🍁 September 101

Hey there! Welcome back to The Flow by Flocus. If you’re new around here, welcome! 👋  You can catch up on our previous editions right here.

This week: Why September feels like a new year, and how this mindset can make your autumn and winter holiday season a little more fun. Let’s dig in!

🍁 What Makes September Feel Like a Fresh Start?

If you’re a student, teacher, parent, or coach, September technically is a new “year” for you.

Even if you’re not in academia, you’ve probably still felt that back-to-school energy at times.

As the weather changes and the vibes shift from summer hype to autumn ease, September can sometimes feel more like a new year than January.

But why? We have some theories:

• ☀️ Summer vacations feel like the end goal / big reward after a long winter and busy spring

• 🐢 Work slows down in the summer for lots of industries, not just academia

• 🏗️ Less free time and more structure in our routines makes us more goal-oriented

Our brain loves any feeling of “newness” (which is why January can feel so promising, too).

But instead of giving you advice on hustling, grinding, or going big this season, we’ve got some unconventional tips to help you truly make the most of this mini new year.

Real quick: September is the perfect time to get back into your groove, and this free toolkit from HubSpot will help you do it smarter, not harder.

Inside, you’ll find research-backed templates and blueprints to help you reclaim your focus and cut out common distractions:

• Master your morning routine and build momentum with “tiny habits”

• Prioritize strategically to focus on high-impact tasks and projects

• Implement effective email management and communication practices

Ready to maximize your time? Grab the free toolkit here:

Checking out the toolkit supports our tiny team at The Flow, allowing us to keep delivering value to your inbox 💜 Now, here’s how to ring in the new season!

🧭 3 Fresh Ways to Ring in Your Mini New Year

Last week, we covered some do’s and don’ts for your September reset. This week, we’re serving up some fun ways to achieve balanced productivity this season.

🍲 Take stock of your year so far

If you’re like us, you probably plan to do a 6-month review each year — only for June to whiz right past you.

If time feels like it’s slipping away from you, pause this week to reflect. How do you feel about your year so far? How do you hope to spend the rest of it? And what are some ways you can be easy, gentle, and kind to yourself, no matter what happens?

🏛️ Get some culture (IRL)

New seasons, years, and eras can feel both exciting and stressful. If that’s true for you, carve out some time for culture this season to balance your busy schedule with some fulfilling downtime.

While there are tons of cool artsy things to explore online, we really recommend getting off your screen — and, ideally, out into the real world.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to chill out while also soaking up some art, history, and culture:

• Attend a play or performance

• Flick through some photography books at your local library

• Try making an international dish you love eating but have never cooked before

• Visit a local museum

• Learn more about the history of your local area (even try a free walking tour!)

🙇‍♀️ Tune into your intuition

Life comes with so much pressure and expectations from peers, parents, and society. It can be hard to tune out all the noise and opinions from other people.

At times, you might feel like you’re living the life someone else wants for you — not the life you want for yourself.

This crush can wreck your mental and emotional state. And it can feel especially intense around this time of year, with school starting back up and the holidays creeping closer.

Before the back-to-routine rush starts, take some time to reconnect with yourself:

• Do something that your inner child or younger self would love

• Relive some of your favorite memories, and think of ways to add more of those special moments to your life this season

• Try a body scan meditation

🪅 Flocus Picks

A curated list of things worth sharing.

• 5 Ways to Harness Back-to-School Energy — More thoughts on slower, more intentional living this September and beyond

• 10-minute Body Scan Meditation (Video) — This quick guided meditation with relaxing ocean visuals from Jess Yoga is perfect for beginners

• afro lofi (Playlist) — Soulful chill beats for whatever the “new year” brings!

✨ Flocus: Your Personal Productivity Dashboard

Whether you’re using September as a soft reset or a bold new chapter, Flocus is here to support you. Create a calming space to plan your days, reflect on your progress, and focus on what matters — all with customizable themes, a built-in timer, and soothing ambient soundscapes.

Go to Flocus

However you feel this September, we hope you’ll take some time to play, have fun, and lean more into your intuition — there’s no better time than now.

What’d you think of this newsletter, and our mini series throughout August and September? We’d love to hear (erm, read?) your thoughts!

Until next Sunday,

Flocus Team