Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Back-to-school time also means back to field trips, sports and school programs — and the paper piles and permission slips that come with them.

Joyce Dorny, editor-in-chief of Organize Magazine and mother of six, says her paper pile prevention plan begins with a relatively hands-off approach, "I have a philosophy that I touch the papers once." She signs and returns papers that need to head back to school with the children, and records key info on a large calendar that hangs on the side of her family's refrigerator.

"I write all the important information on the calendar, and that way I can take the paper, recycle it and not have a huge stack to rifle through to get the information I need," she says.