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As summer winds down and schedules start filling up again, a little organization can go a long way in making the transition to fall feel less stressful. From creating one family calendar to simplifying meal planning and protecting some much-needed downtime, we’re sharing 7 simple, realistic ways to get organized before September—without trying to make life perfectly organized.
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There’s something about the end of August that feels a little like a second New Year.
School starts, activities pick back up, vacations wind down, work schedules get busier, and suddenly the slower days of summer are replaced by calendars, appointments, practices, lunches, meetings, and seemingly endless to-do lists.
While we can’t eliminate everything that makes life busy, a little organization can help eliminate some of the unnecessary stress that comes along with it.
And you don’t need a color-coded planner or a perfectly organized home to make a difference. A few simple systems can make your days run more smoothly and free up some valuable mental space.
Here are seven ways to make the transition into fall feel a little easier.
School events on one calendar, appointments in your phone, sports schedules buried in an email…it’s easy for something to get missed.
Choose one central calendar for everything happening in your household. Whether you prefer a shared digital calendar or a good old-fashioned calendar on the wall, having one place to check can make a big difference.
Add appointments, practices, school events, work travel, birthdays, days off, and anything else that affects the family's schedule.
Helpful tip: As soon as you receive an important date, put it on the calendar. Don't rely on remembering to add it later!
You don't need to spend your entire Sunday preparing for the week ahead.
Instead, set aside just 10 minutes to look at what's coming.
Check your calendar, think through transportation and childcare, identify particularly busy evenings, and make note of anything you need to buy, prepare, or remember.
A few minutes of planning can help prevent that Monday-morning realization that someone needed a permission slip, packed lunch, or clean soccer uniform.
How much time do we collectively spend asking:
Where are my keys?
Where did you put your shoes?
Where's your backpack?
Create a simple drop zone near the door you use most often. Designate a spot for backpacks, shoes, keys, purses, work bags, mail, and other things that regularly come and go.
It doesn't need to be Pinterest-worthy. A few hooks, baskets, drawers, or designated shelves can do the job.
The goal is simple: fewer things to search for when you're trying to get out the door.
One of the easiest ways to reduce your mental to-do list is to stop relying on yourself to remember things that can be automated.
Consider setting up automatic bill payments, recurring household purchases, calendar reminders, prescription refill reminders, or shared grocery lists.
Even small things add up. If technology can remember something for you, let it!
Meal planning can be incredibly helpful, but it can also become another chore when you try to plan every breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire week.
Keep it simple.
Choose three or four dinners for the week and make sure you have a few easy staples available for the remaining nights. Think eggs, sandwiches, frozen vegetables, pasta, rotisserie chicken, salads, or another quick family favorite.
You'll still answer the dreaded “What's for dinner?” question ahead of time without creating an overly complicated plan you'll struggle to follow.
When schedules get busy, our own health appointments are often the easiest things to push aside.
Take a few minutes to think about what you or your family may need this fall. Are you due for an annual physical? Dental appointment? Screening? Vaccines? Prescription refill?
Getting these things on the calendar now means you're less likely to realize in December that you've been meaning to schedule them since September.
Taking a proactive approach to your health is one more way to reduce the number of things hanging over your head.
Here's one thing you don't need to add to your calendar: more plans.
Organization should help create breathing room—not give you the ability to squeeze something into every available hour.
When possible, leave an evening or weekend afternoon open. Protect time when your family doesn't have somewhere to be or something that needs to get done.
Sometimes the best thing you can put on your schedule is…nothing.
A stress-free year probably isn't realistic. Work gets busy, kids get sick, plans change, appointments pop up, and some mornings simply don't go according to plan.
The goal isn't to create a perfectly organized life.
It's to put a few simple systems in place that give you fewer things to remember, fewer last-minute scrambles, and a little more room to enjoy your days.
As summer comes to an end, choose one or two ideas from this list and give them a try. Sometimes a small change is all it takes to make a busy season feel a little more manageable.
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