Back to School Again

Summer camps are over.? Family vacations are over.? The stress of having “who had the best vacation” contest is over.?? It must mean it’s time to go back to school.? But wait, you are not in school any more (but probably wish you were).??? For most of us, the excitement of a new school year is only a memory.? September is just another month.? Instead of the joy of finding new friends we are with all back with the same co-workers we have been with all year.? Instead of picking new exciting classes, we are picking which projects we should avoid.?? Instead of a new wardrobe, we are still wearing the same outfits that worked on Zoom calls all year.?

?But take heart!? There is at least one element from “back to school” that will continue to serve you well – planning.

?For some, when the kids go back to school it means it’s time to return to a welcome routine.? The kids are back in their routine, so let’s do the same thing.? But that’s the problem.?? Don’t just “settle” back into that routine.?

?For those without the kids and the stress of school drop offs, the same issue “settling” could happen nonetheless.? In fact, what I sometimes see, especially among people early in their careers is a genuine wistfulness in September.? There can be a sense of “wish I was back in college”.? September comes and goes and the personal hope is to avoid feeling depressed.

?Take a lesson from those returning to school where you can see the genuine sense of renewal that a new school year can bring.?? In part, it can be a time of such a feeling because the slate is clean.? As the school year begins, no one is failing (yet), no one is on probation (yet) and any thing is possible and all is good.?? It is a time for planning and goal setting.

?I have discovered that many of us, regardless of the occupation continue to work on the academic calendar?? So the beginning of the school year is a better time than January first for setting goals and resolutions for the new year.

?The holidays are too cluttered and busy for thinking ahead.? Plus everyone is too tired for ambitious resolutions.? Enter the academic year.? That’s when you are renewed from the restful summer and can set goals for the final quarter of this year and thereafter.?

?Go ahead, make some new year resolutions now.? It’s the best time.?

?And, I hope it was a good summer.