It is an exciting time for families everywhere! New teachers, new (and old) friends, and let’s not forget, new school clothes and supplies! During this transition phase of implementing schedules and reestablishing routines, how about including a fresh batch of organizing optimization for yourself?

Now, there’s no need for an “I can’t possibly make time now to get organized” panic! I am not talking about an entire mom-organization overhaul – rather, just one quick and easy step that may make your mom agenda a little more manageable this fall. Little steps in the right direction often get us where we want to be with a smile on, rather than stressing ourselves out even more by trying to get there all at once!

One organizational habit I have found to be very helpful over the past year is “batching”. Since we moms are in “school-focus” mode right now, let me clarify that this type of batching has nothing to do with the 3rd grade cookie sale! This batching refers to your tasks and To-Do’s and involves leveraging your time, focus, and energy by grouping similar tasks in your agenda that require the same type of thinking or actions, so you can complete them all (or at least some of them) together when you are in that “mode”.

There are many different ways to batch tasks, and it really is a matter of personal preference and what works best for your style and schedule. For instance, you can designate a certain time of day for checking e-mails (rather than getting sucked into them every time your In Box chimes), you can reserve one specific afternoon of the week for certain household chores or errands, you can block off a spot in your calendar each day solely for returning phone calls or doing social media, and so on.

One way I have implemented batching as an organizational tool is to focus on certain types of tasks on certain days. For example, in my business I normally plan to kick my week off by building in space for some creativity with Monday as my writing day (i.e., blog posts, articles, curriculum, etc.), then Tuesdays and Thursdays are “reserved” mostly for client-focused activities( i.e., coaching calls, teleclasses, training), Wednesdays are for marketing-related work, and Fridays are my “open” day, where I can typically be available for volunteering at the kids’ schools, plan on some regular ME-Time Now™ (i.e., whatever I would enjoy doing on my own or with a friend), and catch up on any loose ends from the week.

Is this how my week runs like clockwork every week without fail?  Of course not – we all know that a Mom’s life comes with daily interruptions and to-be-expected unexpected detours.  The idea here is not to create a rigid agenda that stresses you out at the thought of straying from it.  Rather, by batching similar tasks based on what works best with your schedule and daily/weekly energy level patterns, it allows you to focus and be in the “zone”, so you can complete specific types of tasks most efficiently.

By claiming designated time blocks on your calendar for the completion of defined groups/batches of tasks, To-Dos become more tangible and you can often better manage how you fill your available hours or minutes in a given day or week.  It can be very reassuring to know that, when a To-Do enters your list, there is a time “bin” in your agenda that it fits into.   It can also feel very rewarding to complete a planned-for batch of tasks on your list, rather than randomly picking things off one at a time, while you waste precious moments and energy worrying about how and when it will get done in your week.

What tasks do you have on your To-Do list that you may be able to batch together this week?  Consider designating a time for their completion in your agenda, and smile as you bid them farewell for now!