Your August Get Organized Checklist

I don’t know about you, but for me July just flew by! Both of my kids had overnight camps, and Kailea and I took our first-ever, girls-only trip to Michigan. It was a fun-filled month…which tends to make the days fly by. Don’t you think?

Here it is August first, which around here means just two short weeks until school starts! So there’s a whole lot to get done in the month of August around the Garvey household. How about you? Is August your back-to-school month, too, or is summer just winding up where you live? I’d love to hear what’s on your to-do list this month. If you’re looking for some ideas and ways to get organized this month, here’s your August checklist.  Hope you enjoy!

See below for a printable pdf version of this checklist.

August Get Organized Checklist

Set your goals for the month. It’s a monthly habit now, right? If not, start this moth and simply write down a few goals you’d like to accomplish this month.

Check your monthly tickler folder. If you use a tickler file, today is the day to go through your monthly file folder and distribute the contents into your daily folders.

Get ready for back to school.  See this blog post for a downloadable checklist of things to do to get your kiddos ready for the upcoming school year.

Clean, declutter and organize your car. If there’s a break in the heat, this one is on my to-do list for August.

Create a fall sports mini zone. If your kids are involved in fall sports activities, now is a great time to corral the gear together, check and see what fits, and carve out a spot to store all the sports gear, uniforms and equipment together in one handy spot. A bin, hook or shelves in the mudroom or entry way is a terrific spot for a sports gear mini zone.

Visit your local farmers market (or your own garden) and preserve some fresh fruits or veggies to enjoy this winter. Our garden is overflowing with cucumbers right now…so I’m giving pickles another try this month. Wish me luck as last time the results were a bit, well, unfortunate. 😉

Declutter your basement or another storage area in your home. This past weekend Jay and I did some basement decluttering. A cool basement is a great place to organize when it is hot, hot, hot outside. And creating space in a storage area gives you space to move items from other areas of your home when you organize. For example, I have been storing some out of season items in my laundry room…now that the basement has a bit more breathing room, I can move the seasonal items downstairs.

If the thought of starting on a basement organizing project is daunting, start with the easy clutter, things you know for sure you’re ready to part with. Work in short segments of time and focus simply on making progress. Don’t try to tackle it all in one organizing session, but take small, fifteen minute bites out of the project. With this approach, over the course of the month you’ll make terrific progress!

Start planning and preparing for your fall yard sale, or list a few big ticket items on Craigslist or Ebay. This past weekend, as part of our basement decluttering project, we listed a few items on Craigslist. It’s always feels so good to get things out of the house that you no longer use and need…and making a few dollars in the process can certainly sweeten the deal. If you’re not up for a full-fledged yard sale, try listing a few of your big ticket items on Craigslist or Ebay this month.

Sign up for a fall class on a topic of interest like yoga, cooking, crafting, or organizing. Around this time of year I get a slight twinge of jealousy as I get my kids ready for back to school. I miss the excitement of the new school year, new friends, new things to learn. If you’re feeling that way, too, why not sign up for a class just for fun and just for you? Maybe you’ve always wanted to try yoga, or you have friends who have gotten in on the Zoomba craze and you really want to see what it’s all about. Or maybe you’ve wanted to sign up for a class at your local scrapbook store, or a cooking class at your grocery store or local community college. Or maybe you’ve had your eye on one of simplify 101’s online organizing workshops. Why not get in on the back to school fun and sign up for a class just for you?

Fix something broken, or decide you never will and let it go. This month would be a great month to go through your mending basket and repair holes or sew on some missing buttons. Or if you decide an item is beyond repair…now is a great time to let it go.

Here is the PDF for this month’s checklist:  Download August-checklist. (You will need Adobe Reader to open the file. You can get that here:  http://get.adobe.com/reader/)

I hope you have a terrific month! I’d love to hear what you have planned for the weeks ahead. Thanks for sharing!