Clearing up the fallen leaves isn’t exactly mentally straining, but there are ways to make the chore a bit easier.
Consider where you want the leaves to end up. Don’t rake all the leaves to the back fence and then have to drag them through the front gate. Rake them toward the gate.
Rake with the wind and rake downhill. Really, it’s best to postpone raking on a windy day.
Use a leaf blower instead of a rake. Battery powered leaf blowers have really improved in the past few years and are very convenient. It’s worth the investment if you have large trees.
Shred the leaves with your lawnmower and leave them on the lawn. Provided you don’t have huge quantities of leaves, this is a good method to just break down the leaves and leave them in place. (However, if your tree was infected by insects or by a fungal or bacterial leaf infection this summer, you should remove the leaves instead.)
Use a tarp. If you’ll be dumping the leaves in a compost pile, roll-away cart, truck bed, or utility trailer, rake the leaves onto a tarp and then drag it to the dumping location. This really saves your back and using a tarp is quicker than bagging.
Stomp the piles down if you can’t finish. If you’ve raked the leaves into a good pile but get called away before you can remove them, stomp them down to help prevent the pile from blowing across the lawn again.
Pace yourself. You don’t need to do it all in one go and you don’t need to clear up every single leaf.
