15: Back to School, Not Back to Chaos

Summer's not even over yet and the school supply displays are already taking over Target. In this episode, I talk through why back to school season doesn't have to mean losing everything that made summer feel good, and how to protect that slower pace on purpose instead of watching it disappear the second the school bell rings.

This episode covers:

• Why the school supply rush hits earlier every single year, and giving yourself permission to opt out of the overwhelm
• What my analog summer has actually looked like, bricking my phone, backyard dinners, and an old school radio instead of a playlist
• Auditing what you already have before buying anything new for the school year
• Why "matching everything" and the cute extras are usually more clutter than kids need
• Calendar clutter: how to decide what activities and commitments actually deserve a spot on your family's schedule this year
• A reminder that summer and the school year don't have to be two totally different seasons

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• Instagram: https://instagram.com/makingthespacewithjackie
• Email: hello@jackiepicchi.com

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This podcast is for educational and coaching purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical, or mental health care. If you're needing mental health support, please reach out to a licensed provider in your area.

© 2026 Making the Space, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this podcast may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission.

Transcript

0:01

So it's that time of year again. We're rushing to Target or Walmart, Amazon with a full school supply list, feeling the pressure to get it all done before school starts, and somehow we're still trying to enjoy summer break now that we're just settling into it, and then boom, all the demands show up at once, and suddenly it's almost time to go back to school. You're probably getting pinged left and right with all sorts of emails and information from school pulling you right back in. So here's what I wanna talk about today. It does not have to be this stressful. I wanna encourage you to take everything you learned from hopefully your very amazing summer break and figure out what needs to stay and give yourself full permission to declutter what needs to go. Welcome back to Making the Space Monday. I'm Jackie, a values-based decluttering coach, and this is your Monday reset where we make space for what actually matters in your home, your head, and your life. So I don't know about you, but I've gone to Target a couple times in the last month, and the school supplies hit super early this year. And I remember just feeling so annoyed, like, we just got settled into summer. It is July, and I don't wanna be thinking about this. But it just seems like all of the deadlines, the urgency for all of these punctuating events that happen throughout the calendar year, they just come earlier and earlier, and honestly, just, stress so many of us out. So I decided I wasn't gonna pay attention. I was gonna quickly walk past that section every time I went into the store and just stay in my lane, which is summer, analog summer. Stay in my lane. I have been paying attention to what has been working this summer, and I've shared on the podcast and also on my Instagram account that I'm leaning into this analog summer, and I haven't been documenting a whole lot of it because really the purpose is to not have my phone out and the technology. So, so much of it I'm not able to share because I'm truly just enjoying it. So I wanna tell you a little bit about it. Our afternoons have slowed down considerably because we just don't have all of the activities, the hustle and bustle that we normally do throughout the school year. So I have been taking this opportunity to brick my phone. I tap it on the refrigerator, and I set it aside, and I go into my backyard, and I have this lovely hammock and an outdoor patio set and Adirondack chairs and a little fire pit, and I have some umbrellas. And I've created my own little oasis that I love going out to every single day. And I got the sweetest gift in the entire world from my husband. He gave me this little analog radio. You can hook your phone up to it, but I happen to love the ability to just turn the dial and tune into a radio station, and that's just been our fun little summer thing, dinner on the patios, listening to music like we did back in the day, not through the Alexa, not through our phones, not being able to switch through a song we don't like and actually listen to the commercials. It's actually been really nice to lean into that. So as I've been thinking about this, I'm like, gosh, why does this always feel like it's just this short-term thing that we get to enjoy for eight to 12 weeks in the summer, and why can't the rest of the school year feel like this? So as I was reflecting, I realized that a lot needs to change to be able to protect that, and I wanna encourage you to think about what you have gleaned from your summer break that you want to implement into the school year. So first things first, I know we're heading into August here, and a lot of school districts are really preparing to go back to school. One thing I promised myself this year as I went through my 30-day decluttering journey and got rid of so much stuff in my house, I really was able to collect a bunch of data on what do I buy too much of? What's the junk that still comes home that never gets touched or gets shoved in a closet that I'm ending up throwing away? And I really wanna pay attention to those consumption habits and make sure I'm not inviting more of it into my house. So as I'm thinking about what needs to be purchased for school this year, I am very excited to say that we're buying nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I, I say that knowing I'm probably gonna have to purchase a few things for my kids here and there. We are in different ages and stages. My kids are actually in very different academic stages in their lives right now, and so it just foundationally looks a little bit different. But I do have one kiddo that does like to get a lot of school supplies. It is very exciting, but we are going to minimize. We are only going to get what is absolutely necessary. When those school lists come through your email, I wanna encourage you to look at what you really, really need. I remember when my kids were young, I would bring a wagon full, like overflowing, of supplies and donations. I mean, like, just over the top and then, gifts for the teachers. And at that time, it was fun. It was something the kids really enjoyed doing. But we are past that season, if I'm being honest. We are not in that zone. And I'm not saying I don't wanna donate to the classrooms, but give yourself permission to not consume and buy as much stuff 'cause you know what I'm talking about. If you go into Target or Walmart right now, even Amazon, if you go to the front page of Amazon, they're already buzzing around with all the back to school links, right? Just be mindful. The section gets bigger and bigger every year. Do you need the special edition blah, blah, blah out of the pen section and 20 new binders and coordinated this and matching water bottle that, more than likely you probably have things from last school year and the year before and the year before that are going to work just fine. So as I've been thinking about this, yes, it's fun on one hand to buy these things for our kids. On the other hand, I'm actually teaching them to over consume when we do that. So we are going to have our normal special little back to school shopping date and we will go