September Reset: Clearing the Mental Clutter

September is becoming a mini–New Year for many.

After a busy summer of holidays, social plans and a different rhythm to everyday life,

there’s something about September that makes us pause, take a breath and think about what we want from the next few months.

I personally find it quite a cathartic time.

Having young children, my own needs can often slip down the list during the summer; between family, work and other demands. Then September arrives, routine starts again and suddenly there is a little more structure.

Part of me is never quite ready to let go of the summer, while another part is craving that routine again. I want a bit more focus, a bit more headspace and, if I’m honest, a feeling that I know what I’m doing!

My first instinct is usually to write one to-do list. Everything that needs sorting, booking, remembering or doing all comes out of my head and onto a piece of paper.

And actually, I think that’s a really useful place to start.

The 15-minute mental declutter

This isn’t about creating one long, overwhelming stream of everything that feels important or creating the perfect organisational system or even spending your whole morning planning.

Set a timer for 15–20 minutes, get those ‘to-dos’ out of your head, create some order

and then walk away.

Step 1: Do your brain dump

Write down everything that’s taking up space in your head. Work priorities. House jobs. Birthdays. School admin. Holidays. Bills. Appointments. Things you’ve been meaning to book. Things you need to reply to. Whatever comes to mind — get it down. Don’t worry about organising it yet.

Step 2: Create four boxes

Draw four boxes on your page:

Step 3: Sort your list

Move everything from your brain dump (Step 1) into one of the four boxes. This is often the point where things start to feel a little lighter. Because when everything is sitting on one list, it can all feel equally urgent.

It isn’t.

Some things need doing now. Some can wait. Some don’t actually need to be yours to do. And some things you can simply decide aren’t a priority at this point.

Step 4: Choose your priorities

Look at your NOW box.

Rather than trying to tackle everything, highlight the 2–3 things that would make the

biggest difference if you got them done.

That’s your starting point.

Not the whole list.

Just the next few steps.

And then… stop.

Close the book or put the paper away.

This bit is important.

You don’t need to immediately start working through the list.

The purpose of this exercise isn’t to give yourself another task.

It’s to create some clarity around what is taking up space in your head and to give you some perspective.

You’ve taken everything that was swirling around and given it somewhere to go.

This exercise is brilliant at giving you a little more headspace, you can start thinking

about that ‘new year’ question:

What do I actually want the next few months to be about?

We’ll look at that in Part Two.