Back-to-School Isn’t Just for Kids: 3 Ways to Reclaim Your Own Routine

Let’s be honest.
August is weird. Half your house is covered in sunscreen-sticky popsicle sticks and the other half is full of school supply lists and “Please fill this out before Monday” emails.

You might be thinking: Once they’re back in school, I’ll finally get my life together again.
But if we’re being real…that fresh-start feeling doesn’t always arrive with the school bell.

It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, scattered, or even a little lost after the long stretch of summer survival mode. That’s not a failure — it’s your nervous system asking for a reset.

So here are 3 realistic ways to gently take back your routine — without a color-coded planner or a full personality transplant.

1. Start With Anchors, Not Schedules

Forget the Pinterest-perfect time blocks for now. Your nervous system likely needs anchors — small routines that help your body know you’re safe and things are okay.

These are simple, repeatable actions that help you feel more grounded and less reactive.

Try anchoring with:

• Drinking a glass of water before coffee

• Sitting down to eat without multitasking

• Five deep breaths in the car before pickup

• Washing your face before bed (even if you're exhausted)

• Putting your phone down while you brush your teeth

Anchors don’t need to be aesthetic. They just need to happen often enough to help you land in your body again.

You don’t need a perfect routine — you just need a few things you can count on.

2. Give Yourself Permission to Be Tired

Here’s the thing:
You might not feel instantly motivated once school starts. In fact, once the chaos dies down, the fatigue might finally catch up with you.

This doesn’t mean you’re lazy.
It means your nervous system has been sprinting all summer, and now it’s saying: “Can we rest now?”

Instead of fighting the exhaustion, try to support it:

Small ways to give yourself space:

• Do the bare minimum one day a week — on purpose

• Say no to non-essential commitments

• Let the laundry pile grow while you rest

• Make breakfast-for-dinner a weekly tradition

• Build in a 10-minute “nothing” window before bedtime

This is how we begin to move out of survival mode — by offering ourselves the care we’ve given everyone else.

3. Use the Reset to Check In on You

Back-to-school season is often a time when moms start to think:
“Okay… now what about me?”

That’s not selfish. It’s sacred.

This is actually a great time to ask:

• What do I need emotionally right now?

• What habits or rhythms actually help me feel grounded?

• Do I need more support — or am I white-knuckling again?

Maybe that means starting therapy (or returning to it after a summer pause).
Maybe it means journaling for 5 minutes instead of scrolling.
Maybe it means finally admitting that you’re not okay — and that’s reason enough to reach out.

This isn’t about becoming a “better version” of you. It’s about reconnecting with the parts of you that got lost in the chaos.

Something to Sit With:

What would it look like to prioritize your well-being in the same way you prioritize everyone else’s?

Just something to consider as the backpacks get zipped and the routines return.