September feels like a new year to me. Activities that were on hold all summer resume, school starts and the weather begins to change. Here are some tips to help focus on this wonderful time of year:
1. Before you buy any new clothes, check your current wardrobe. Try on everything and keep only the items you love, that fit, that look great on you, that still suit your lifestyle, and that have other pieces to make an outfit. Eliminate the rest. Only then decide if you need a few more items to round out your fall/winter wardrobe. Don't get caught up buying something that looks wonderful if you don't have other pieces to comprise an outfit.
2. Once you've decided the clothes you'll keep, prepare them to wear-wash, mend, dry clean as needed. Children's clothes can be likewise prepared for that first cold day. Also, think about coats, boots, hats, mitts.
You'll need them sooner than you would like!3. Fall is a good time to clean out your garden shed. Check that the snow shovels are in good shape and the snow blower works. Have it serviced to be ready for the first snowfall. Throw away any broken garden tools and prepare fertilizers etc. for winter. Consider repackaging extra mulch or topsoil so critters can't make their winter nests in the bags. They chew their way into the plastic bags that mulch and topsoil come in.
4. Begin a tickler file for paperwork you need to deal with at specific times. Now that the little ones (and the not-so-little ones) are back at school, this paperwork will quickly increase.
a) Create a file for each person to hold all the paperwork they will need OR
b) Set up a system in a drawer with folders numbered 1 to 31, and in a different color file folder, one for each month of the year. Then place any documents with deadline dates in the matching day's file to deal with in a timely manner. Get into the habit of checking daily for what needs attention.
This tickler file can also be used for theatre/sports tickets, medical referrals, travel documents, school permission forms and even bills to be paid.
When the first month finishes, take the next month's folder and sort the contents into the appropriately dated files. This will keep you organized-as long as you continue to follow up daily.
Everything at your fingertips when needed!
Like January, the Fall can be a fresh start for everything important to you. Take advantage of the new beginning to organize your life.
Preparing For Fall (The New Year According to Academics)