The Back to School Groove

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It's happening. Maybe not in your school district yet. But all over the country the little punkins are heading back to school. Some kids have already started. Mine start next week here in CT. Bottomline, it's time to stick a fork in it. This summer is a goner.

What does this mean to us business folk? Get with the rhythm, I say.

We have two rhythms in this country and they are kissing cousins of one another: the old agrarian calendar and the school calendar. I say kissing cousins, because the school calendar was built on top of the old agrarian calendar when more people lived on farms and went to school around planting and harvest times.

If you haven't been in a classroom in fifty years, chances are the end of summer and the coming of fall still triggers a jump start feeling.

My tip for the day, join in with your kids while they scramble to organize for a new school year. At the same, reorganize yourself for a good fourth quarter.

Here are some steps to do so (from a techie's perspective, of course):

1. Clean up your computer. Delete old files and e-mails. Defrag your hard drive. Uninstall old programs you don't use anymore. Make your machine run faster and make it easier to find stuff.
2. Clean up your contacts. Check your cell, your social network sites, your e-mail client address book, etc. and do a little housekeeping. Out with the old, input all the numbers and e-mail addresses you've been carting around on little pieces of paper and in the form of creased business cards.
3. If you haven't thought about downloading security patches, upgrading software, etc. in awhile, then do more than think about it. Actually do it!
4. While your kids are getting new backpacks and lunchboxes, have you looked at your briefcase lately? Would it make a good or bad impression on clients? Maybe it's time to go briefcase shopping and get one that has all the right pockets and padding for your notebook, cell and other gizmos you never leave home without.
5. If you do have kids, chances are you are spending some quality time at Staples or the likes these days. What about you? Do you need a new flash drive? CD-R's? ink cartridges for the printer? Stop limping by. It's nice to have that feeling once a year of being fully stocked with crisp clean notebooks and pens that work.

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio