Today I am sitting in the August realization that happens just after school starts back up. Glancing at the calendar, I’m wondering, How is it already August? Shortly behind that thought comes the remembrance of all the things I told myself I’d get to this summer.
The appointments I never made. The closet I meant to clean out. The return that’s still sitting in the back seat of the car. The volunteer commitment I said I’d think about (or start). The clothes that haven’t been sorted because it was too hot to care what anyone would need in October.
Summer has a funny way of making certain things feel less urgent. May is spent trying to survive the end of the school year. June feels like a celebration. July disappears into vacations, camps, swimming pools, and whatever semblance of a routine you can manage.
And then suddenly it’s August.
School starts, extracurriculars come back in full force, the calendar fills up, and all those little things I postponed are now still sitting there in the black hole that is my email inbox waiting for my attention. So rather than trying to start fall with an ambitious new routine, I am using August as a reset.
No total life overhaul happening here. Just a chance to clear some of the backlog before fall gets busy.
First Things First: Get Your Arms Around the Backlog
I’ve started making a list of exactly what I left undone. My hope is that the list below will help you spot some of the things you may have left undone, too.
Before you start checking things off, take a look at the whole picture.
Think back over the last few months and ask:
- What did I keep saying, “I’ll deal with that after summer” about?
- What appointments didn’t get made?
- What errands got postponed?
- What emails and texts disappeared into the void?
- What household projects stalled?
- What commitments need to be reconsidered?
- What did the kids outgrow (don’t forget the outdoor and garage stuff!)?
- What paperwork or administrative stuff piled up?
- What have I been meaning to buy, return, cancel, schedule, or fix?
- What is taking up mental space simply because I haven’t made a decision?
Then write it all down.
And here’s the important part: don’t organize it while you’re remembering it. Just get it out of your head.
Once you have the list, you can sort it into three buckets:
Do it — It needs to happen. Schedule it, make a plan, whatever it takes to get it accomplished.
Decide it — It needs a decision, not necessarily an action.
Drop it — It doesn’t actually need to come with you into fall.
Then prioritize.
Use the List Below as Your Prompt
And that’s where the list below comes in.
These aren’t 15 things you necessarily need to do. Think of them as prompts — a way to jog your memory and help you spot the things that may have quietly fallen through the cracks this summer.
Some will make it onto your Do It list. Some may require a Decision. And some may remind you that there’s something you can simply Drop.
Start with the ones that apply to you, then work from there.
1. Make the appointments you’ve been putting off
You know the ones.
The doctor’s appointment that isn’t urgent enough to make you deal with it in May. The dentist appointment. The eye exam. The haircut. The car service.
Nothing is wrong right now, so it keeps sliding down the list.
August is a good time to look at the calendar and get those things scheduled before September and October fill up.
And if you’ve been putting something off because you’re genuinely unsure whether it needs to be done, this is a good time to make the decision instead of continuing to carry it around in the back of your mind.
2. Reconsider the commitments you’ve been saying yes to
Summer has a way of giving you a little distance from your regular schedule.
Use it.
If you have volunteer commitments, school involvement, church responsibilities, committees, activities, or other recurring obligations that you’ve been questioning, August is a good time to ask:
Do I actually want to continue doing this?
Not Can I technically fit it into my schedule?
Not Will someone be disappointed if I don’t?
Do I actually want this to be part of my fall?
August is a great time to take a look at your commitments and decide what actually deserves a place on your fall calendar.
3. Figure out what everyone needs to wear
School starting is a pretty good reminder that children have a remarkable ability to outgrow clothing without notifying anyone.
I had a recent reminder of this when my kid was invited ice skating recently. After a vigorous search I sent them in the one pair of pants that still fit. Winter is approaching, and it was a good reminder to stock up.
Before you buy a bunch of new clothes, take a quick look at what actually fits.
Check:
- Pants and jeans
- School uniforms, if applicable
- Shoes
- Pajamas
- Everyday basics
- Jackets and sweaters
- Anything needed for sports or activities
And if you live somewhere with an actual winter, this is also the time to see what you’ll need for colder weather before you discover that last year’s coat suddenly fits like a doll’s jacket.
Here in Texas, our seasonal wardrobe transition is a little less dramatic and we get a pretty long runway (unless you plan on ice skating!). But it still eventually and sometimes surprisingly gets very cold here.
4. Deal with the school paperwork
There is always paperwork.
Forms. Emergency contacts. Medical information. Activity registrations. School emails containing information you swear you will remember.
You probably won’t.
Take an hour and get the school-related paperwork, registrations, and important dates handled before you’re trying to find something on a Tuesday morning when everyone is already late.
5. Get teacher gifts and classroom contributions handled
If your kids’ schools or teachers have requested supplies, contributions, or beginning-of-year gifts, August is a good time to get them off your mental list.
