Households across the country are busy prepping their children for the return to school, with supplies bought, new goals set and oodles of energy shored up after the summer holidays.
For most of us, the start of a school year used to feel like a fresh start, with friends to reconnect with, hobbies to pick back up, exams and projects to prepare for and a routine to adopt again.
So what’s to stop us bringing that old sense of possibility into our lives again, even though Christmas exams and shopping for pencil cases are long behind us?
According to psychologist Padraig Walsh, “September is the new January”, and he joined Laura Fox on RTÉ 2fm to share his tips for setting yourself up for a fun-filled and productive autumn.
“We take our life in cycles and usually what we have is, kind of, a seasonal cycle. September is that one thing that has been embedded into our psyche from the age of four, so back to school. I haven’t gone back to school in deades but still I know the 1 September is kicking around.
“Even at that, I will start to think about new lunchboxes or meal planning or ‘I’m going to change myself, I’m going to get into a new routine!’ and what I’m going to do is I’m going to try and piggy back on some new habits onto this big change that’s happening.”
After a summer spent having the craic, Walsh said, there’s a “harvest feel” to September, when you bed down and settle into a routine to prepare for winter.
Routines are crucial at this time of year, he added, because they help reduce our “cognitive load” – picking out what dinner to cook each night, what outfits to wear, when to exercise and how.
“We’re having to think less. Our minds like to think less, and when we have a routine we don’t necessarily have to think as much. We just ‘do.'”
Walsh added that “one of the greatest gifts” we can give to our children is the routine that comes with going back to school, specifically the predictability and consistency that it brings. “Because that breeds safety.”
One method for building routine is habit stacking, Walsh said. Whether it’s meal prepping, reading more, exercising or taking up a hobby, attaching it to a preexisting habit can help.
For example, Walsh said, if you wanted to stretch more in the morning, doing do while you wait for the kettle to boil for your morning cuppa can help strengthen the new habit.
If the change you want to make is more challenging, however, Walsh suggested doing it with a friend – someone who will hold you accountable.
