There is something about the first week of school that makes the whole house feel different. Many houses will soon have new shoes by the door, notebooks, pencils, and lunch boxes filling their backpacks, and schedules filling their calendars. Alarm clocks are being set a little earlier and the buses are getting ready for their runs. Even the smell of fall can tease us as the mornings are coming cooler, as if to say sat, “it’s time to get back at it!”
Here’s the thing about back-to-school season: You don’t have to go back to school to crave that new routine. Often, it’s when our lives start to revolve around the actual calendar that we lose our actual growth mindset. Think about it, once we’re out of school, it’s up to us to keep leveling up each year. In addition, all this without the added new leader, teacher, coach and built-in friend group to keep us going,
We trained ourselves for years to think of the end of summer as a fresh start. The good news is, our bodies and brains like knowing what comes next, and this is why they keep coming back to what they know, routine, schedules and predictability. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (www.nimh.nih.gov), taking care of mental health includes setting goals and priorities, making time for healthy activities, staying connected and maintaining healthy habits. In other words, a routine isn’t about making every minute of your life predictable; it’s about giving some of those minutes a specific place to land.
Think about the difference between a day with and without a plan. When everything is floating around in your head, even small tasks can feel bigger. When you’ve written down the appointment, planned the dinner, scheduled the walk and decided when you’re going to sit down and pay the bills, your brain doesn’t have to keep carrying the complete list. It’s simple and it’s science!
Does this mean we can’t change? NO! There’s a science to that too. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (www.niddk.nih.gov) describes this well. They say behavior change (aka routine change) is just the process that moves us through the stages; it’s like taking one step at a time and each step matters: 1. Thinking about it. 2. Preparing. 3. Taking Action. 4. Maintaining. It also notes that setbacks happen and that healthy habits become easier to maintain when we plan for the unexpected, which goes to show, it’s very normal to take a step up or maybe and then take one down from time to time.
How do we take this first step to a fresh start? We just plan a new first day. YES! Make a schedule of all the things that matter to you. Instead of just step one Thinking about it, go to two step two and prepare for action by scheduling it in. Everything goes! Put sleep on the calendar. Put movement on the calendar. Put time with people you enjoy on the calendar. Put the things you keep saying you will get around to on the calendar. And don’t forget to schedule absolutely nothing. Read that again. Rest belongs on the calendar, too. This is particularly important for the workaholics of the world or the people with FOMO (fear of missing out). Make rest your work and you won’t miss a thing!
Our seasons have a way of changing our routines whether we are ready or not. A little planning now can make that transition feel less stressful. Starting these habits now also reinforces them before we let the winter blues talk us out of them. At The Wellness Center our fall schedule is another opportunity for a fresh start and with rolling admission, any day can be a first new day! From gentle yoga, Limber Up and Social Circuit to yoga, Pilates, Zumba, Timed Fit and other options, there are many ways to put wellness back into the week. After more than 44 years of serving our community, we know that wellness doesn’t have to begin on January 1st, sometimes it begins on a Tuesday morning in September. Perhaps the most important thing to put on your schedule is something that doesn’t look productive at all. Joy. A walk with a friend. Something you can maintain and sustain before the next season rolls in. The Vermont Department of Health (www.healthvermont.gov) reminds us that mental health matters at every stage of life and that strengthening our mental health can help us manage stress and deal with life’s challenges. Remember, practice makes permanent; if we want change, then how we act is going to have to change too. What can you add to your new year that can help you be the healthiest you yet in mind and body? Do you need more connection, time alone, etc.? Think about it, schedule it, do it, and keep doing it to see if it works!
Whether you are about to pack your school lunch, a briefcase or just smile as you never have to pack either again, think about how you can pack a fresh start, right here, right now, one step at a time. You don’t need a new notebook or a new year, you may just need to remember to write YOU back into the schedule, one step at a time. Making it your own fresh start your own new first day!