Anne Malinoski
Let’s Get
Organized Can you smell those freshly
sharpened pencils, San Diego? It’s finally time to go back to school! Check out these tips to help your family get organized for a light and breezy transition into the new academic year.
Label it According to North Park resident and Professional Organizer Ryen Toft, Founder of Simply Luxe Organizing, labeling is a highly effective psychological hack. It can train the brain to maintain organization. Creating a great system in the bedrooms and common areas will reduce stress during the back-to-school transition. “Labels take the thinking and decision-making processes out of tidying up and deciding where things should go, allowing you to focus on other more important things in your day,” she says. Toft says parents should encourage kids to participate in household tidying. “If they are more visual or can’t read yet, add photos to your labels so they can still get the system down.”
KonMari the Homework Spot Make sure the kids’ homework space has a completely different energy from their distance learning space. I love the KonMari method (developed by Marie Kondo), because it focuses on what’s worth keeping, rather than what needs to go. Start by clearing everything off the desk. Strip the bulletin board clean and empty drawers. Next, hold items
22 • SanDiegofamily.com • August 2021
one-by-one and ask whether they spark joy or fill a need. Anything that doesn’t pass the test gets a quick, sincere “thank you” as you toss or donate it. When this process is complete, only items that are truly needed and appreciated will remain. Organize these special things in a way that makes everyone feel calm and inspired.
Declutter Art Supplies After a summer of wild and stunning creative art projects, there are bound to be some dried-up markers in the stash. Enlist the kids to help find them. First, remove the obviously broken items. Then, run a quality check on everything else. Have the kids make rainbow pages with rows of different colors, so they can find and remove unusable markers, highlighters or pens. Once the big sort is complete, make a list of supplies that need replacing. If an organizer would be helpful at this stage, check out the super affordable Tjena desk organizer from Ikea. It’s made of recycled paperboard, so kids can add their own colorful design. Toft recommends organizing in ROYGBIV order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
Photo courtesy of IKEA
Time to go back to school
“This color coordination is aesthetically pleasing in any area of the house and immediately elevates a space to look more put together,” she says. “Your kids will recognize the rainbow pattern and want to contribute as well, teaching them about colors and sorting along the way!”
