Back to School

It is that time of year when everyone is gearing up or in the thick of “back to school mode”. Whether you work in the educational setting or not, the feeling of “back to school” is in the air. What is the feeling of “back to school?” I think that feeling creates the need to get organized, the feeling of a fresh start, and the desire to do things a little bit different and better than the year before.

Time to get organized! How many of you bought new planners for the school year? Planners are so much more than calendars and to-do lists anymore. They include spaces to document gratitude, self-care routines, fitness goals, and tracking of food and water intake. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE the idea of writing everything down in one place. My favorite planner is the Busy Bee Planner, but there are so many other good choices around. The trick is to find the planner that best meets your style and needs and then fill it up! Once your calendar is filled out, it is time to organize your daily life. Are you a person that likes scheduled time and checklists? I know Beth and I both love a good checklist…whether it be for work or home life. When perusing Pinterest for back to school organizational strategies, I found all sorts of checklists from morning routines to help your kids get out the door, to weekly cleaning checklists, to mental health and workout checklists. There are so many great checklists out there to help you get organized. What is one area of your life that you could use a checklist to help you get organized or more efficient?

Planners, checklists…what else makes you feel organized? I know I definitely feel more organized when my space is clean, orderly, and free of clutter. I am never motivated to do this at the end of a school year because I am just so done and ready for a break. Summer seems to be a more appropriate time to organize my home and work space, but honestly, I never really get to it. So, now here I am at the beginning of the school year and I am motivated and ready for a fresh start to my work space! I am a visual person and a visually organized space makes me feel calm. I need coordinated colors, functional storage, and uplifting and motivational décor. Coordinating colors of my file folders, décor, and storage containers (baskets, tubs, desk organizers) make my office feel “put together.” Cleaning out files and drawers and getting rid of “old” and unnecessary stuff makes me feel lighter…who doesn’t love a good purge? Finally, adding in some new tips and tricks to help organize my “stuff” is always a fun thing to research (and hopefully integrate). Pinterest is definitely my go-to for those ideas. Uplifting and motivating décor is essential for my work space. You can find fun and motivational “word art” in stores and online, which are easy to add to your desk, shelves and walls. Make sure you make time to spruce up and organize your work space, it will most definitely help you start your year off right!

Doing things a little better than before…is that a goal of yours this school year? If so, in what area of your life are you trying to improve? Do you have both personal and professional goals? Maybe you have goals to eat better this year by doing meal planning and meal prep to help you stay on track and reduce stress throughout the week. Maybe you have goals to integrate a workout routine within your week. But, do you have a professional goal to? If not, you should! Maybe you can set a goal to increase knowledge about a specific disorder area. Whether that be a disorder area you know little about, but is popping up more and more on your speech therapy caseloads, or an area where you have a good knowledge base, but want to expand or refresh your knowledge. Make a plan for how you are going to accomplish this…you could focus your continuing education this year on specific topics, you could also do intentional research on ASHA’s practice portal or ASHA’s evidence map. You could also set up discussions with other colleagues once a month to do round table discussions or to share ideas! Other options...set up a coaching call with B&B! We love nothing better than a good brainstorm session. Let us help you come up with ideas about how to help a specific client or a group of a clients with a specific disorder area. We sure would love to chat with you and help you in anyway we can!