Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

A time of renewal

September, rather than New Year’s Day, marks the beginning of a new cycle, author Sara Leach finds.
1337feature
(Autumn) is a time to get organized, get back to unfinished projects and return to regular routines. Photo by Maureen Provencal

By Sara Leach

Biologically speaking, in September we should start hunkering down for winter — collecting our cold weather stores and getting ready for the months to come.

And yet for those of us who have spent as many as 20 years in the school system, September is a time of renewal. With Labour Day comes a chance to start fresh and to get organized. Many of us, whether or not we have children in school, see this as the time for resolutions, perhaps more so than New Year’s Day.

We know back-to-school time is when parents get their kids in order, but what about parents themselves? It turns out September is a kind of “back to school” for adults too. Following two months of living outside, we come back to our homes and offices and get them ready for the cold months ahead. It is a time to get organized, get back to unfinished projects and return to regular routines.

For some, Labour Day is a time of celebration. According to Libby McKeever, library assistant at Whistler Secondary School, parents often look forward to September because “the kids are going back to school and the parents, who have been immersed in kids all summer — the constant snack parade and endless beach towels — will get back to their adult routine.”

For McKeever, September means a return to work in the school system. “It’s a rebirth, more so than the first of January, which doesn’t mean anything. At school I’m ready for the new crop of Grade 8s to come. I’m also excited for the Grade 12s. It’s the start of their final year. The kids that you’ve seen all the way through are now at the top of the school.”

Labour Day can be a time of mixed emotions for parents of children heading to kindergarten for the first time. There is anxiety about the new routines, new friends to be made, new pitfalls ahead. And an awareness that this is for the long term — five days of school a week for the next 13 years.

But also, for some parents, especially those who have stayed home with their kids part or full-time, there is anticipation of more freedom, and a return to routines after the laxness of summer.

Shirley Iida’s son heads to kindergarten this fall. She is looking forward to the start of school. “When September comes, it feels like a weekday is coming. I like weekdays, because there’s a schedule.”

Iida is excited for this big step in her son’s life. “They say the first five years are the most important for moulding a child, but school is important, too.”

At the same time, she’s concerned about what weekday mornings will be like as she tries to get her son and three-year-old daughter out the door and manage her business. Life has been hectic on the one morning a week her kids have gone to day care in the past. What will it be like when the family has to do it five days a week?

Iida and her business partner, Tina Palm, run Showtime Home Staging and Redesign. Palm also has two children, ages three and five, and shares similar concerns. She spends late August booking appointments and doing back-to-school shopping. “I feel like I’ve got to get it all done by mid-September so everything runs smoothly.”

“Organization is the key,” says veteran parent McKeever, who has some advice for those starting the process for the first time. “It saves everybody last minute panic and upset. The last thing you want to do is to drop your child off after you’ve had a battle at home because something can’t be found. Then both of you will feel bad — or your child will feel better in five minutes and you’ll feel bad for the rest of the day.”

She tells parents to let their children “just be” when they come home from school in the first few months. “It is important for kids to have down time, sit on the couch, read, maybe have a little snooze. That first year, even for day-care kids, is a big leap, and not over-programming is important to adjusting and creating a positive experience.”

She also suggests prepping dry goods for lunches the night before so only perishables need to be packed in the morning. Having children take responsibility for packing their own lunch into the backpack will cut down on “Mommy, you forgot….” For those children who like to change their clothes six times before leaving in the morning, McKeever suggests helping them choose an outfit the night before.

Getting organized is such a hot topic these days that an entire industry has evolved out of the subject: there are TV shows, stores, and professional organizers who will help you get your life back together.

So what tips do the pros have for getting your family organized now that fall is here? In her book The One-Minute Organizer: Plain and Simple , Donna Smallin suggests designating a basket or tray where children can put all school papers that require your attention: permission slips, notices, and tests. This would be a great spot for younger kids to put their “take-home folders” when they walk in the door. Likewise, create a spot for outgoing papers. Children can check the box as they leave for school to see what they need to take with them.

How do you deal with the reams of paper and artwork your child will bring home over the course of 13 years of school? Barbara Hemphill, author of Taming the Paper Tiger , suggests getting your child involved in the decision making process. Have a bulletin board for display, and when it is too crowded, ask your child to choose three favourite papers, which can be put in a memorabilia box for safekeeping. “Put the child’s name, age, and date on the back of the artwork to make if more meaningful 20 years from now.”

So is September all about the kids, or is it a time when parents get their own lives in order as well?

