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As a busy mum, getting organised for your kids’ new school year can be a daunting task. Between school routines, extracurricular activities, and work-life balance, it can be challenging to keep everything sorted as well as maintaining your sanity.

It isn’t the most glamorous of resolutions and it might not be the “easy secret” to getting organised that you are hoping for, but, using a planner can be a great tool to help you stay organised and ensure that everything runs smoothly… it’s probably the only way, if I’m perfectly honest with you.

In this blog post, we’ll look at some tips on how busy Mums can use a planner to get organised for their kids’ new school year. I promise it won’t be as painful as you are thinking!

1. Get a Planner

Step 1! And surely the easiest of all, right? Well, almost…

The first step to organising your kids’ new school year is to get a planner. There are many types of planners available, from paper planners to digital ones, and you should choose one that suits your preferences. If you prefer a paper planner, look for one with enough space to write everything down, including school events, appointments, and to-do lists.

I’m quite the planning and organisation freak, so I have a paper planner as well as our joint family digital planner. I much prefer to work on paper, but this option doesn’t provide live updates straight to my partner, which is why for optimum family organisation I do recommend using a digital app-based planner…

For this, you can use apps like Google Calendar, Trello, or Asana. The most important thing is to find a planner that works for you and your family and stick to it. They can take an hour or two to get everything inputted correctly, and set up and working how you’d like it to, but the good news is that you only need to set them up once and then they can do the rest for you, with endlessly recurring events. From here you can just add in the special or different events as they come up, and everyone attached to the calendar will see it updated in real time.

Perfect, really!

Here at GenCheerful HQ we use the Google Calendar. We love it because it is easy to use, clear to see, and we share a joint calendar where both my partner and I can update it in real time to keep everyone up to date with changes and additions to the week.

2. Schedule School Routines

School routines are an essential part of your kids’ new school year, and you need to schedule them in to your morning routine. This includes wake-up time, breakfast, transportation to school, pick-up times, homework time, after-school snacks, and bedtime.

Make sure you factor in any changes that may occur during the week, such as after-school clubs or sports events. Scheduling these routines will help your kids feel more organised and also help them develop good habits. It will also save you a lot of time as a Mum by making your kids more independent and efficient. A very welcome bonus, I’m sure you’ll agree!

3. Add School Events

Your kids’ school calendar will have essential events such as parent-teacher meetings, school trips, exams, and holidays. Make sure you add these events to your planner as soon as you get them. I mean it! As soon as you get them.

You are a Mum. You have a thousand tabs open in your head at once. If you don’t do things like this straight away, you know that chances are high that you will either forget them, or remember them last minute in a MASSIVE rush.

Don’t do it to yourself! Take just 2 minutes to put things into your calendar the very moment they enter your life.

This will help you plan your schedule around these pop-up calendar events and ensure that you don’t miss anything important. It will also help you avoid double-booking events and help you plan your work schedule and appointments accordingly.

It’s all about making life simple and keeping it stress-free.

Ahhhh… the easy life! It’s what we all strive for, at the end of the day!

4. Prioritise tasks

As a busy mum, your to-do list can be never-ending. It’s essential to prioritise tasks so that you can focus on the most urgent and important ones. You can categorise tasks into three categories: urgent, important, and non-urgent. Urgent tasks may include paying bills or attending an appointment, while important tasks may include preparing for a school project or organising a family event. Non-urgent tasks can be tackled when you have some spare time. Knowing your priorities will help you focus on the most crucial tasks and ensure that you don’t feel overwhelmed.

Be mindful that sometimes tasks can also be thrown out completely. We always feel as though we have to do ALL OF THE THINGS as Mums but… do we really? When we are over committed and stressed, we show up poorly to our kids. We are stressed, short-tempered and out of energy. Whilst we might think we are doing the best for our kids by taking on the entire world, should we take more time to consider if our time could be better spent….just spending time with our kids instead?

Each task is different, and priorities are different for every family. Just do yourself a favour and take a moment with every task to consider if your family would actually be better off without this in your bandwidth.

If the answer is ‘YES’, then shamelessly and unapologetically let that task go!

5. Include a Meal Plan

Meal planning is an excellent way to save time and money. You can plan your meals for the week, factor in your kids’ school schedules, and make sure that you have everything you need for healthy and nutritious meals. You can include breakfast, lunch, and dinner, if you wish, as well as snacks and treats.

Meal planning will also help you avoid the last-minute rush to the supermarket and reduce food waste. Make sure you add your meal plan to your planner, so you know what you need to prepare each day.

I must admit that I’m not the best at this. When I do put 10 minutes aside each week to actually do this, my week runs like a dream. When I don’t, I feel like I’m chasing my tail for every meal time.

With this in mind, I sat down to decide why I’m so bad at meal prep and decided that it’s because I’m not creative with food and I really hate it as a task! So now my partner chooses our meals for the week and I just organise groceries (then we share the cooking depending on which of us is working).

The moral of this story is: if you can’t seem to get yourself to actually do something that you know is good for you and will help you, then spend some time to consider WHY.

When you have your WHY, take a little extra time to work out how to overcome that, removing the barrier, and making it easy for you to accomplish.

6. Involve Your Kids

Getting organised for your kids’ new school year does not have to be a one-woman show. You can involve your kids and delegate age-appropriate tasks to them.

For example, you can ask them to pack their school bags, prepare their snacks, or help you organise their clothes. This will help your kids develop a sense of responsibility and prepare them for future life skills. You can also involve your kids in the meal planning process and ask them to choose their favourite meals and snacks for the week (something I also like to do, considering how much I hate this task!).

Be creative. Your kids will enjoy being part of the decision making and more likely to comply with whats happening every day if they were a part of making the plans.

It’s a powerful one, but it’s often neglected. Give it a go and see how much it affects the positivity in your day!

7. Schedule in Breaks

As a busy mum, it’s essential to take breaks and recharge your batteries. You can plan breaks into your daily schedule, such as a mid-morning coffee or a yoga session, or plan longer breaks for a weekend away. Taking breaks will help you avoid burnout and reduce stress. It will also help you be more productive and focused when you get back to your daily tasks.

I know this one is often easier said than done…sometimes it takes A LOT of planning and effort to get this one in… but it’s, so important. I love my kids to the end of the world and back and they bring me enormous joy, but do I show up better for them after I’ve had a break and filled my own cup up a little bit? Without a shadow of a doubt I do. And we are all much happier for it.

In theory, getting organised for your kids’ new school year can be challenging, but in practice, using a planner can make a big difference. By scheduling school routines, adding school events, prioritising tasks, including a meal plan, involving your kids, and taking breaks, you can ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Remember that getting organised is a process and not a one-time event, so keep using your planner and adjust as needed.

Finally, don’t forget to celebrate your wins and give yourself a pat on the back (or a gin & tonic) for being a parent! It is without question the most difficult job going.

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