This all brings me to organizing!  We have all this new stuff, and we need to do something with it.  However, organizing isn’t only about stuff.  You can organize your time, your space, and your mind!  Clutter is a real killer.  Have you heard about the poor people killed by mounds of their own stuff falling on them?  And tragically, if the stuff in your mind gets beyond your control, it can have a devastating effect as well.

Let’s briefly talk about three areas where you need to organize for a great year.

1. Your time

Your time is valuable. To show value, you assign priority or importance to something.  When you are organizing your time, you give the most important items optimal time slots.  Those items don’t get cancelled or shuffled around.  You use a calendar, a timer, whatever it takes.

Our students get a new agenda at the beginning of each year. During classes, they are to write down due dates, homework, and important things to remember.  As teachers, we help them with this. Parents, you too, can help check the agenda at home to show the importance of organizing time. Model your own method for your child.  Show them what works for you.

2.  Your stuff

Your stuff is valuable. To show its value, you take care of your stuff. You are responsible with it and make sure it stays nice. Cell phones and MP3 players are prime examples of valuable stuff. However, books and papers are also valuable.  Take care to keep them with you, in order, and in good shape.

Binders, folders, and lockers help students keep their stuff organized.  Teachers help students with different organization skills for paperwork; but for some kiddos, it’s a constant struggle.   Parents can help affirm the importance of keeping papers and folders organized, while watching over their child at home.  Let the student work through organizing and find their own system. Help them make it a healthy habit. (Be careful not to throw out papers until you know they don’t need it! Many a parent has emailed me that they actually threw away something their child needed to turn in.)

3.  Your mind

Keeping your mind organized is the key to a happy and healthy life.  Balance is what we strive for. It’s not productive to be over- or under-concerned about daily tasks.  I would even suggest that we are not striving for perfection…that’s not a reality.  However, we can strive for excellence and growth daily. 

Make sure that you and your entire family have time for quiet, time for fun and play, time for laughter, time for sharing, and time for studies.  Two of my daily mentally requirements are to be thankful and to learn something new.  When I have dozens of things flying around my mind like a tornado, I can always get back to a calm, organized mind by focusing on the things I am thankful for and that I have learned that day.

Until next time – find a way to show as well as tell your child, “I love you.”

My best,

Tess Haranda

Personal life, career, executive coach

www.successwithtess.com