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With children now back at school after months out due to the Coronavirus pandemic, you might find that you have a lot of spare time on your hands for the first time in months. If you’ve been deprived of time for a while looking after the kids, it’ll probably feel like you now have plenty of things to do and get organised, but it can be difficult getting back in the groove after a long time out.

It’s definitely a positive but the kids heading back to school can be a stressful time for both you and your children, so being organised is as important as ever to keep those stress levels down. Things can get a bit crazy when the kids are at school, so we’ve put together a few tips to help you keep on track.

Organise their lunch boxes and snacks

One of the most relentless tasks to do for the kids is packing their lunch every day; if you don’t get on top of it, it can be stressful quickly throwing something together each morning! We recommend getting organised at the start of the week — using different storage boxes or containers in the fridge or containers in the fridge or cupboards to group all of their snacks together, so they’re an easy grab when you’re putting together a lunch box. It could also be a good idea to do some prep on a Sunday for their lunches and meals to make sure you’re more organised and reduce stress throughout the week.

Create a homework space

Homework will feel like an alien concept after several months off of school, but now they’re back at school you might want to think about creating a dedicated workspace for them. If you’re working from home at the moment, the likelihood is that you’ve created a workspace for yourself, so this can double as a homework space! This space should ideally have a desk and be free from clutter and distractions, potentially in the kitchen or dining room. Wherever you set up the space, as long as it’s comfortable and works for your children, that’s all that matters.

Create a cloakroom

A functional entry space or cloakroom in your home helps you to stay on top of keeping tidy the second the kids get home from school each day. A coat rack and storage for shoes, gloves and other accessories will keep those items together and will avoid a frantic search for coats and shoes during the morning rush to school.

Tidy up room by room

A messy home is proven to actively increase stress levels; a study has revealed that it increases cortisol levels, the stress hormone! You might have more time now, but if the clutter has really built up, it might seem daunting to try and tackle it all at once. So don’t!

Don’t worry about breaking down the tidying into more manageable tasks; go one room at a time, taking your time to decide what needs tidying away and how to tackle the problem. Setting yourself one room at a time makes things seem easier to get on top of.

Consider self-storage

This whole process will likely have taken up some space around the home. If you’ve found that you’ve run out of space for some of your possessions, consider putting some of them into self-storage while you figure out what to do with them.

If you have a house-full of things that you need — but just not right now — why not consider storing some things with us here at M-Store? We have a convenient location off the A30 and have a huge number of flexible, secure storage solutions. Give us a call on 01726 890880 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.