If you are in the same boat as me, you might be homeschooling your kids this semester. When I heard the news that California was not going to open schools until January, I officially acquired another (unpaid) part-time job: Teacher. Many schools are planning to go online or have a hybrid program until things with COVID19 are figured out. What does that mean for working parents? Setting up a home office and creating a schedule for everyone. As a former teacher gone Organizer, I will share five tips on how to create a productive and healthy workspace for every member of the family while homeschooling.

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1. Create a separate workspace for yourself

It is important to have a private/separate workstation if you work from home. Common spaces like the kitchen or living room are great for socializing, but when you have to hold a zoom meeting or phone a client it best be without the background noise and children running around on the screen behind you. If you have an office, use it, if you don’t, no problem, just put a desk in the corner of your bedroom or guestroom and create a work nook where you can shut the door if needed and work uninterrupted for some time.

2. Schedule work and play

Time Management It is important for you and the kids, so everyone knows when to work and when to play. Here is a sample schedule you can follow or edit to your family’s needs. Older kids can help with chores as part of their schedule and make sure to plan some family time with board games, walks, or movie nights.

3. Set up a designated learning space for your child

Kids need to move around throughout the day, but it is important to have one or two designated learning spaces, so materials won’t be all over the place. A desk in their room for independent work or the kitchen table for homework help are some examples. Have a basket or container for supplies such as pens and papers, so they can be moved around easily from one learning space to another. Also, take learning outside the “classroom”; Helping prepare food, find herbs in the wild, or trim the grass in the yard are all important life skills to learn.

4. Give your child tools when they must wait for your attention

Make sure to communicate with your children and let them know your “work hours”. You can put a sign on your door as well to remind them that you are working. Some children might appreciate a list of go-to activities (such as free-reading, art projects, or journaling) to do when can’t move forward without your help or when they are waiting for your attention. Let them know how much you appreciate their patience.

5. Take breaks

Make sure to take care of yourself. Working at home and homeschooling your children can be exhausting. Accept help (from family members or neighbors) if they are willing to watch the kids or swap kids once a week for homeschooling if you are comfortable to do so. That would be great for the kids' social/emotional skills as well as give you a break from childcare/teaching. Intentionally do something for yourself that you enjoy. Go for a hike or walk the dog around the neighborhood. Meet (or zoom) a friend for coffee or read a book that you have been wanting to read. Get a much-needed massage or have a date night. The possibilities are endless, you just have to make time for it.

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Guest Blog: Melissa Bryan from Mrs. Melissa Bryan Home & Office Solutions is a professional organizer who shares methods to keep you and your family happy, healthy, and organized. You can find her tips and tricks along with a healthy dose of large family living on her website www.mrsmelissabryan.com or check out her Facebook page for where she shares her daily stories and words of inspiration. If you are a fan of inspiration, be sure to find her on Pinterest

Lessons from Marie Kondo on eliminating paper clutter once and for all

Recently, I tackled a home office for a friend. She has a beautiful home and is herself a very organized person, but her home office had gotten out of control. After building her new home, several boxes from different family businesses had finally all made their way to the home office from storage. This created a large collection of papers and left the family without a space where they could work and enjoy. How can you organize your home office for good?

I must admit that while I do not have several businesses that I run from my home office, my own space had gotten shabby and in disarray. It is so easy to set that stack of mail down and plan to get to it later or to collect everything for the accountant and become distracted. Lots of us do this right? Keeping your paper clutter controlled can be done without creating a panic attack I promise. What you need is a good plan.

If you have read the book by Marie Kondo “The Life-Changing Art of Tidying Up”, she goes into detail about the order in which one should tidy. I am not an affiliate, but you can get her book here. By breaking down the categories of clothing, books, papers, miscellaneous, and sentimental, she provides a simple road map to a truly tidy home. Regarding paper she says,

““MY BASIC PRINCIPLE FOR SORTING PAPERS IS TO THROW THEM ALL AWAY.””

— –MARIE KONDO, THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP

Organizing your home office for good begins with getting everything in one place

Carry ALL paperwork to one central location. Drag it all over to your dining room table if you have one or your living room floor and group everything into one space and dig in. This will help you avoid the pitfall of having duplicate items in multiple spaces. Be sure to start with your office paper clutter and save sentimental papers for after you have completed this challenge. Sorting office papers are much easier to be objective about.

The paper clutter plan – you can do this!

Sorting – Create a now, later and forever method of sorting.

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Now papers are your bills. Organize your bills in the front of your cabinet or folder and toss once paid. Subscribe to online bill pay when available. This service will save you money on stamps, time, and late fees. Go paperless on bank statements. Many banks and cell phone companies will reduce their fees for using this feature.
Later papers are for taxes and business paperwork. Organize those into totes or clear plastic containers and label. One should be for the current year and one (or several) for the previous years. Shred the rest when possible.
Forever papers are important documents like birth certificates, social security cards, or contracts. I highly recommend creating a family binder. If you need an idea on how to create this, check this one out https://rockitmama.com/family-emergency-binder-free-printables-to-create-your-own/ I grab mine every time I need to file a shot record or sign my kids up for school. Even doctor’s visits may require some of this important info. Keep this where you can just grab and go.

Create a now, later and forever method of sorting.

Scan important documents into a digital format.

This method will help you to eliminate accruing paper clutter in the future. Simply scan, dispose, and go. Use a similar process for receipts; keep them in a coupon organizer until you can scan them or snap a pic with your phone and email it to yourself. Adobe has an app that makes this really simple. I know someone who uses his wallet for this. You should see the size of it!

Dispose anything that doesn’t go into one of the three categories

When you have gone through the now, later, and forever categories, you will have determined what is really needed and what can be disposed of. Tax records should be kept for 7 years. Neatly place in a tote with the years labeled on the outside. Dispose of anything you can or shred documents with sensitive information. Use this as some therapy time! Shred the stress away and recycle it! Keep a separate trash can in the kitchen for recycling. This will keep everything tidy unlike those bins that some cities provide.

What do you do with your neatly sorted piles? Organize what is left into a file cabinet or expandable file folder with labels designating each category. Your important documents should be organized according to individual and placed inside the family binder. Organize your bills according to when they are due or set them in the first file of your cabinet.

Sentimental Items

Admittedly, this is the hardest part for yours truly to get rid of. Hold those sweet child drawings and ask yourself, “Does this item spark joy?” If it does, it can go into one of the clear plastic bins. Try to limit yourself to only one bin. If you have multiple child coloring book drawings, don’t beat yourself up over tossing it. It is my preference to keep the pictures with hand prints.

Photos need to be sorted too. Be sure that you know at least one person in the photo. I inherited photos from family and felt that I had to keep these photos of a distant uncle that I had never met. Store the photos you keep into a photo box. This is the thing I personally struggle with most. No judgement my friend.

Maintenance – keeping your home office organized for good

So, how are you going to keep your papers organized for good? Find a space in your home to designate as your drop zone. This space could be a bowl, basket, or tray. After you have removed the junk mail, set the remaining mail in its place. Wherever you choose to keep it, dedicate only one place for it. Set a weekly alarm to remind yourself to take care of it and pay, file, scan, or trash it.

Enlist help if you need it for tackling this project. Accruing papers is easy thing to do. Be brutal in your conquest for a tidy home office. Create the habit and practice it daily.

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Productivity Tips for Working from home while homeschooling