Back to School, Back to Work: How to Harness Seasonal Reset Energy for Professional Growth

 By Erin Merideth

September carries a unique energy that smart professionals can tap into for meaningful workplace transformation.

The first crisp morning of September hits differently, doesn't it? Even without kids at home, there's something in the air that whispers "fresh start." The collective energy shifts as we instinctively prepare for a new season, new routines, and new possibilities.

This isn't just nostalgia talking. It's behavioral science in action. And if you're feeling stuck in stale work patterns, overwhelmed by endless to-do lists, or leading a team that's lost its spark, this seasonal moment offers exactly what you need: a research-backed pathway to professional renewal.

The Science Behind Seasonal Motivation

What makes September feel so different from any other month? Psychologists have identified what they call temporal landmarks: specific moments when we naturally feel more motivated to change because they signal the start of something new¹. New Year's Day, birthdays, Mondays, and yes, the first day of school all function as psychological "fresh start" buttons.

Dr. Hengchen Dai's research at UCLA demonstrates that temporal landmarks increase people's motivation to pursue goals by creating a sense of disconnection from past imperfections². When we perceive a new beginning, we're more likely to take action toward positive change, making September one of the most powerful reset opportunities of the year.

Think back to your school days: new notebooks with crisp pages, that plastic smell of a fresh backpack, carefully labeled dividers. These weren't just supplies; they were rituals that signaled to your brain that transformation was possible.

When my kids were young, I used to love taking them back to school shopping. We'd pick out binders, colorful pens, sticky notes - probably too many. But it wasn't about the supplies; it was about the mindset. I watched them come home and carefully label dividers or lay out clothes for the first day. It was their way of signaling: I'm ready for a new chapter.

The question is: why don't we give ourselves that same permission at work?

The Workplace Problems That Need a New Perspective

Most professionals roll into September carrying the same old systems, meetings, and overwhelmed mindsets from months past. But this seasonal transition offers a unique opportunity to address three critical workplace challenges that drain energy and limit performance.

1.  The Stale Routine Trap

In my corporate VP days, September was always tough. Summer had slowed things down, vacations, half-empty offices, projects dragging. By fall, we were supposed to "pick up the pace," but no one hit reset. We just rolled the same meetings, the same overloaded projects, right into September. No fresh energy. No sharpened pencils. Just grind.

At one Tech Company who prided themselves on Innovation, I remember dreading certain Monday meetings. They were long, repetitive, and by the time we got to decisions, half the room had mentally checked out. I wish someone had said, "It's a new season, let's rethink this." Instead, we kept pouring old coffee into the same mug.

Research from the Journal of Environmental Psychology shows that environmental novelty activates the brain's reward system, releasing dopamine and enhancing motivation³. Yet most workplaces remain trapped in formats that haven't evolved in years: meetings that follow the same agenda, reports no one reads, and processes that generate more friction than results.

Consider this reframe: What if you treated your September workspace like a fresh classroom? Instead of defaulting to "how we've always done it," ask yourself what you'd design if starting from scratch.

Sometimes the smallest format changes (a standing meeting instead of sitting, a visual check-in instead of verbal updates) can reinvigorate an entire team's energy.

2.  The Overload Accumulation Effect

When I first launched my own company, I made this mistake. I came back from a family trip in August with guilt about all the things I hadn't finished. My solution? Double down. Longer hours, bigger lists, more coffee. The result? Burnout by mid-September.

After summer's slower pace, many professionals face what psychologists call the "completion bias": the overwhelming urge to catch up on everything at once⁴. This creates a dangerous cycle: we pile new tasks onto unfinished old ones, creating an unsustainable workload that leads to decision fatigue and eventual burnout.

The back to school approach suggests a different strategy: pruning before piling on. Just as students discard last year's broken crayons and half-used supplies, successful professionals practice intentional subtraction. Research from Stanford's Design Thinking program shows that removing unnecessary elements often has more impact than adding new ones⁵.

