowded Closets are not Fun

Sometimes my closets remind me of the "Shoemaker's children" because my poor closets are often neglected. Thankfully, I was able to spend about an hour on my bedroom closet this past weekend. 

Here are my "takeaway" tips for you:

• Pretend you are working on someone else's closet. It's so easy to get overwhelmedwhen dealing with your own stuff.  Take everything off of your shelves first - when the space is empty,you can be more objective about what should go where. Out of season clothing can be placed in the hard to reach spots.  
• Sort like things together. Put your winter stuff together (and hopefully place in a far away place) and sort the current season's clothing in categories (sleeveless, short sleeve, dressy tops, jackets, sweaters, shorts, slacks). 
• Have a bag nearby for items to donate and put them in as you go through everything.
• Put your current season's clothes in your bedroom closet and move the out of season hanging clothes to another location.
• Get rid of all but one spare pairs of sneakers - one spare pair is enough.
• Use the easy-to-reach places for the items you use the most. My bottom shelf has my dog walking clothes and other things I use daily.

Beware of these common roadblocks:

Overwhelm   Where do I begin?

Solution  Begin with a 5 minute decluttering session – grab a bag and put some giveaways in there. Don't over  deliberate about whether to  consign or donate - just decide  what needs to go.

  

Fear What if I don't have time to finish and make an even bigger mess?

Solution Start slow – do one section at a  time and start with the easiest  stuff first – belts? scarves?  clothes that don't fit?

Indecision What if I end up needing this?

Solution If you are really afraid to get rid  of something, place it in a  "marinade" box. Go to your  calendar and pick a date (a few  months out). If you haven't  gone to your marinade box by  that date, then you can  give yourself permission to let  it go.

    

Stamina I can't physically do it.

Solution Ask for help - if you have a non-judgmental person in your life, see if you can barter with them..  you can do a more sedentary favor for them and they can help you climb, lift and carry clothes.

   

And a few parting words for your enjoyment...

• Let go of perfectionism - if your piles don't look perfect, it doesn't matter. Your goal is to DOWNSIZE.  
• Easy does it – but do it. Spend 5 minutes... but do it a few times a week and you WILL see a difference.
• Schedule regular donation pick ups or drop offs - this will give you a needed excuse to gather unwanted items.

Set a goal of when you want to have this completed. If you do not meet your goal and feel discouraged and overwhelmed, then please contact me. I would love to help you. 

Get digital photos organized

Just like your closets, your hard drive can become overstuffed with files. Managing them can be an intimidating job. So, like with all organizing, break it into smaller tasks and do your cataloging in increments.

When most digital cameras or cell phones take photos, they assign a number-letter combination that does not help at all when you are trying find a specific photo. You can spend hours looking through photos trying to search for what you want. There are a couple good photo organizing programs that can help you declutter your digital photo files and folders. Picasa and iPhoto are two excellent choices. Some camera manufacturers have their own photo album software that can be downloaded free. Kodak has a good one. Even if you do not have one of their cameras, you can use the organizing software.

You can sort by date, which can narrow down your search, or you can individually name folders and put the appropriate digital photos in them as if you were literally placing printed photos in an album.

Sometimes organizing by date can be confusing. Did the trip to the zoo happen before or after last May? Cameras usually allow you to name the folder when you transfer photos to the computer. If it’s “Betsy’s trip to the zoo,” label the folder accordingly and you will have a better idea of what is in that folder.

If you are anything like me, you will have several photos of one subject, including some blurry images. Delete the blurry ones, especially if you have better, more clear photos of the same subject. They are just taking up precious hard drive space.

Scanning old family photos into the computer is a great way to preserve memories and protect photos that might get damaged with age. Some scanned photos can be altered to look better than the original, although fixing photos is probably best left to the professionals.

Back up all of your photos onto a flash drive, backup drive and/or CDs to make sure you never lose them. Another way to backup is with cloud storage, or to virtually store them off site in cyberspace. If anything should happen to your computer, or even your home, the photos will remain safe. Only print out your most spectacular images for gifts or framing. Avoid adding unnecessary clutter and keep the majority of them on the computer.