The Power of a Binder Clip

Can I be honest? I am overwhelmed… a lot. I take on too much and often find myself unable to finish projects that I start. I struggle with time management and organization, but I used to enjoy a wonderful working memory and prioritizing. As a homeschool mom, being weak in the areas of time management and organization, is not optimal- at all. We are often right on time or 3 minutes late. Getting out the door with all of our belongings is always a dramatic exit and I often don’t exhibit the cool and calm behaviors that I want my children to have. I also have two children with very different needs when it comes to learning (I have a third little one quickly getting to the place where tot school becomes a necessity).

All of that to say, I came up with a simple solution to one of my many areas of difficulty. That solution is a binder clip. I know you have probably decided to stop reading, but don’t. If you struggle with filling workboxes and stacks of things to do in your homeschool space you might like this idea as well. I binder clip their independent work. I put a binder clip in the book and if it is a workbook type thing I circle the page numbers they are supposed to complete. If it isn’t a workbook- I use a little note that I can move daily and I might write page numbers to read.

I have combined this with a to do list for the day and it is working pretty well…. Now if I can just get the list and binder clips on the night before. I would love to eventually move to colored binder clips for each day, but one step at a time people. What simple tool or idea (has to take less than five minutes, because who has the time) have you used to make your school or afterschool time run more smoothly?