3.  The Team Disengagement Drift

One tech team I coached described September as "like the day after a substitute teacher leaves, you know class happened, but no one knows what got done."

Teams often limp into fall after months of scattered schedules, vacation coverage, and momentum loss. Without intentional reconnection, this disengagement compounds, leading to what organizational psychologist Adam Grant calls "languishing": the absence of well-being that saps motivation and focus⁶.

The solution lies in what educators have always known: clear expectations create psychological safety. Students thrive when they receive a syllabus that outlines priorities, deadlines, and success metrics. Adult teams need the same clarity to re-engage with purpose and direction.

I saw how powerful this could be when I worked with a manufacturing site that treated September as "Season 2" of their team huddles. They changed the format, added visuals, and literally announced, "Welcome to Season 2." The simple shift boosted engagement because it felt like a restart, not a continuation of exhaustion.

Your Four-Step Back to School Reset Strategy

Based on behavioral science research and real workplace applications, here's how to harness this seasonal energy for lasting professional transformation:

Step 1: Create Your Reset Ritual

This step is about signaling to your brain that something new is beginning. Just like students need fresh supplies and clean notebooks to feel ready for a new school year, adults need tangible markers that separate "before" from "after." The goal is to create a physical or environmental change that represents your commitment to working differently this season.

When my husband and I co-founded our systems implementation business, we had a tradition: every fall, we'd reorganize our workspace. New whiteboards, fresh markers, even just clearing the clutter. It wasn't about aesthetics, it was about energy. We could feel the shift in our motivation simply by changing our environment.

Neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki's research shows that novel experiences create new neural pathways, literally changing how our brains approach familiar challenges⁷. Your reset ritual doesn't need to be elaborate; it needs to be meaningful enough to signal change to your subconscious mind. Novelty sparks dopamine, and dopamine fuels motivation.

This might mean reorganizing your workspace with fresh supplies, changing your morning routine, or even something as simple as using a different notebook for September planning. The key is creating a tangible marker that separates "before" from "after."

Action step: Choose one physical or environmental change you can make this week that represents your commitment to working differently this season.

Step 2: Define Your Season Theme

This step moves beyond generic goals to create a unifying concept that guides all your decisions and priorities. Instead of saying "I want to be more productive," you're creating a meaningful framework that helps you filter opportunities and focus your energy on what matters most.

Think of how schools naturally do this: "Senior year," "Science fair season," or "College prep semester." These themes give students (and parents!) a clear sense of what the season is about and what success looks like.

My clients love doing this at work. One team called their fall the "Season of Clarity" every meeting, project, and decision was filtered through the question: "Does this bring clarity or create confusion?" Another chose "The Collaboration Semester" and restructured their entire workflow around cross- functional partnerships.

Goal-setting research from Dr. Edwin Locke demonstrates that specific, meaningful objectives significantly outperform vague intentions⁸. Instead of generic productivity goals, successful professionals create what we might call a "semester theme": a unifying concept that guides decisions and priorities.

Examples from high-performing teams include:

•  "The Season of Clarity" (focusing on simplification and decision-making)  
•   "The Collaboration Semester" (prioritizing cross-functional partnerships)
•   "The Growth Quarter" (emphasizing skill development and stretch projects)

Action step: Complete this sentence: "This fall, my work will be defined by    ." Use this theme to filter opportunities and guide your energy allocation.

Step 3: Redesign One Core System

This step is about identifying the single area of highest friction in your work life and approaching it with fresh eyes. Rather than trying to fix everything at once, you're choosing the one system that, if improved, would create the biggest positive ripple effect across your entire work experience.

A client of mine, someone who naturally starts projects with enthusiasm but struggles with follow- through used September to reimagine her project tracker. She swapped her overwhelming spreadsheet for a simple Kanban board. Within weeks, her stress dropped and her productivity rose. One small system change transformed her entire work rhythm.

The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts⁹. Rather than attempting wholesale change, identify the single system causing the most friction in your work life and redesign it with fresh eyes.

