The End of Summer: Managing Stress as Life Gets Busy Again
As summer comes to an end, many of us experience a noticeable shift in our routines.
The lighter evenings begin to disappear. Holidays come to an end. Children return to school. University starts again. Work becomes busier. Diaries begin filling up with appointments, meetings and commitments.
For some people, September can feel like a fresh start. For others, it can feel like being thrown straight back into a life that already felt overwhelming before the summer break.
If you have noticed yourself feeling more stressed, anxious, irritable or low as summer comes to an end, you are certainly not alone.
The transition from the slower pace of summer back into everyday responsibilities can be a stressful life event in itself. And when several changes happen at once, it can be difficult to find the time and mental space to adjust.
If you are finding the transition back to everyday life more difficult than you expected, you don't have to manage it alone. Book a free 15-minute consultation to discuss whether therapy could be helpful for you.
Why can the end of summer feel stressful?
We often think about stressful life events as major events such as bereavement, relationship breakdown, moving house or losing a job.
But stress does not always come from one major event.
Sometimes it is the accumulation of smaller changes and responsibilities.
The end of summer can involve several transitions happening simultaneously:
Returning to work after annual leave
Children returning to school
Starting a new school or university
Taking on new responsibilities at work
Managing childcare arrangements
Getting back into a routine
Dealing with financial pressures
Having less time for yourself
Adjusting to darker evenings and changing weather
Re-establishing social commitments
Trying to catch up on everything that happened while you were away
Individually, these things may seem manageable.
Together, they can become overwhelming.
The pressure to "get back to normal"
There can also be an unspoken expectation that once September arrives, we should simply get on with things.
Holiday over.
Back to work.
Back to school.
Back to the gym.
Back to healthy eating.
Back to socialising.
Back to being productive.
But your mind does not necessarily work according to the calendar.
You may need time to adjust.
If you have spent several weeks with fewer demands on your time, suddenly having a packed diary can feel like a shock to the system.
And if you were already experiencing anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem or stress before the summer, returning to your usual routine may bring those difficulties back into focus.
If September is bringing back feelings of anxiety, overwhelm or low self-esteem that you were hoping would disappear over the summer, therapy can provide a space to understand what is happening and begin making changes. Book a free consultation.
Returning to work after the summer
Going back to work after a holiday can be particularly difficult if you were already feeling stressed or burnt out.
During annual leave, you may have temporarily escaped emails, deadlines, meetings and responsibilities.
Returning to work can mean that all of those demands suddenly reappear.
You might find yourself thinking:
"I've got so much to do."
"I can't keep up."
"I don't want to go back."
"Everyone else seems to be coping better than me."
"I should be more productive."
These thoughts can increase feelings of anxiety and overwhelm.
You may then respond by working longer hours, checking emails late at night, taking less time for yourself or trying to complete everything immediately.
Unfortunately, this can create a cycle where stress leads to overworking, overworking leads to exhaustion, and exhaustion makes it even harder to manage your responsibilities.
You don't have to do everything immediately
One useful CBT principle is learning to notice the thoughts that appear when we feel under pressure.
For example:
Thought: "I have so much to do. I'll never get everything finished."
Feeling: Anxious and overwhelmed.
Behaviour: Trying to do everything at once, working late and avoiding taking breaks.
A more balanced thought might be:
"There is a lot to do, but I don't have to do everything today. I can decide what needs my attention first."
This doesn't magically remove your workload.
But it can change how you respond to it.
If you recognise a pattern of putting yourself under enormous pressure, working excessively or feeling that you are never doing enough, CBT can help you explore these patterns and develop more balanced ways of responding. Arrange a free 15-minute consultation.
Back to school: a transition for the whole family
The return to school can be exciting, but it can also be stressful.
Parents may suddenly have to manage school runs, uniforms, packed lunches, homework, clubs, childcare and changes to their own working schedules.
Children and teenagers may also experience anxiety about returning to school.
They may be worried about friendships, academic expectations, teachers, exams or simply getting used to a new routine.
For some families, September represents a significant transition.
A child may be starting primary school.
A teenager may be starting secondary school.
A young person may be beginning sixth form or university.
Transitions can be particularly challenging because they involve uncertainty.
We don't necessarily know exactly what is going to happen.
And uncertainty can fuel anxiety.
Stressful life events don't have to be dramatic
One of the most important things to remember is that your experience of stress is personal.
There isn't a universal list of events that should make you stressed.
Something that feels manageable to one person may feel overwhelming to another.
Your current circumstances matter.
Your previous experiences matter.
Your support network matters.
Your existing levels of stress matter.
And how much capacity you currently have matters.
If you are already exhausted, another relatively small change can feel like the final straw.
This is sometimes described as your "stress bucket".
Imagine that your bucket is gradually filling with different pressures:
Work.
Family.
Money.
Relationships.
Health.
Sleep.
Responsibilities.
Uncertainty.
If your bucket is already nearly full, even a small additional stressor can cause it to overflow.
The answer isn't necessarily to simply "cope better".
Sometimes you need to reduce what is going into the bucket.
