Managing the Semester Scaries (aka “back-to-school” anxiety)
Are you feeling some late-summer jitters or that unnamed dread of the school year (regardless of whether you have kids or not)? I mean, I just sent my kiddo off to 7th grade last week!
A client recently shared in our recent boundaries workshop that they were:
“Recognizing the growing creep of the term and trying to distance myself, develop strategies, keep focused on the fact that it’s nonsense and I don’t have to show up in the world in the ways that the institution is moving.”
Feel something similar?
Whether you're in academia, an education-adjacent role, or simply feeling the cultural pull of the back-to-school season (hello, school supplies overflowing even in the grocery store), that creeping anxiety often comes unannounced and unwelcome.
Let’s meet it with presence, not panic. Here are tools and reflections to carry you through with steadiness, creativity, and, yes, even joy.
The School of Hard Knocks: Back to School Edition
I know from personal experience that the overwhelm hits when I forget to lean into grounding practices before the semester or back-to-school/autumn shift starts. Your “gold-standard” routines (daily, weekly, monthly) are the anchor for when the storms come (and come they will).
Gold-standards are practices that bring your nervous system and daily life into balance. Most of the time, these take 10 minutes to do and are well worth those minutes.
Read more: Equipping myself for transitional seasons, AKA what I learned the hard way by abandoning my grounding practices, thinking I was being flexible with myself during a busy time.
Ask yourself:
Are you resisting something because the start of term catches you overwhelmed?
Resistance that feels a whole heck of a lot like procrastination? Or are you preparing for it, softly and steadily?
What grounding activity can I give myself a gentle head-start with before the semester's chaos takes hold?
A Cure for the Semester Scaries
I hope you pick up a theme here: Practices. We all have them, just not all of them align with what we say we want to do and feel each day. Without healthy aligned practices, you may experience dread, sinking feelings, and a lack of motivation. Well, know you’re not alone. Also know that joy is hiding in the garden of your life and the weeds distracting you are merely signals to pay attention to.
Okay, if that metaphor didn’t work for you, here’s what I want you to know. Practices are our number one antidote to the Semester Scaries.
Read more: Practices are the new routines
Ask yourself:
What small joy or delight can I tend to today that reminds me life is not just about the scary that comes in this transition?
Grace When Routines Slip and Practices to Bring You Back
I’m going to counter what I just said, though. There are times we (I) make excuses for not doing the thing that is good for me, and then there are other times I need to drop the ball in order to be gracious with what's going on.
Read more: What threw me off my routines by the end of one season, and how compassion helped me reset. Maybe you can resonate with me on the perfect storms that come before and at the end of every season. Because, really, what that evolved into is my still-current belief that routines are containers for practices that ground us.
Ask yourself:
Pause and check your practices. What is one tiny, doable practice I can bring back today that would feel stabilizing?
Planning is Your Ally, Overing is Not
Now that you’re returning to your grounding, settling practices, even if it’s just a few minutes here and there, let’s talk planning. Not the perfectionist, spreadsheet tasky kind but the intentional seasonal kind. Planning that helps shift out of overwhelm into manageable rhythms full of what I call the 4 Ds: Do now, Delete, Delegate, Delay.
Read more: Check out some common reactions to the Semester Scaries and little small planning antidotes you can do.
Also, if supported planning is better for you, consider joining my community program, The Grove, where I facilitate seasonal sessions every quarter for this very reason.
Ask yourself:
What one feeling do I want to lead my day and what tiny next step aligns with that?
Artistry of Life: Reflections, Play, and Another Semester Starting
Last but not least, creativity, play, and embodied presence can be radical anchors, especially when productivity culture demands exhaustion. Inviting “soft animal” energy helps you move into ease, not force.
Read more: When I worked full-time and commuted to campus, I worked with my routines to include play, not as a reward, but as a boundary, a rhythm-shaper. So here’s a blog throwback to when I was a full professor, department chair, and single-parenting a 2nd grader.
Ask yourself:
What creative or playful practice can I invite into this week to remind my body that it matters?
As the semester or autumn dawns, find your softness amidst the scaries. These aren’t just transitions; they’re invitations to self-kindness, to presence, to creativity.
Pick one reflection question above, tuck it close, and let it walk with you through the week.
Maybe as you sip your morning drink, or during a pause between tasks, or before sleep settles. Let that question guide a small act, one rooted in how you want to move forward, not how you should. That’s how resilience blooms not in perfection, but in presence.
If you’re not sure where to start or you’re looking for a thought partner to help you strategize, schedule a consultation call and let’s talk about how working together can resource you back into joyful alignment.