Back to school season can be chaotic, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s five tips to get you reset for the fall.

Create a vision for the year.

Everything in the konmari method starts with visualizing your ideal lifestyle. You can facilitate this through a physical exercise, like journaling, or creating a vision board. You could also create digitally with Pinterest. Its totally up to your preference on the direction this goes.

It can remain an abstract exercise with one word or phrase in mind for your year, or you can get more detailed with specific monthly, or quarterly goals. Maybe you want to cut down on digital devices time for the family, or creating a family game night, or healthy meal planning. Its totally up to you.

The most important piece is that you’re taking the time to really get intentional with your time. Even if you can only carve out 15 minutes of alone time for this exercise that is all you need! Download my vision exercise here to get started.

Everything has a home.

Another foundational aspect of the method to create calm in your space, is the idea that everything has a home in your home. You can start implementing this tip today!

Create one space for each item in your home. I often see the same types of items in multiple areas of the home, like books for instance. Making sure you have one space for all the books in the home ensures less time wasted searching the entire house for that one book you’re looking for, plus it ensures you never lose anything. You can organize through all the categories and subcategories you’ll find in your home using my downloadable organizing checklist, here.

Be a conscious consumer.

The best way to avoid bringing clutter home this school year, is not to buy it! Get intentional about the purchases you make, when you do have to make them. Support companies that are b corporations, sustainably sourcing materials, and emphasizing social responsibility.

I challenge you to start trying to buy second hand instead of retail this year. Reusing materials that already exist, instead of buying new is a global shift that will make a huge impact in terms of the waste we are creating, both individually and globally. .

In Portland we are so lucky to have a thriving vintage scene. There are so many options available for local shops, as well as large online resale stores like therealreal, thredup, and postmark. Even facebook marketplace can be a great option. You can buy everything from clothes, to furniture, to electronics, all second hand.

Being more conscious about what you’re buying, and the companies you support will save you money and help the planet. Its a win win!

Make sustainable choices.

When you do have to buy new items, make sure they’re informed, and sustainable choices. A great option to incorporate this for the school year is lunch ideas.

Single use plastics, and single use items in general is something we want to move away from immediately.

I encourage choosing metal and glass over plastics whenever possible. A metal bento box is a great option both for kids lunches, and yours too. It has three compartments for different items, is compact, and reusable.

Another great option is hydroflask. They make tons of options for water bottles, coffee, beer growlers, soup containers, and so much more.. And everything can be kept hot or cold for up to 24 hours. They come in a variety of color options both for kids and adults.

My favorite option, is a ziplock alternative. Stasher bags come in four size options, and are made of silicone. You can put them in the microwave, oven, and dishwasher. They come in a variety of colors, and are great for side items and storage as well.

If you want to extend your reusables to the entire home, you can get reusable alternatives to paper towels, cloths, face wipes, I’ve even seen a sustainable q-tip alternative!

paper organization.

One of the biggest complaints I see from parents during back to school is the amount of paper that comes home daily.

I have two solutions for this.

First is a vertical file box, that you keep at a location convenient to the entry way. Here’s three of my favorite options by Yamazaki, Marie Kondo x Container Store + Target.

Every paper from school goes into this box, and at the end of the week, sort through it. Separate out papers that aren’t important, and recycle them. For the important papers, you can transfer these to a storage box. You can create a box for things like artwork, certificates, and mementos, ideally limited to one box per child.

Please note that the best solution to implement is one you already own. Get creative and look around the house before buying a solution.

Another option if you’d prefer to reduce clutter even further, is using a digital scanner to keep all the important documents digitally. There’s a great app called keepy, thats meant to be a digital resource for your kids artwork, mementos, and other achievements.

I hope you find this list helpful, and creates calm to simplify your life this school year. Check out my accompanying segment on KATU’s AM Northwest, linked here.

Want to take things a step further? Download the modern minimalist method workbook to create calm in all areas of your home.

As always, keep updated with more tips and resources by subscribing to my blog, and following along on instagram and pinterest.

Check out the rest of the back to school blog hop here: