YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM CALLED. IT WANTS ITS LIFE BACK.
At some point, “relaxing” became lying in bed with your phone six inches from your face watching other people clean their apartments.
Interesting.
You worked all day.
You got home.
You changed clothes, maybe.
You opened TikTok “for a second.”
And suddenly it’s 10:47 PM, you know entirely too much about a stranger’s breakup, somebody is restocking a refrigerator you will never see in real life, three people have told you that you need magnesium and you somehow feel behind in a life that was perfectly fine four hours ago.
Welcome to fall.
The season of resetting.
There’s something about that first genuinely cold week of Fall that makes everything feel slightly different. You walk outside expecting September and the air basically tells you, no babe, we’ve moved on.
The days get darker earlier.
The jackets come back.
Your iced coffee suddenly feels inappropriate.
And whether you realize it or not, your body notices the shift too.
This time of year can be beautiful.
It can also be weird.
Energy changes. Schedules pick up. Work gets busy. Holidays start creeping onto calendars. And for a lot of people, the darker months can affect mood, sleep and motivation.
Seasonal depression is real.
Which is why perhaps our fall “reset” should involve something slightly more substantial than buying a cinnamon candle.
Maybe we need to get back into our actual lives.
FIRST OF ALL, GET OFF THE PHONE.
Image source: Pinterest
I know.
Groundbreaking.
But seriously.
When was the last time you were bored?
Not waiting for something.
Not listening to a podcast.
Not watching television while simultaneously scrolling.
Not checking Instagram while somebody is talking to you.
Just bored.
We have somehow engineered boredom out of our lives and then wondered why our brains feel exhausted.
Your phone is designed to make it incredibly easy to never sit alone with a thought.
One swipe and somebody is getting married.
Another swipe and somebody got fired.
Another and we are discussing a celebrity’s face.
Another and somebody says the economy is collapsing.
Another and someone you vaguely remember from high school is in Italy.
By 9 AM, emotionally, you have lived seventeen lives.
Put it down.
Not forever.
We’re not joining a monastery.
But give your brain portions of the day where absolutely nothing is being presented to it.
Walk without headphones.
Leave your phone in another room while you shower.
Eat dinner without watching anything.
Go to the grocery store without documenting it.
You might be shocked by how quiet your own life actually is.
CALL YOUR MOM.
Image: Pinterest/CW Gilmore Girls
Or your dad.
Your sister.
Your aunt.
Your cousin.
Your friend who you keep sending memes to instead of actually asking how they are.
We are more “connected” than ever and somehow increasingly bad at checking on one another.
A heart reaction is not a conversation.
Watching somebody’s Instagram Story does not mean you know how they’re doing.
And “we should hang out soon” has become the adult friendship equivalent of “thoughts and prayers.”
Call.
Ask what’s going on.
Stay on the phone longer than five minutes.
Ask your grandmother a question about her childhood.
Text your sibling something besides a TikTok.
There are people in your life who will not always be there.
That is not supposed to be depressing.
It is supposed to make you pay attention.
WHAT HAPPENED TO CRAFTS?
Image: Pinterest
No, seriously.
What happened to scrapbooking?
Collages?
Painting something terribly?
Making friendship bracelets?
Cutting things out of magazines?
Buying a disposable camera and waiting to see what the photos look like?
Why does everything we do now need to become content?
You can make something badly.
You can make something nobody sees.
You can spend $14 at Michaels and create an absolutely hideous scrapbook page.
You are allowed.
I actually think adults desperately need hobbies they cannot monetize.
We have turned creativity into another performance metric.
How many views?
Can I sell it?
Should I post it?
Does this fit my brand?
Oh my God.
Get some glue.
Make a collage.
Nobody needs to know.
ARE WE EVEN READING?
Image: Pinterest
And I don’t mean adding books to Goodreads.
I don’t mean photographing one next to an oat milk latte.
I don’t mean posting:
currently reading 🤍
and then never opening it again.
Are you reading?
Like… pages?
Because somewhere along the way, even reading became something to publicly prove.
Reading is one of the easiest ways to get your brain back into a slower rhythm.
You cannot really speed-run a novel.
You have to sit there.
One sentence.
Then another.
Your attention has to stay somewhere longer than seven seconds.
Start small.
Ten pages before bed.
And if you hate the book?
Stop reading it.
This is not English class.
Nobody is grading you.
CLEAN SOMETHING.
Image: Pinterest
Unfortunately, your mother was right.
Your environment matters.
You do not need to deep-clean your entire apartment every Sunday while playing a productivity podcast hosted by someone who wakes up at 4:45 AM.
Please relax.
Start with one thing.
Wash your sheets.
Clean your bathroom mirror.
Take the cups off your nightstand.
Throw away the receipt that has lived on your dresser since June.
Open a window.
Light the candle.
There is something psychologically satisfying about creating a little order around yourself when everything else feels loud.
You are not fixing your life.
You are making Tuesday easier.
That counts.
BUILD A FALL ROUTINE THAT ISN’T INSANE.
Image: Pinterest
The internet loves routines that require you to apparently have no job.
Wake at 5.
Meditate.
Journal.
Cold plunge.
Pilates.
Read 40 pages.
Make organic oatmeal.
Walk 10,000 steps.
Answer emails.
It is now 6:12 AM.
Be serious.
Your routine needs to work for your actual life.
Maybe your fall routine is:
Phone stays away for the first 20 minutes after waking up.
Coffee.
Shower.
Work.
A walk after dinner.
Ten pages of a book.
Call somebody you love twice a week.
Bed at a reasonable hour.
That is a routine.
It does not need branding.
AND YES, PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MOOD.
Image: Pinterest
Fall is romantic until suddenly it’s dark at 5 PM and you realize you haven’t seen sunlight in three business days.
Changes in daylight can genuinely affect mood for some people, and persistent seasonal depression deserves more than a “hot girl walk” recommendation.
If you notice that every fall or winter you’re consistently feeling depressed, exhausted, withdrawn, hopeless or unable to function normally, talk to someone qualified to help.
Self-care can support you.
It is not supposed to replace care.
There is no prize for white-knuckling your way through November.
MAKE PLANS BEFORE YOU NEED THEM.
Image: Pinterest
One of the easiest ways to disappear during colder months is accidentally.
You go home after work because it’s dark.
You stay inside Saturday because it’s cold.
You cancel Sunday because you’re tired.
Suddenly you have spent nine consecutive evenings with Netflix.
Put things on the calendar.
Dinner with a friend.
Sunday morning coffee.
Museum.
Movie.
Farmer’s market.
Target trip with your sister.
Literally anything.
Your life does not need to be exciting every weekend.
It just needs to contain other people sometimes.
STOP TRYING TO OPTIMIZE EVERY SECOND.
Image: Pinterest
You are allowed to waste time.
Good time.
Human time.
Sit on the couch with somebody and talk for three hours.
Take the long way home.
Cook something that requires chopping vegetables.
Walk around a bookstore.
Look through old photographs.
Make soup.
Rearrange your bedroom.
Watch a bad movie.
Stand outside and realize that it got cold without asking your permission.
We spend so much time trying to improve ourselves that sometimes we forget to experience ourselves.
Maybe that’s the actual reset.
Not becoming a better person by Monday.
Not buying six supplements.
Not waking up at 5 AM.
Not deleting every app and moving to a cabin.
Just becoming slightly more present in the life you already have.
Fall already knows how to slow things down.
The sun leaves earlier.
The trees let go.
Everything gets quieter.
Maybe we can too.
Put your phone down.
Call your mother.
Buy a glue stick.
Read the damn book.
See you outside.
