If you’re a parent with small children who ride often in the backseat of your vehicle, you know how quickly things back there can spin out of control. Cookie crumbs everywhere, goldfish crackers in the floorboard, dirty soccer socks strewn every which way. Luckily, the experts at Real Simple shared some great hacks for keeping your car organized like a pro.
Keeping It Clean
The first step in organization is to keep your vehicle clean. Dispose of those used paper coffee cups and fast-food bags. The sooner stuff like that is taken care of, the sooner you’ll feel like you’re taking care of business. Just watching that trash disappear is going to get — and keep — you in a better mood when you’re in your car, truck, or minivan. Empty everything that’s not necessary and dump it in the trash. When you’ve done that, clean up your car with a vacuum cleaner. And it’s never a bad idea to keep a small, hand-held vacuum somewhere in the car or trunk to take care of spills as soon as they happen.
Device Time
Our devices seem to be always with us. They’re handy gadgets, for sure, and they make life on the road more convenient, with GPS and the ability to send our phone calls, playlists, and podcasts through our vehicles’ sound systems. So give your device a place to be. A cell phone mount at eye-level is a great idea. It enables you to see the maps on GPS and answer calls without being a distraction. Two things, though: If you’re using a streaming service to send music through your car’s stereo system, program that playlist before you put the vehicle in gear. And don’t answer a text while you’re driving, no matter how tempting it is.
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In Reach
If you’ve got small kids, consider getting a pair of over-the-seat organizers to hang on the driver- and front-passenger seats. Use the pockets and pouches to store necessary items within your children’s reach. This can be bottles of water, snack packs, books, or other small items that your kids could deem necessary when on the road. It’ll have an added benefit of making them responsible for their own amusement in the backseat!
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