New Routines for the New School Year
Hi, hello everyone. Dr. Desiree here. Hope you are doing well today. I wanted to talk about new routines fresh starts and recalibration. I don't know about you, but for me, I definitely think of August as a sort of fresh start new beginnings in addition to January, right? The start of the calendar year. I always think of August also as a fresh start. Of course, because I love school growing up. So of course it was the start of the school year. And then when I had children of my own and it was time for them to start school. And then also I love school so much that most of my career was spent in different university counseling centers. And so I'm also used to August being fresh start fall semester, you know, new routines, new schedule, new students.
Fresh Start August
As we are in the month of August, what, if any, recalibrations or new routines are you starting or implementing? I know not everyone watching is a college student or a parent of child age students. So maybe not all of you view August that way, but I know as we've been reflecting on the switch from summer to fall even though it's definitely not seasonally fall here, it's still quite warm! But the summer involved a lot of relaxation and not a lot of rules and routines, especially with the kids and bedtimes and while I'm all about relaxation and adventures and breaking the rules, I also like structure when we come back around. So it's kind of that both, and I love the freedom, but I also love structure and I like the freedom to break the structure. If we make the rules, then we can bend to the rules when it's not, when it's not serving us.
Personalized Structure
So I know for us, we are looking at bedtimes, wake up times. When are the kids doing homework? When are we eating our meals? When are we incorporating movement/enjoyable body movement. And not getting too rigid on anything but having a template of, in general, this is when we do yard work, and this is when we do this and this is when we go grocery shopping. I've been trying to meal plan for months and I'm only in the mood to meal plan every once in a while. So every Sunday I'm like, I'm going to meal plan and then it does not happen. So I'm starting to think, I might need to do monthly meal planning. I certainly don't cook, but I it's nice to know if we have the ingredients or what we need to get from the grocery store. So yes, setting up a structure and then being able to tweak it after gathering the data on what feels good. Checking in to see if me and the kids are still listening to our bodies for what feels right and when are things flowing. It's always my goal for us to set ourselves up for success, create ease, and reduce decision fatigue because life can be hard enough with the things we can't control. So with the stuff we can control, it's nice to just get things settled and especially settled in a way that's designed for us.
Designing a lifestyle that works for YOU
That to me, is really important and a big part of burnout recovery. I think everyone deserves to set up their life in a way that, that works for them, not just because of tradition because that's the way it's always been done or what would this one person think, but no, what actually works for you, your body, your family. I know for me as a recovering people-pleaser and perfectionist, I would read magazines or read blog posts or as a kid see on TV, oh, like, this is the way it's supposed to be and trying to fit in to those expectations. It can be damaging and it can cause you to lose sight of what you and your loved ones actually need. What works for you all specifically. Instead of feeling like you have to live up to these really high expectations and standards. And I know it's hard not to care about what other people think. But really thinking through what kind of foods work for you all, how often a week do you actually want to cook? How often does the laundry need to be done? How often are you bathing the kids? I think that's in the news with celebrities right now! So really taking a look at what works for you all. I think it's gonna be the most important thing as you set new routines and start August fresh. Take care, everyone.
