Preparing Your Home for Back to School

By Kaitlin Hurtado on August 21, 2017

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With the time left before school resumes get shorter and shorter, and you may find yourself struggling to get back into a “back to school mood.” Your focus is going to shift from having a relaxed schedule to having a set class schedule with stacked on jobs and extracurriculars.

The transition may seem difficult, but one of the ways you can make it easier for yourself is by changing your environment to help you ease back into the school year.

Clear the clutter

This step is important, especially if this summer has left your room in a state of disaster. Half-packed duffle bags shoved in closets, questionable food and drink containers from late-night food deliveries, random mementos scattered throughout the room.

Take the time to reorganize your closet. Fully unpack from the trips you’ve made over the summer. Make a donate or sell pile for clothes you don’t see yourself needing, making much-needed space for any back-to-school shopping you do later on. You may have collected a lot of souvenirs from the summer — from both your own travels and your friends’ travels during the break.

Instead of hoarding every item away (shoving it in a box that you will never touch until you move out), try making use of the mementos. Tape postcards and photos to your wall for a touch of personalized decor, and pin key chains to a cork board for added flair among your assignment reminders when school starts up again.

Desks are often the most neglected spaces over summer when school isn’t in session. Books and school supplies are shoved elsewhere and your desk is temporarily changed from a study space to a gaming station or a storage space. Remove the distraction of gaming consoles and move them to the living room or somewhere else for safe keeping. If you’ve just been using the desk as somewhere to throw all of your bags and laundry on, put everything back in their designated places to make room for future studying.

Figure out what school supplies you have and what you’ll need 

If you haven’t done so already, go through all of the miscellaneous papers from last term’s classes. You won’t be needing copies of random pop quizzes or notes from an elective that has nothing to do with your field of study for the upcoming year. Look through any notebooks you have lying around — if there is enough blank paper in the notebook to reuse it for the upcoming school year, keep it. If it’s near completion or already complete, toss it in the recycling bin.

Gather any supplies you have around your room — get writing supplies together, loose leaf paper you can reuse, etc. Putting everything back into place will make it much easier to see what you have or don’t have.

When you do have a list of what you need for the upcoming school year, get it as soon as possible. The earlier you go shopping, the better chance of you catching the back-to-school sales that major retailers hold. Stock up and prepare yourself for the upcoming school year.

Organize a study space

Once the clutter is clear and you have purchased all the supplies you think you need, dedicate time to constructing the perfect study space for you. Figure out what you liked about how your study space was set up last year and what you didn’t like about it. Was it overly decorated? Was it too dull for you to feel creative? Was it too close to your bed or other distractions?

Consider rearranging your room before school begins. If you have noticed that your desk is set in the darkest corner of the room, rearrange your room so that the room’s main source of light (artificial from a ceiling light or natural light from the window) is able to provide enough light for your desk. If your desk was stuffed between your bed and the wall and made you feel too cramped while studying, consider moving it to another part of the room, or if your apartment/house has extra space in shared areas (living room, spare bedroom), ask your roommates if it is possible for you to move your study space into a shared area.

When your study space’s location is decided, start organizing your study space so that it is ready for you to actually use it for school. Restock any school supplies, putting them in their own designated areas to ensure that you can find them when it comes time to use them. Arrange your school supplies so that everything has a place and that you still have enough workspace for you to write assignments with multiple papers and books spread out.

Image via pexels.com

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