As your kids (or grandkids) go back to school, it means summer is officially over. Lots of people will ask you to volunteer and to sign your kids up for all kinds of activities. While a few thrive on the chaos, many parents seem to get overwhelmed, feel guilty and experience back to school blues. To prevent this from happening this year, you may want to consider the following:  

Before jumping into commitments, think about who and what are the most important for this fall season. Grab a piece of paper and jot down a shortlist. Then, prioritize them, ranking in order from most important to lesser important. I hope you listed yourself at the top of this list because the most selfless thing you can do is take care of yourself. Yes, selfless, not selfish! The better you take care of you…the better you will be able to take care of those you love most. Quality is better than quantity most of the time. 

Simple action steps…Stop and consider the most important values first. Set boundaries around these so you spend time and money wisely. And enjoy the fall season!

* Remember, the holidays are only three months away so you probably don’t want to spend all of your time or money with little to no reserves before the holidays begin.