Communication is Key
If you want to help your children get organized for college during their last year of high school or once they have recently graduated it is important to maintain communication with one another. Having an open dialogue and making your children feel comfortable enough to come to you with their problems and potential issues can help to strengthen your bond while also making them more open-minded to listen to your advice.
The more you openly communicate with your children without judgment or lectures once they graduate or become adults, the more likely they are to look to you for advice when they begin to live on their own or take college courses.
Encourage Their Freedom and Independence
Now that your children have graduated from high school, getting them organized and prepared for college is possible by encouraging them to take control of their lives while embracing their new-found freedom and independence. Showing positive moral support is a way to keep your children encouraged to do well in any area they choose to pursue. Always being available to give advice and motivation is a way to keep your children on the right track when they are heading off to college.
Helping your children get set up with an apartment or with enrolling in college courses and allowing them to choose their surroundings, environment and other options is a way to ease them into independence while ensuring all of the proper procedures are followed.
Organization is Key
As a Professional Home Organizer I have learned that showing your children organization is a trait that should be shared over time and cannot be taught overnight. Living by example and being organized yourself is one of the best methods to teach your children they should be following in the same path as you and your spouse. Creating calendars, keeping track of appointments and knowing how to properly plan schedules can show your own children how to do so once they are out in the real world without your assistance.
Give your children organization tools and guides to help them get started with their finances, grocery shopping and planning and additional organization such as managing classwork and work schedules. Getting organized is a way to help with clearing the mind so your children are capable of focusing on studying, learning and preparing for their futures and careers.
Create a Study Space
Create a study space in your home if your children plan to attend college but are living at home. Additionally, you should also encourage your children to create their own designated study space if they are planning to live in a dorm or out on their own once they are enrolled in college. Workspace organizing is another way to contribute to staying organized and focused, especially when coursework is heavy and work schedules are hectic. Showing the importance of a study space to your children will help them when they begin to develop their own organization habits as adults.
Balancing School and Work
Sharing advice about balancing work and school is highly recommended when you have children who are preparing to head off to college. Because coursework can be challenging and balancing work schedules can often feel stressful and overwhelming, providing your children with the proper advice and support is essential. Helping your children set up schedules that work for them or providing them with ways to motivate them can keep them encouraged and on a proper track as they adjust into a new life for themselves.
Getting your children organized for college is a great way to relieve pressure and stress from your own life as they set out into the world as independent adults. Once you feel your children are organized and ready for their new lives without you it is possible to feel relief and excitement rather than feeling fearful or nervous for your children's well-being.
Robert Mizrahi, CEO
Professional Organizer
Chaos Commandos
