Simplify Your Life Week is August 1-7!

The first week in August (August 1-7) is National “Simplify Your Life Week” and so this week’s post will offer some tips for life simplification and preparation. And since the kids are heading back to school in a little over four weeks (some sooner), I thought I’d dovetail suggestions about things busy parents can prepare now to save time as summer comes to a close.

1) Check your school’s website for the list of needed school supplies for your student’s grade/classroom. Many school districts list recommendations and requirements, and these are items that stores like Staples, Target, WalMart, Meijer’s, drugstores, and others have on sale already. Getting these items now will save money, assure the best selection, and cut down time spent in lines later.

2) For a busy-work project for the kids, have them clean out all the old papers they have stashed in their desks and under their beds at home. Get rid of all of the old artwork, take pictures of the favorites, and discard as much paper waste as possible, before all school worksheets and documents start flooding back in.

3) Establish 30-minute a day reading habits for all children old enough to participate, and remember that many school children have one or more summer reading assignments and essays to complete prior to the start of school. Take a look around for these assignments, books and make sure that your student is completing the reading and writing assignments, so they don’t walk into school behind and unprepared.

4) If your  kids like to sleep in during the summer, about min-August, begin moving bedtimes and wake-up times earlier, so that the start of school wake-up times are not so much of a shock.

5) Establish locations for summer carrying bags/backpacks for each child now, so that when children arrive home, they know where inbound items go. For a great selection of backpacks you can personalize for your children, check out https://www.mythirtyone.com/jenheard.

6) Establish a family calendar, if you haven’t already, and place it in a location everyone can see. If your kids are old enough to use the Internet independently, establish a family Google calendar, where you can keep and then print the family schedule. All you need is a Google or Google-compatible email address for each member, and you are ready to start. If you set preferences so that each individual is able to add, then it can become a great way to know where everyone needs to be on a given day.

These are just a few tips that I hope will help to simplify your life and help you to plan for the upcoming start of school! If you need an organizer’s input as to how to accomplish these tasks and /or assistance in additional organizing and simplification matters for the fall, please don’t hesitate to call Clean Sweep at 248-931-3325 or click on www.cleansweepconsulting.net today! We are here to help you be your best!