The September reset: How to make the most of this month.
September has a very particular sort of magic which we love!
It arrives with sharpened-pencil energy, even if the only pencil in your house lives at the bottom of a drawer with some old batteries and several mystery keys.
After the bright blur of summer, September feels like a gentle hand on the shoulder. It’s time to come back to yourself. Not in a severe “new routine starts Monday” sort of way, but in a softer and far more realistic one.
There is still a chance of warm evenings and one last glass of rosé/ aperol/ [insert your summer drink here] outside, but we’re also starting to think about jumpers, candlelight and whether it’s too early to put the heating on.
It’s the beginning and the end of something at the same time. Maybe that’s why it feels significant.
Why September feels like a fresh start
January gets all the official reset attention, but September is the one that actually feels useful.
The children go back to school, holidays are mostly over and some sort of routine returns. Even if your life doesn’t follow the school calendar, that new-term feeling never completely leaves us.
September gives us structure without asking us to become a completely different person.
It’s also a natural point to take stock, there are still nearly four months of the year left, which is plenty of time for life to change or for you to make more room for something you’ve been missing.
Maybe you want to see your friends more often or an idea has been sitting quietly at the back of your mind. Or maybe, you’re simply tired of feeling as though every week is something to get through.
Rather than making another list of things you should have achieved by now, ask yourself one question:
How would I like the rest of this year to feel?
That feels far more useful than setting yourself a punishing new routine that you’ll resent in three days.
A September reset doesn’t need to mean a five-step life overhaul. It can be something as simple as getting a date in the diary with someone you miss (ahem, US?), clearing the chair where every item of clothing mysteriously ends up, or giving yourself permission to enjoy an ordinary Tuesday.
Small changes still count. In fact, they’re the ones that stick.
The She Shares September Bucket List
A grown-up bucket list should feel inspiring, not like another set of errands wearing lip gloss.
How to use this bucket list - simple - choose the ideas that sound lovely, ignore the ones that don’t and add your own (share them too please).
There are no prizes for completing the whole thing - but we'll be bloody impressed if you do. Actually, September Activity Bingo sounds kind of fun.
Arrange the thing you keep saying you’ll arrange
That coffee, walk or dinner which has lived in the group chat for months? Choose a date and get it booked. It doesn’t need to become a huge night out. An hour together is still worth having.
Have one last summery evening
Eat outside while you still can. Open the bottle you were saving or go for a walk as the sun goes down. September is not the moment to pack summer away before it has actually left.
Go blackberry or apple picking
Ideally somewhere that ends with a good pub or café. Bring the children, take a friend or go alone and enjoy feeling pleasantly wholesome for an afternoon.
Visit a farmers’ market
Buy something seasonal that you wouldn’t usually choose and work out what to do with it later. A bunch of dahlias also counts.
Take yourself out for coffee
Bring a book or simply sit and people-watch. Stay for the second coffee if you want one.
Being somewhere alone doesn’t mean you’re waiting for somebody else to arrive.
Give an ordinary weekday a bit of polish
Put fresh sheets on in the middle of the week. Use the nice hand cream before bed. Make your morning drink without answering messages at the same time.
Not every lovely thing needs to be saved for the weekend.
Wear the outfit
Following on from above. Yes - wear the outfit! The one you’ve decided is “a bit much” for an ordinary day.
Wear it for lunch, drinks or the school run. Most of our lives are made up of ordinary days, so we may as well dress for them.
Make a September playlist
Songs for cooking dinner with a glass of wine and walking around as though you’re in the opening scene of a very good film.
Take the name and track order far too seriously. Bonus points for how many actually say 'September in the lyrics'.
Try somewhere new locally
Book the restaurant you keep walking past or visit an independent shop you’ve never been into. You don’t always need to travel miles to feel as though you’ve done something different.
Make soup on the first properly chilly evening
The moment you find yourself reaching for a jumper, it’s time. Add the 'good bread' and eat it from your nicest bowl rather than the slightly chipped one you always seem to use.
Buy yourself some flowers
No occasion required. Choose one colour, arrange them badly but confidently and enjoy how much better they make the kitchen look.
Sort one small area of your home
Not the entire house - let’s not get carried away.
Choose one drawer, shelf or corner that has been quietly judging you. Set a timer, make it better and stop there.
Put something lovely in the diary
September can quickly become all routine and responsibility, book something now that you’ll look forward to when the weather changes.
It doesn’t need to be expensive or impressive. It just needs to be something you genuinely want to do.
Go to something on your own
Try the class. Book the ticket. Come to our next event.
Walking in alone can feel uncomfortable for the first few minutes, but it also creates space to meet people you might never have spoken to otherwise.
Have a proper catch-up
Not half a conversation conducted through voice notes while unloading the dishwasher.
Sit opposite someone you trust and ask how she really is. Tell her how you are too.
Protect some blank space
Leave an evening unplanned. Potter around at home or go for a walk with nowhere else to be.
Resting does not have to be earned by first reaching the point of complete exhaustion.
Do one thing you’ve been putting off
Book the appointment. Send the email. Start the conversation.
Choose something that has been taking up far more space in your head than it deserves and get it moving.
Decide what deserves less of your attention
Not everything needs more effort. Sometimes the most useful reset is noticing what you no longer want to keep giving your energy to.
A boundary you can actually keep is much sexier than a dramatic rule you’ll abandon within a week.
Make room for other women
September can feel full of possibility, but it can also be a lonely month as everyone gets busy again. Friendships drift without anyone meaning them to and social plans are often the first thing to disappear when life fills up. Sometimes you realise you’d like to meet new people but have absolutely no idea where adults are supposed to do that.
That is a huge part of why She Shares exists.
We create relaxed events where women can turn up as themselves, have a proper conversation and hopefully leave having met someone they’d like to see again.
You don’t need to arrive with a big group. Lots of women come alone. You don’t need to be brilliant at networking either, because thankfully that isn’t what we do.
If meeting new women has been on your mind for a while, perhaps September is the month to give it a go.
Come alone, bring a friend or invite the woman you’ve chatted to several times but haven’t quite made the leap into actual friendship with yet.
You never know what might come from simply deciding to show up.
Let September be your permission slip*
(*Can we have a moment for all my witty back to school puns. Thanks!)
This month isnt about trying to be perfect. Because who has the time or that inclination?
It's offering a change of pace and a chance to think about what you want from the months ahead.
So, write the list. Book the table. Take the walk. Cancel the thing that makes your shoulders climb towards your ears and lets take a breath!
Enjoy the last warm evenings when they appear and don’t feel guilty when you’re secretly thrilled to put your pyjamas on at 7pm.
The year isn’t nearly over yet.
There is still time for plenty to happen, and we have an oddly high level of confidence that some of it could be bloody brilliant.
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