5 Tips to Manage the Post-Summer Blues

September has a particular feeling to it. The days are getting shorter, children are back at school, inboxes are filling up again and life slips back into its familiar routines.

After the freedom and spaciousness of summer, this return to everyday life can sometimes feel surprisingly flat.

You may find yourself feeling more tired than usual, slightly unmotivated, restless, nostalgic for the summer or simply not quite ready to launch yourself back into work and responsibilities.

The post-summer holiday blues are real.

Part of the reason is simply contrast. Holidays give us something we don’t always have enough of in our everyday lives.

We spend more time outdoors, have fewer schedules, stay in different surroundings, enjoy more spontaneity and have a temporary break from the constant demands of work.

Then suddenly, we are back.

But rather than seeing September as the month when everything has to immediately return to normal, perhaps we can approach it differently.

September can also be a transition, and a chance to consciously decide what you want to carry forward from summer and what you want to change, as you move into the final months of the year.

Here are our 5 top tips for beating the post-summer blues.

1. Don’t Expect Yourself to Immediately Be Back at Full Speed

One of the biggest mistakes we make after a holiday is expecting ourselves to instantly switch back into productivity mode.

We come home, unpack our suitcase and immediately start tackling emails, appointments, washing, shopping and everything else that accumulated while we were away.

But our nervous system doesn’t necessarily move at the same speed as our calendar.

Give yourself a few days to land. You don’t need to accomplish everything during the first week of September. Start with what genuinely needs your attention and allow everything else to settle back into place gradually.

Sometimes easing back into our routines is far more productive than throwing ourselves straight back into them.

2. Continue With One Thing You Loved About Summer

Often what we miss when a holiday finishes isn’t necessarily the destination itself. It is the way we were living while we were there.

So instead of waiting another year to experience those feelings again, ask yourself:

What small part of my summer life could I bring into my everyday life?

Perhaps you could take your morning cacao into the garden or park while the weather is still warm.

Perhaps you could continue taking an evening walk rather than immediately settling in front of the television.

Perhaps you could allow yourself one morning each weekend with no plans and space for spontaneity, because the things that restore us shouldn’t only belong to our holidays.

3. Get Back Into a Morning Ritual

When life begins getting busy again, having a small morning ritual can make an enormous difference to how we enter the day.

And it doesn’t need to be complicated.

Before you open your laptop, check your emails or disappear down the rabbit hole of your phone, create a little space for yourself.

Make your Ritual Cacao.

Sit somewhere comfortable, take a few slow breaths and simply ask yourself:

How am I feeling today?

What am I needing?

What is the most important thing I can do for myself today?

Five or ten minutes of conscious space in the morning can completely change the quality of the day that follows. This is one of the reasons I have always believed cacao works so beautifully as a daily ritual.

Preparing cacao asks us to stop for a moment in a world that constantly encourages us to rush. Even this small act can become an important anchor.

4. Spend as Much Time Outside as You Can

One of the things we naturally do more of during summer is spend time outdoors. Then September arrives, work starts getting busier and suddenly entire days can pass between screens, offices, cars and buildings.

But summer hasn’t disappeared completely. There are still warm afternoons, beautiful evenings and plenty of light.

This September, take advantage of them. Drink your cacao outside in the morning, eat lunch in the park, walk part of your journey home or meet someone outdoors instead of in a café.

We often associate being outside with holidays and weekends, when actually it can become part of our everyday wellbeing.

5. Give Yourself Something to Look Forward To

One reason returning from a holiday can feel difficult is because we have spent weeks or months looking forward to something, and suddenly it is over.

So create another point on the horizon.

It doesn’t need to be another holiday or anything extravagant. It can be a dinner with friends, a countryside walk, signing up for a workshop or simply deciding that one Saturday this month is going to be completely yours.

Having something enjoyable in the calendar reminds us that life isn't divided into holidays and everything in between.

Autumn Has Its Own Rhythm

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that we are not meant to feel exactly the same throughout the year.

If the end of summer is making you feel a little flat, resist the urge to immediately fill every available space again.

There is something very beautiful about the expansiveness of the summer months, but there is also something deeply nourishing about returning to rhythm, routine and home.

Keep some of the things that made summer feel good. You don’t have to wait until your next holiday to create moments of spaciousness, pleasure and connection in your life.

Sometimes it starts with something as simple as making a cup of cacao, sitting in nature and giving yourself ten minutes to simply be.

This month’s ritual focuses on exactly this. If this seasonal shift is asking you to slow down a little, our Post-Summer Cacao Ritual is a gentle way to create some space to reflect and welcome what comes next.