For Iida and Palm, now is the time to focus on their new business. It is nine months since its inception, and business is taking off. The pair fluff houses for resale to make them sell faster and quicker. They spent the summer doing consultations. With the coming of fall, clients are ready to proceed with their decorating projects. The work will keep Iida and Palm busy right through until Christmas decorating, another of their services.

The challenge is how to meet the needs of clients and still get the kids where they need to be. “I can’t run out on a client to go pick-up the kids at swimming,” Palm says. “I try to plan so there are no surprises in either my business or personal life.”

Even for adults with no children, September is a time of planning, and re-organizing. At Ziptrek Ecotours business has gone full blast all summer, their busiest season of the year. After Labour Day, tours get a little quieter, giving the owners time to re-group.

“It has been a great summer,” says Ziptrek co-owner David Udow. “Lots of things we’ve been working on have had to wait until September. We’re always busy, but now is a good time to work on things.”

Life in a cyclical economy means constantly re-looking at how best to operate the company between busy and slow seasons. According to Udow, “finding a balance is a delicate process.”

The owners of Ziptrek are using this time to do some high-level planning. “We’re looking at our internal organization: staffing, recruitment plans, employee manuals, and our technology infrastructure. We want to get ready for winter, and move forward with the business.”

And how do they stay on track and move from planning to actually getting the work done? Udow says they use Microsoft Project. “It’s divided into the different functional areas of the company, with projects in each area and tasks assigned to individual people.” When an employee eventually has time to work on new projects, they’ll know what to do.

Kerry Price, manager of Blue Highways Shiatsu and Massage, is always on the lookout for ways to improve business in a cyclical economy. Blue Highways has been in business in Whistler for over 13 years. Says Price, “We understand that if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

With that mantra in mind, Price is using the change in season as a time to launch a whole new side to the business. In the past, Blue Highways has focused on therapeutic and remedial massage. Their big project for the fall is to launch Blue Highways Specialty Spa, which will give clients the option of a spa experience. The new spa opens soon, down the hall from the current Blue Highways location, above the 7-Eleven.

In order to create a smooth union between the spa and the clinic, Price has been working on her organizing skills. She is focusing on time management, prioritizing, and delegating, in order to keep the business running smoothly as it expands.

Professional organizers help on the business front, too, whether it is preparing managers to deal with major changes, assisting with routine organizing maintenance, or digging out an employee who is overwhelmed with paper.

One of the most important time-saving skills anyone in business can learn is how to deal efficiently with the paper that comes into our offices every day. Most organizers suggest identifying and labelling areas of the office for incoming mail, outgoing papers, and for papers that are in an in-between stage, like bills to pay, phone calls to make, and papers to be filed for reference. Keeping those papers out of your inbox and off the top of your desk saves time and energy.

Fall is a time of change. In Whistler, we don’t have the same startling leaf colours that signal the new season. But, “we’re fortunate here,” McKeever says, “because in August the weather changes — cooling down at night. With that change you’re ready to go back.”

Back to school, back to routines, or back into the office to plan for the winter and the months ahead.

The change in the weather is a time of bittersweet emotions. Major milestones are reached in our children’s lives. The carefree days of summer are over. But winter, and all the excitement that brings in a town like Whistler, is drawing closer. In the words of David Udow, “There’s a bit of a sigh of relief that summer is winding down, but there’s part of us that would like it to be summer always.”

[Sidebar #1]

Organizing tips for the home

1. Be prepared. In the evening pack lunches and have children choose an outfit to wear the next day.

2. Designate in- and out-baskets for your child’s school papers.

3. Create a memorabilia box for each child that will last his or her entire school career. When the bulletin board is full of artwork, have your child choose a maximum of three pieces to go in the box.

4. Post a master family calendar on the fridge. Mark on it all events, meetings, classes, etc, to avoid conflicts.

5. Keep a binder or file to store notices that come home from school (not your child’s school or artwork). Recycle the notices at the end of June.

[Sidebar #2]

Organizing tips for the office

1. Keep one master to-do list for yourself — not scraps of paper or sticky notes. Write down everything you need to do on this list.

2. Choose three to five priorities from your master to-do list to transfer to your calendar or daily task list.

3. Set up action files — either a section of your filing cabinet or baskets, boxes or drawers — to hold the papers lying on your desk or in your in-box that are awaiting action. Possible labels are “To Write”, “To Pay”, or “To Call”.

4. Only open e-mails if you have time to respond to them. If further action is needed, mark them as unread, or flag them for follow-up.

5. Use Microsoft Project or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to track major projects within the business, what actions need to be taken, and who is responsible for each task.



Comments