This is one of those tiny tasks that can become surprisingly annoying when you wait until the night before it’s needed.
Personally, I missed this one this year. I still have the first half of our planned “teacher gifts” sitting in the front seat of my car just waiting for me to actually buy the second half so I can package them all together and drop them by the classroom.
Learn from my mistake.
Buy it. Label it. Put it where it needs to go. Done.
6. Look at the calendar through the next few months
Don’t just look at next week’s calendar.
Look ahead.
Birthdays. School events. Sports. Church activities. Holidays. Appointments. Family commitments. Trips. Work deadlines.
You don’t have to plan every detail.
You’re simply looking for the places where fall is going to get crowded.
Because September has a way of arriving with the confidence of someone who has no idea how much you already have going on.
7. Look at the upcoming expenses
Fall can get expensive quickly.
School activities. Clothing. Sports. Registration fees. Birthdays. Holidays that suddenly aren’t that far away.
Take a look now.
Not because you need to panic about Christmas in August, but because knowing what’s coming gives you time to make better decisions.
If three large expenses are coming in September, I’d rather know that now than discover it after I’ve already spent the money somewhere else.
8. Finish the returns, exchanges, and refunds
There is almost certainly something in your house right now that needs to go back.
Maybe it’s in a shopping bag by the door.
Maybe it’s in your car.
Maybe you don’t even remember why you bought it.
Gather the returns. Check the deadlines. Send the packages. Make the exchanges.
And while you’re at it, check for rebates, refunds, or credits you’ve been meaning to claim.
August is an excellent month to stop letting your money sit in a pile of cardboard boxes.
9. Make the donation pile actually leave the house
Summer is a surprisingly good time to accumulate a donation pile.
Kids outgrow things. Closets get cleaned out. You realize you don’t use something anymore.
And then the bag sits in the garage.
Or the trunk.
Or the corner of your bedroom.
The reset isn’t complete until the stuff actually leaves.
Schedule a donation drop-off or arrange a pickup and get it out of your house.
10. Clean out the pantry and freezer
Before fall cooking gets underway, take a look at what you already have.
What’s been sitting there forever?
What needs to be used?
What’s expired?
What did you buy with good intentions but never actually use?
You don’t need to create a Pinterest-worthy pantry.
Just make it easier to see what you have before you buy more.
11. Deal with one of those lingering household projects
Not every unfinished project needs to become a weekend project.
Pick one.
The drawer that won’t close.
The broken hook.
The picture you’ve been meaning to hang.
The pile of things that need to be repaired.
The cabinet you’ve been avoiding.
Choose one annoying little thing and finish it.
Sometimes the value isn’t in how much work you accomplish. It’s in how much mental space disappears when you finally stop looking at the same unfinished thing.
12. Clear some of the digital clutter
Summer doesn’t just create physical clutter.
It creates digital clutter too.
Thousands of photos. Screenshots. School emails. Downloads. Notes. Open browser tabs.
You don’t need to organize your entire digital life.
But you might want to delete the obvious junk, save the important information somewhere you’ll actually find it, and clear out some of the things you’ve been meaning to deal with.
Especially those screenshots you took because you thought, I’ll definitely need this later.
You probably don’t.
13. Reset the place where everything lands
Every family has one.
The entryway.
The kitchen counter.
The dining room table.
The chair that has somehow become a second closet.
The place where backpacks, shoes, papers, water bottles, mail, and random objects accumulate.
Before school routines really kick in, give that area a reset.
Not because it needs to be beautiful.
Because you’re about to ask it to work very hard.
14. Make a few fall meals easier
You don’t need to meal prep 37 freezer meals.
Just make a few things easier.
Stock a few reliable pantry staples. Put a couple of easy dinners into rotation. Make sure you have the ingredients for the meals your family actually eats on busy nights.
Think of it as giving your September self a little help.
Future You has enough going on.
15. Decide what you’re not carrying into fall
This might be the most important one.
Because not everything that got pushed off this summer needs to get put back on the list.
Maybe you don’t actually want to continue that volunteer commitment.
Maybe you don’t need to replace something.
Maybe you don’t need to reorganize the entire house.
Maybe an activity that worked last year doesn’t work this year.
Maybe you said yes to something because it seemed like a good idea at the time, but it no longer fits your family’s life.
August gives you a chance to ask a very useful question:
What do I want to leave behind when summer ends?
Final Thoughts
Perfection isn’t the aim. When can you remember having everything done?
My August reset is about noticing what’s been sitting in the background and deciding what needs to be bumped to the foreground.
Some things need to be done.
Some things need to be scheduled.
Some things need to be delegated.
And some things need to be dropped altogether. That’s the part I appreciate about a reset.
I’m clearing out some space so I can actually enjoy fall (my favorite season).
Because after the May-to-July blur, fall is sounding pretty good to me.