This systematic approach to change management aligns with research from MIT's Sloan School, which shows that focused improvements in high-impact areas create cascading positive effects throughout an organization¹⁰.

Common high-impact systems to consider:

•  How you structure and run meetings
•  Your email and communication workflows
•  Project tracking and accountability methods  
• Your weekly planning and review process

Action step: Identify your highest-friction system and ask: "If I were designing this from scratch, what would make it both more effective and more energizing?"

Step 4: Anchor Accountability

This final step recognizes that good intentions alone rarely create lasting change. You need external structures that help you maintain momentum when motivation inevitably dips. Think of this as creating your own "teacher" and "report card" system for your professional growth.

When I was writing my first course, I told a colleague, "Text me every Friday and ask if I wrote my three pages." It was awkward at first, but it worked. That external accountability kept me moving through a season when I easily could've stalled.

Behavioral economist Dr. Dan Ariely's research confirms that external accountability structures dramatically increase follow-through on intentions¹¹. Students succeed partly because they have built-in accountability through teachers, grades, and peer pressure. Adults must create these structures intentionally.

Effective workplace accountability might include:

•  Weekly check-ins with a colleague or mentor
•  Visible progress tracking (dashboards, shared calendars, team updates)  
•  Regular reflection rituals that assess what's working and what isn't
•  Clear consequences (both positive and corrective) tied to your commitments

Action step: Choose one person who can serve as your "accountability partner" for your September reset, and schedule regular check-ins to maintain momentum.

Your September Challenge: The Four Day Reset

Here's how to put this strategy into action with a structured approach that builds momentum without 

overwhelming your schedule:

Day 1: Identify the one area of your work that feels heaviest or most stale. Name it specifically.

Day 2: Reframe this area by asking: "If this were a brand-new project, how would I approach it differently?" Brainstorm without limitations.

Day 3: Choose one small ritual that will mark your commitment to this new approach. Make it concrete and meaningful.

Day 4: Set up your accountability structure. Share your reset commitment with someone who can help you maintain momentum.

Remember, this isn't about perfection or massive overhaul; it's about using behavioral science and seasonal energy to create sustainable positive change in how you work.

Making This Season Count

Whether you're navigating a major life transition, leading a team through challenging times, or simply feeling stuck in patterns that no longer serve you, September offers a research-backed opportunity for professional renewal.

The science is clear: temporal landmarks create windows of enhanced motivation for change. The question isn't whether you'll feel that back to school energy; it's whether you'll harness it intentionally to create the work life you actually want.

Because here's the truth about time and seasons: every fresh start is an invitation to stop carrying last year's homework and begin designing work that feels lighter, more purposeful, and genuinely sustainable.

Your September reset starts with a simple decision: Are you ready to trade stale routines for systems that actually work with your brain, not against it?

Ready to discover how your natural work style can inform your seasonal reset? Take the Work Style Quiz and get personalized strategies for working smarter, not harder. Because when you know how you work best, you can finally start working with yourself—not against.

References

1. Dai, , Milkman, K. L., & Riis, J. (2014). The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior. Management Science, 60(10), 2563-2582.
2. Dai, (2017). Temporal landmarks, time structuring, and self-regulation. In The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making (pp. 320-340).
3. Ulrich, , Simons, R. F., & Miles, M. A. (2003). Effects of environmental simulations and television on blood donor stress. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23(4), 385-394.

3. Zegarnik, (1927). On finished and unfinished tasks. Psychologische Forschung, 9, 1-85.
4. Brown, (2019). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations. Harper Business.
5. Grant, (2021). There's a name for the blah you're feeling: It's called languishing. The New York Times.
6. Suzuki, (2017). Healthy Brain, Happy Life. Dey Street Books.
7. Locke, A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.
8. Koch, (2011). The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less. Crown Business.
9. Senge, M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization. Doubleday.
10. Ariely, D. (2012). The Honest Truth About Dishonesty

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