with a very intentional plan in mind. It's going to be the necessary items and we can make those special, right? So if it's a new keyboard or if it's a special set of pens, but we don't need all of the things. So I just encourage you to audit. Audit what you have. Ask yourself truthfully, do I need all of these things? Does my child need all of these things? Some of it ends up being more of a distraction, more to manage, more to get lost, more that's getting broken. It's too much. It's become too much, all too much. So I would start there. Take a look at what you have, maybe pull everything out, dust it off, see what can stay, and then revise your back to school shopping list and go in with a plan. And I'm going to encourage you to keep it at a short list. So that's the stuff side of things, but honestly, the stuff is not really the whole problem the more I started thinking about this. The other thing sneaking up on us right now is the calendar The calendar is one of those things that can get easily over cluttered very quickly when school starts. There's so many demands with back to school nights, all of the after-school activities that start up again, the clubs, the sports. There is so much. And as I was thinking about it this summer, because our schedule has been light, and sure we've still been involved in camps, activities, and fun things, but not nearly as much as we do during the school year, and I really started to think like how much of this is actually necessary? I'm not talking like we don't have to do any of it. I mean, if that aligns for your family, absolutely go for it. But I do think there is some value in keeping kids involved in something that's community-based. I mean, I am a mental health therapist. I definitely see the research, the data, the benefits, everything that says, yes, keep your kids involved and give them meaningful connection. But I do think there is a very fine line that is easily crossed where it's just too much. What are we actually trying to teach our children about overstuffing the calendar and the schedule? And then it just starts to feel chaotic. We're just not slowing it down, right? They're in school for six, maybe seven hours a day, and then a lot of kids are doing something else after school and into the evening, and they still have homework. Where do you build in hobbies, your own special interests, your own time to just recharge and rest and reset? There just seems to be far less time for that, and as we've gone through many different ages and stages with our kids, I've really become very good at observing what is serving us and what's not serving us. Just because I might desire for them to be involved in an activity doesn't mean they want to do it, and I do think there's a lot of value in sitting our kids down and talking with them about what they actually wanna be involved in. And some kids may be like, "I don't wanna do anything," and you may have to really strongly encourage them to find their thing, you know, find their people and where they get that connection, and it can come in small ways. It doesn't have to be hours and days on end, and this can get out of control. You know, I'm a club sport mom, so I understand it can be a lot, and then it starts to affect other family members, right? So I think as long as you can define with your children, with yourself, be honest with yourself, first and foremost, is this something that is providing a lot of value for my family here and now in the season that we're in? And I know there's a little bit of that looking ahead. There's so much competition these days about getting into college or who's doing what in high school, and sure, there's a lot to think about, but really be reasonable with yourself and make sure that your goals are aligned, that you, you might realize after talking with your kids, they don't wanna do half the stuff, and that's okay. Maybe you're taking a little bit of a gap year of activities, and you're just gonna see how it goes and let everybody reset. Maybe they're starting something new that's not a club sport. Maybe they're going back into rec sports and just doing something casually. That's all okay. But I wanna encourage everyone to think about their schedules, think about your calendar, think about how you wanna spend your weekends. I know for me, I'm speaking from my own experience, my lived experience this summer so far of my analog living, slowing things down. I'm not perfect at this by any means, but I'm really proud of myself for implementing these things slowly over time and really seeing what's fitting, what's landing, what we're enjoying, and I can tell you the slower pace where we're not running around like crazy all day long, that's the biggest game changer. So I'm kind of feeling like summer and the school year don't need to be these two very distinct seasons, one seems very chill and laid back, and the other one can feel often just chaotic and exhausting and just so much that we're, we're not even, enjoying the in-between, right? Because we're just forced to move through all of this so quickly, hence my little Target story Summer just started and the school supplies are already out. I just want to give you a big, giant reminder today that if you still have a couple weeks left of summer, take it easy, enjoy it. Let yourself sink into the slower pace. And if you've already started school, I want to encourage you to think about what needs to change. What needs to change this year to make it feel like it matches the pacing and the balance of your family and where you guys are? And just because you've been involved in a ton of activities or made a lot of commitments before, it doesn't mean that you need to do it again. But I do want to encourage every one of you that have children that are involved in a lot of things, maybe just to have a little chit-chat with them. I know that I want to talk with my kids about what is it that you want to do? What do you want to gain from this school year? How are you feeling about summer? And everybody's always looking forward to summer the minute January rolls around, right? And why does it have to be that way? I think that we can adjust our lifestyles and our day-to-day living and make it feel like that little glimmer of summer, that we can slow it down, enjoy the seasons as they come and go, and really just make some space. And hey, if you're feeling a little overwhelmed right now, and you didn't even unpack last year's backpack and all the papers that came home on the last day of school, and it's just sitting there in a closet in a box, maybe still at the kitchen table, I see you. That is absolutely okay, and that's exactly why I have the free One Space Reset kit. That is my little freebie, my little gift to you, and it walks you through one space with an audio. You've got me in your ear and a little guide to walk you through it, and you can start in one little corner, one little nook. Maybe it is all the school stuff from last school year as you head into the new school year, and you can set yourself up for success. So it's not about doing it all today, not the whole house top to bottom, just one space, 15 minutes. You can find that link in the show notes. And if any of this hits home for you, I would genuinely love to hear from you. Send me a message. Let me know what's coming up for you this back to school season. I'm on Instagram @makingthespacewithjackie, and if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the show so you don't miss your Monday reset A quick note before we close. This podcast is for education and inspiration. It's not a substitute for therapy or medical care. If you're needing mental health support, please reach out to a licensed provider in your area.