Is September the best time to make resolutions?

September is approaching and if you have kids you will soon be getting ready for the new school year. We hope that everything goes well for you all.

But, whether or not you do have kids, many of us still experience that back to school feeling at this time of year. A sense of anticipation that things are about to change, and new challenges lie ahead. It’s further increased by that early morning nip in the air that signals autumn is on its way. 

All of which can lead to us feeling a bit restless around this time of year. As if we want to do something new, but we’re not quite sure what.

If you are the kind of person who tends to make New Year’s resolutions, one idea to consider is to make them now rather than at the beginning of January. 

Some of the most common New Year’s resolutions that people tend to make are:

• Start exercising more
• Eat and drink more healthily
• Spend more time outside
• Improve my home
• Spend less time on screens
• Reduce my carbon footprint
• Practise mindfulness or meditation.

For many of the above, it makes perfect sense to start tackling them in September rather than January. 

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why.

Good weather for getting out and about

September is often a good month for weather in the UK. In fact, ask any teacher and they will tell you that the weather always gets better as soon as the schools go back! So if your resolutions include getting fit or losing weight, September is a much better time of year to start doing that than January when it’s usually cold and dark.

There is also more incentive to eat lighter foods such as salads at this time of year, rather than trying to do that in the middle of winter.

So make the most of the early autumn weather to get into good diet and fitness regimes before winter. And just think how smug you’ll feel by Christmas!

New term for many activities

If one of your goals is to learn something new, you’ll find that September is often the best starting time for many courses and classes. Check out your local colleges, or websites such as Find Courses or WEA to find out more about the kinds of courses available.

You can choose to do many courses from home, but if your course is run at a college or community centre there will be a lot more incentive to go when the nights are still fairly light. Hopefully you will be into a regular routine by the time it starts to get darker and colder, and will be able to stick to it.

Getting organised is on-trend

All the Back to School signs in shops make you feel that everyone else is out there, buying uniforms, equipment, stationery and everything else needed for the new school year. So it’s an ideal time to choose to get yourself better organised too. 

This may be one of your resolutions in itself, for example decluttering your home, planning your weekly shop, or improving your time management.

But even if being better organised is not a specific goal, it can help you towards achieving other goals. If you can begin to manage your home and your time better, it can free up more time for you to do other things without feeling as if you are always rushing from one thing to the other.

So jump on the Back to School bandwagon and start streamlining the day to day necessities of life.

Positive frame of mind

The final reason why September could be better than January for making resolutions is that you are more likely to be in a positive frame of mind. During the summer you have hopefully been able to enjoy being out and about in some good weather, and may also have managed to get away somewhere on holiday. And once the kids are back at school it should make some of your daily routine a bit easier too. All these factors are a good combination to help you into a positive frame of mind, ready to make some changes.

Contrast this with the beginning of January, when many of us feel exhausted. Whether you love or hate Christmas, it’s a busy time for everyone, and once New Year is over it all feels a bit like an anticlimax. Add to that the cold dark days and nights, and many of us just want to hibernate. Definitely not the best time to start trying to be disciplined and sticking to a load of resolutions.

We hope that this article has given you some motivation and inspiration to make your New Year’s resolutions now, and start making some significant changes this autumn.

If you need any additional funding to help you do this, remember that Loans 2 Go offer online loans which may be able to help.

Check back here soon for more lifestyle and financial tips from Loans 2 Go.