I used to only assess the ‘major’ areas of my life at the beginning of the year: my habits, routines, what was healthy vs. unhealthy for me, and what wasn’t working for me anymore. Since we see a new year as a fresh start and new beginning, it’s common for us to feel motivated to create different goals and habits we can work on and towards throughout the year.
But instead of waiting until January, I decided to reassess those areas more than once, especially since our thoughts, feelings, and habits can change quickly. I began reflecting on where I was at when spring started, again in July when we reached the halfway point, and now at the beginning of September since fall is right around the corner.
As I thought about the significance that a new season brings, I realized how important it is to look at fall through the lens of growth and change, while recognizing the importance of slowing down. As a new season starts to unravel, here are some important things to work on for a fall reset:
Prioritize Physical and Mental Health
When the new year started, I felt overly motivated and ready for what was ahead. But as the months went by, and I unfortunately dealt with the weight of grief in my life, that same motivation started to slip. I became burnt out quicker than I could process because I was trying to do too much at once without giving myself time to reset and rest. It quickly made me realize that stepping away and pausing could actually bring me closer to where I wanted to be, not farther away.
Once I knew the cause of my burnout, I started making changes to prioritize both my physical and mental health. I focused on getting an adequate amount of sleep, exercising regularly, and making healthier choices overall. When we aren’t prioritizing what makes us feel like the best version of ourselves, it can cause us to feel overwhelmed and disconnected from who we are.
The slowness of fall helps us assess what’s helping and/or harming our physical and mental health, and what we can do to improve both. Our routines can switch depending on the season, and we might find our motivation peaking at different times of the day, so it’s important to adjust as much as we need to.
Only you know what will help prioritize these areas of your life, and it’s okay if it changes from season to season. What’s most important is recognizing how you feel and consistently putting your health first.
Fall Reset Tip For Prioritizing Physical And Mental Health:
Check in with yourself with a weekly or monthly reflection. Self-reflection helps us become more aware of our thought patterns, feelings, and behaviors. When we ask ourselves what we truly need and listen to our intuition, it helps us identify what we need to change or improve so we aren’t spreading ourselves thin in multiple areas. Ask yourself:
-
- Is my daily routine helping or hurting my mental and physical health? What changes can I start making, even if they’re small?
- What’s causing me stress or overwhelm? How can I start shifting my mindset and let go of what’s no longer serving me?
- Are there any boundaries I need to set to protect my mental health?
- What habits do I want to focus on this fall?
Be Intentional With Your Time
The importance of slowing down in the fall is learning how we can be more intentional with our time. Sometimes we’re so caught up in where we are that we forget how taking even a moment for ourselves can make all the difference.
Some of the best advice I’ve received about being intentional with my time is remembering that we don’t always have to rush to do something right away. When we feel behind in certain areas of our lives, we might push ourselves to go into overdrive. But what I’ve found is most of the time it only makes us feel even farther behind than we did initially.
We can’t always do everything at once (even when we convince ourselves we should because it’ll put us ahead), and it’s important to remind ourselves that’s okay. I’ve found more clarity and direction when I took a moment to slow down and self-reflect. There’s simplicity found in the quiet moments, the moments when we can reflect on who we are and where we want to be.
The line isn’t always clear, but paying attention to where we put our energy can show us how to make the most of our time. We start becoming more intentional when we understand how we’re spending our time while still leaving time to rest. Fall offers us a chance to pause, reflect and reset so we can focus on what matters most.
Fall Reset Tip For Being Intentional With Your Time:
- Take a moment to pause. When you feel overwhelmed or pressed for time, ask yourself what’s most important at that moment. Ask yourself how you can be more intentional (maybe it’s doing a self-care activity such as reading a book or journaling your thoughts) and something you should be less intentional about (mindlessly scrolling). The more intentional you are with your time, the easier it is choosing what adds value and what doesn’t.
Related posts you might like:
- 7 Simple Self-Care Habits To Help You Feel Like Yourself
- The Hard Truth About Healing And Growth
- 6 Ways To Reconnect With Yourself When Feeling Lost
Learn What Your Priorities Are
There are a few areas in my life that take the most priority when it comes to my personal needs: setting and establishing boundaries, putting my mental health first, and learning how to say no when something doesn’t actually serve me.
While I’ve grown in these areas, I know there are still aspects that I need to actively work on. Sometimes I think part of the reason that we aren’t actively working on what we want to give priority to is because we haven’t taken the time to figure out what those priorities are.
Just as routines and habits can change throughout the year, priorities can change also. My priorities even from the beginning of summer look different as fall is approaching, and I’m realizing it’s okay if they change. We all need a list of what we considered non-negotiables when it comes to setting priorities, especially since it’ll always help guide us back to the focal point of what we will and won’t stand by.
Fall Reset Tip For Organizing Priorities:
- Decide what’s on the top of your list in terms of priorities (i.e., anything you have to get done) and separate it from the tasks that might not hold as much importance (the things that could get done but can also wait).
- If you’re having a hard time deciding, grab a notebook and physically write it out. I started time-blocking my days by writing everything I need to do on a sticky note with the most important tasks first. That way, I can focus on what matters most, knowing that even if I don’t reach the bottom of the list, it’s okay if it waits until the next day.
- The same goes for other areas of your life: looking at habits, boundaries, and the people you surround yourself with. When we figure out our priorities, it becomes easier to see what’s adding value and what isn’t.
Loosen Up On The Pressure Of Expectations
When we put too much pressure on ourselves and expect to be somewhere we aren’t yet, it might cause us to feel more behind than we actually are. But a fall reset helps remind us that we don’t always have to be “on” all the time, and it’s okay to slow down and present in the moment we have.
The space between where we are and where we want to be is real, and sometimes it’s about learning how to sit with those moments, even if you’re not sure where it’ll lead you.
My burnout at the beginning of the year was attributed to feeling like I always had to be working on the next task, otherwise I wouldn’t succeed. That way of thinking was extremely unhealthy for me, and I knew that unless I loosened up the pressure of expectations, then I would continue feeling even worse.
We tend to get more done when we take the breaks that our minds and bodies need because we allow ourselves to rest and reset. Rather than always trying to live up to a certain expectation, remind yourself this fall that it’s okay to take that break, in fact, it’s often more than necessary.
Fall Reset Tip For Loosening Expectations:
- Look at the areas of your life that you feel hard on yourself and dive into why you feel pressured or stressed. Maybe it’s an expectation that you didn’t live up to, or a deadline that you didn’t quite reach. Reframe your mindset to focus on how far you’ve come, rather than only looking at how far you have to go. Even the smallest success is still a success, and it’s helpful to focus on our growth even if we aren’t where we want to be.
The importance of fall and slowing down is reminding ourselves that it’s okay if there’s a space between where you are and where you want to be. Learning how to slow down and prioritize your needs takes time, but it’s always worth it no matter how long it takes. Appreciate how far you’ve come, while looking forward to what’s ahead. As long as you’re doing the best you can do, it’ll always be more than enough.
