Parenting is hard. Not only are you expected to have your stuff together, but you’re also expected to have other people’s stuff together, too. Small people whose sole purpose in life seems to be to lose their stuff, spread their stuff everywhere, and let’s not forget them letting you know they need stuff five minutes before it’s due.

Yes, some parents are natural organizational geniuses who keep everyone’s stuff in the right spot at all times. For everyone else, it’s more of a trial-and-error learning process. You have to figure out what works for you and for your kids.

The good news? Many, many parents have gone through the same learning process before you. Most of the organizational tricks that worked for them will work in your family, too, possibly with a tweak here or there. So gather up a good supply of baskets, bins, and bags and let’s look at the top eight organizational strategies that help busy parents not lose their … stuff.

1. Have a “take-off and landing” spot for your go bags. Backpacks, purses, diaper bags, briefcases – whatever you call them and whatever they carry, they’re the bags you take when you need to leave the house. They’re also the bags everyone frantically searches for when it’s time to go. By designating a spot where these bags live when they’re not on the go, you can save time and stress when you’re ready to leave. To make life even easier, keep shoes, jackets, and hats in the same area.
2. Designate a basket or bin for uniforms and gear. If anyone in the family plays sports or musical instruments, you know the struggle. The ball is in the backyard, one shin guard is in the kids’ bedroom, the other may be on Mars for all you can tell, sheet music lines the floor under the bed, and you’re pretty sure the dog is using two different kids’ mouthpieces as chew toys. Extra-curricular activities are great for the kids, but getting out the door to them is hard on your blood pressure. Solution: get a basket or plastic bin for each activity that has uniforms or gear. Keep everything in that basket except when it’s needed for practice or games/performances.
3. Put “toy boxes” in (almost) every room. In every room where you allow your kids to play, put a box or basket in a corner to store toys. Whenever it’s time to clean up, throw the toys in the “toy box.” From there, you can either move the toys back to their proper home or leave them in the room to be played with later. Bonus: Having a nearby toy storage container also helps keep kids from getting lost on the long journey to return their toys to their room.
4. Create a homework and/or art supply bin. I warned you that you’d want a good supply of boxes, didn’t I? A key part of organization is knowing what supplies you need to do a job and where they’re at. For our latest box, put together a selection of the supplies your kids typically need for homework. Do the same with art supplies. When it’s time to do homework or create art, pull out the appropriate box. Practice and enforce the rule that what comes out of the box goes back in the box, and the box always goes back to its home when the project is done.
5. Delegate brain space to a planner or planning app. Having a personal secretary would be nice, wouldn’t it? Most parents don’t have that option, so we have to rely on various planning tools. Whether you’re more of a traditional paper person or you prefer to go digital, you need some method of keeping information organized. Try a centralized calendar for the family’s schedules, either hung on the wall or as an app on your phone. Some people find colored pens or highlighters helpful. By assigning each person a color, you can glance at the calendar and quickly see the information for a specific person. (If the very thought of color-coding makes you break out in hives, don’t do it. Your organizational methods need to fit you, not the other way around.)
6. Have a physical spot for mail, school papers, and other items that need to be dealt with. The amount of paper needed to function in our so-called digital society is truly epic. Trying to keep it all organized can often be an exercise in frustration. But just like the toys, sports uniforms, and backpacks, giving your paperwork a specific place to live can help you keep it under control. For many people, the area they store their paperwork is in the same general location as their calendar, shopping list, and other organizational tools, but the exact location is less important than having a location in the first place.
7. Plan your meals ahead of time. Every day, a significant amount of time and mental energy is wasted by people asking themselves the age-old question: What’s for dinner? Next comes the scramble to see what ingredients actually exist in the house, if any, often followed by the rush to the store and/or the fast-food solution. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the occasional burger handed to you through a window, but having meals planned out before they’re needed will save you significant stress, time, and money. If you’re new to meal planning, start by planning a week at a time. Make a list of what you’ll eat each day, adding whatever groceries you’ll need for each meal to your grocery list as you go. A few tips: make a master list of meals your family eats for inspiration. Be flexible within the week if you need to adjust the plan. You may find that having the same foods every day for certain meals, such as cereal or yogurt each morning, makes meal planning easier, but as always, do what works for your family.
8. Keep easy-to-make staples on hand. Think of a couple of meals that your family will happily eat. Keep the necessary ingredients in stock at all times, adding them to the grocery list as soon as you use them up. Being able to whip up a pot of spaghetti or even throw a frozen pizza in the oven at short notice is a life-saver on crazy days. Even if you’re a religious meal-planner, things happen. Having a back-up plan keeps those “things” from turning into disasters.

The initial steps involved in getting your stuff together can feel daunting at first. Before long, they’ll become routine. You’ll find yourself with less stress and more time to enjoy the little things in life – like the way the dog so kindly brings you the chewed up mouthpieces when he’s done with them.

You don’t have to do everything at once. Pick one item off the above list. Set up your box or space or list. Use it for a week and give your family encouragement when they use it, too. When you’ve got that step down, pick another.

Before long, you’ll be the organizational genius in the neighborhood – or at least, your kids will get out the door on time with their backpacks in the morning. And as we all know, any day that happens is a major win for mom and dad.