Why Organization is Crucial for Success as a School-Based Therapist

As I begin another school year as a school-based therapist, I have been thinking about the importance of organization. So today, I want to discuss why organization is crucial and how it can significantly impact our ability to serve our students effectively.

Let’s start with a personal anecdote that still rings in my ears. Back when I was younger, I would lose or misplace my glasses every single day. It was beyond frustrating because not only did I have to waste time retracing my steps to find them, but it also affected my daily routine.

One morning stands out vividly in my memory – before heading off to school, I couldn’t locate my glasses anywhere! After backtracking like Sherlock Holmes, guess where they turned up? Under the bed!  This incident made me realize two things: first, glasses should never be under the bed; second, being disorganized costs us valuable time.

Now, fast forward to being a school-based therapist who juggles multiple schools and countless students’ needs each day. School-based OTs need to keep track of individualized education program (IEP) dates, teachers, classrooms, schedules, equipment and supplies, emails and  the list goes on!

Organization becomes essential for us because it directly impacts the quality of service we provide our students. We owe it to them and ourselves to stay organized so we can excel at what we do best – supporting their growth and development.

And speaking of staying organized as a school-based therapist, ️the holy grail for me has been creating a therapy planner designed specifically for this purpose. Starting fresh at the beginning of each school year can be overwhelming, but having a planner that helps keep things in order makes all the difference.

This therapy planner includes helpful features like creating student schedules, places to keep track of students’ IEP goals and objectives along with their IEP dates, and other important information we need to stay on top of. But here’s something unique – it also focuses on self-care! It prompts us to check our own mood and mental well-being at the start and end of each day and/or the start and end of the week because, let’s face it, to serve our students effectively, we need to take care of ourselves.

Let’s make this academic year one filled with efficiency, effectiveness, and exceptional service for all our incredible students!

You can get your free copy of my planner here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/g5hkz0tyun