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Is It September Already?
Monday, October 06, 2025
It seems to me that everyone I work with and in my personal life is struggling just a little more this week. Some are having flare-ups of existing health conditions, others are getting random illnesses, and some are crying more, arguing more, and missing deadlines. And it wasn’t just them. I ended up in tears over something that “normally” wouldn’t bother me.
If this isn’t happening to you or those around you, awesome. But if it is, it appears that you are not alone. So what’s going on?
Then I booked a meeting for next week and realized all the dates were in September. How did we get here already? When I realized it, I was suddenly filled with dread. Why?
For those with children, September represents the demands of the school year starting again. Even for those without children, summer vacation time is over, and work is about to become more demanding. Many projects slow down or go on holding patterns over the summer when staff are often away on vacation. So, September often represents a time for work to ramp up.
But this year, it also feels like we didn’t really get a summer. It’s been a disappointing summer, to say the least. My hometown experienced wildfires destroying over 100 homes and then flooding, which killed four people, including two children. Like many, my vacation was disrupted by weather (a heat wave and wildfires specifically). We’re currently bracing for a hurricane. Even when it wasn't a climate crisis, the weather hasn’t cooperated, and it was either too wet or too hot to do regular summertime activities. For many, smoke-filled skies prevented outdoor summer fun.
Most of us were feeling burnout before summer began. The numbers show it clearly. It’s pervasive. But I think many of us were hoping that summer would allow us to recover and recharge. Yet summer brought not just disappointments over the things we couldn’t do (go outside) but a constant reminder of the new threats we must endure (climate crisis). So it’s hardly surprising we don’t feel recharged despite the end of summer.
So back to everyone struggling a bit more. My guess is the feeling of dread isn’t just me. It’s frankly a bit overwhelming to think about heading into another school year on low battery.
But there are aspects to the school year that we can use to our advantage. Compared to the summer, it’s often easier to be on a routine during the school year. School starts and ends the same time each day. Activities are booked weekly at the same time each week.
We’ve discussed the importance of charging your battery. It takes a lot less effort to charge you battery if you put it on a routine. Going for a walk the same time of day, making the same thing for breakfast, adding lunchtime to your work calendar so it doesn’t get taken up with meetings.
At the beginning of each school year, I stare at my calendar for hours, putting in all the activities and figuring out where to put my recharging activities. Of course, life happens, and the routine will be disrupted. But it gives me a fighting chance to keep my battery charged by making it an intentional part of my day.
So September is coming whether we want it to or not. Use it to your advantage to get some regular charging into your day and week. And be kind to yourself and others. Everyone is struggling.
Meet Dr. Dayna, Ph.D.
Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley is a Registered Psychologist with two decades of professional experience in clinical psychology, health psychology, and organizational psychology. She has extensive applied experience and research knowledge on burnout, psychological safety in the workplace, behaviour and organizational change, and wellness leadership. She is an internationally recognized expert in human behavior. She conducts innovative research at Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s University, with a distinguished track record of 55 peer-reviewed publications and over 140 scholarly presentations. She is the author of "Healthy Habits Suck: How to get off the couch and live a healthy life even if you don’t want to"
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