How to NOT get drowned in school papers

Flickr credit: striatic

Read more of the series of tips to get ready for back to school.

I read a fantastic article last year that I dug up in preparing for this school year.  I am an avid follower of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) system.  Last fall, there was an article by a fellow mom and writer titled “Back to school: GTD is the solution for parents.”  In the article, April shared:

As I shuffled through more than 50 sheets of fliers, forms, and date-specific notices, I started to feel a little dizzy.  The pile on my counter harbored a LOT of information, most of which needed my attention right that minute.  I was tempted to break into tears or bury my head in a carton of Rocky Road, but then I thought, “Wait a minute.  I’ve been trained in GTD.  I was MADE for situations like this.”  Within 30 minutes, the papers were completely processed, and I was ready to move on with our evening.  And since I had such a glorious experience with my paper party, I thought I’d share some ideas that might help other moms manage the near-constant influx of papers that comes flying from their children’s backpacks.

Quick and easy way to sort and process school papers:

Empty your child’s book bag, each day, sorting the papers as follows-

• Trash
• If it takes 2 minutes or less, just do it now
• Write dates to remember in your calendar
• Make note of additional actions to take, supplies to buy, etc.
• Get the kids help.  Most elementary school or older kids can help you fill out paperwork.  This would be especially helpful if you have more than one child.
• Return forms, field trip permission slips, monies, etc. in your child’s book bag
• Toss any papers you’ve just processed

How do you keep your head above water in a sea of school papers?