If your stress bucket already feels full and you are struggling to work out how to make things more manageable, talking to a therapist can help you step back from the situation and look at the patterns contributing to your stress. Book a free consultation.
What can you do if September is making you feel overwhelmed?
There isn't one solution that works for everyone, but there are some practical things that can help.
1. Give yourself time to adjust
Try not to expect yourself to immediately return to peak productivity.
If possible, allow yourself a period of adjustment.
Your routine has changed, and your mind and body may need some time to settle back into it.
2. Focus on what you can control
When life feels overwhelming, it is easy to spend a lot of mental energy worrying about things outside your control.
Ask yourself:
"What can I actually do something about today?"
You may not be able to control your workload, other people's behaviour or everything that happens in your life.
But you can often control your next step.
Focus on that.
3. Be careful with "should" statements
CBT often explores the rules and expectations we place on ourselves.
For example:
"I should be coping better."
"I should be more productive."
"I should have everything organised."
"I should be enjoying myself."
"I shouldn't feel stressed."
These thoughts can create additional pressure.
Try replacing "should" with something more compassionate and realistic.
"I would like to be more organised, but I'm doing what I can at the moment."
That small change can make a significant difference.
4. Don't underestimate the importance of routine
Routine can be helpful when life feels chaotic.
Try to establish some basic anchors in your day.
For example:
Getting up and going to bed at consistent times
Eating regularly
Taking breaks during the working day
Getting outside
Moving your body
Making time for enjoyable activities
Limiting work-related activity in the evening
Protecting your sleep
These things may sound simple, but they can provide structure when everything else feels demanding.
5. Make time for things you enjoy
One of the traps we can fall into when life gets busy is removing enjoyable activities first.
We tell ourselves:
"I'll do that when things calm down."
But sometimes things don't calm down.
Behavioural activation, an approach commonly used within CBT, recognises the importance of continuing to engage in meaningful and enjoyable activities, even when we don't initially feel like doing them.
You don't need to spend an entire day doing something enjoyable.
It could be a walk, seeing a friend, reading, exercising, listening to music or simply having half an hour without obligations.
Enjoyment isn't something you have to earn by finishing everything else.
If you have become so focused on responsibilities that you've stopped making time for yourself, therapy can help you explore the balance between your responsibilities and your own wellbeing. Find out more by booking a free consultation.
6. Talk to someone
Stress can become much harder to manage when you keep everything to yourself.
Talking to a partner, friend, family member or colleague can sometimes provide perspective.
You don't necessarily need someone to solve the problem.
Sometimes being heard is enough to make things feel more manageable.
What if the stress doesn't go away?
For many people, the transition into September settles down after a few weeks.
But sometimes the end of summer highlights difficulties that were already there.
You might notice persistent anxiety, low mood, irritability, difficulty sleeping, loss of motivation or feeling constantly overwhelmed.
You might also notice that you are becoming increasingly critical of yourself.
Perhaps you feel that you aren't doing enough.
That you're not good enough.
That everyone else is coping better than you.
Or that you should be able to manage everything without help.
If these feelings are continuing, it may be worth taking a step back and considering what is happening underneath the immediate stress.
Sometimes the problem isn't simply September.
It may be a longer-standing pattern of anxiety, low self-esteem, perfectionism, relationship difficulties or difficulty managing stressful situations.
This is where talking therapy can sometimes help.
If your stress is persistent, affecting your relationships, work, sleep or enjoyment of life, it may be time to consider getting some support. You can book a free 15-minute consultation with Bradshaw Therapy & Wellbeing to talk through what you're experiencing.
How CBT can help with stress and life changes
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at the relationship between our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours.
When we're experiencing stress, we can become caught in patterns that unintentionally maintain it.
For example:
Stress → worrying → avoiding → short-term relief → problems remain → more stress
CBT can help you understand these patterns and develop different ways of responding.
It can also help you identify unhelpful thinking patterns, develop practical coping strategies and gradually change behaviours that may be contributing to your difficulties.
Therapy isn't about telling you to simply "think positively" or giving you a list of things you should be doing.
Instead, CBT provides an opportunity to understand your individual difficulties and work collaboratively towards meaningful change.
If you'd like to explore whether CBT could help you manage stress, anxiety, low self-esteem or difficult life changes, book a free 15-minute consultation here.
Sometimes life doesn't need fixing — it needs adjusting
The end of summer can bring a mixture of emotions.
You may feel sad that summer is over.
You may feel anxious about returning to work.
You may feel relieved that the children are going back to school.
You may feel excited about a new beginning.
You may feel all of these things at the same time.
There is no "correct" way to feel about September.
What matters is recognising when normal adjustment is becoming something more difficult to manage.
Rather than expecting yourself to simply get back to normal, consider asking:
What do I need right now?
Perhaps you need more rest.
Perhaps you need clearer boundaries at work.
Perhaps you need to ask for help.
Perhaps you need to make more time for yourself.
Or perhaps you need some support in understanding why life feels so overwhelming.
The end of summer doesn't have to mean going straight back to everything exactly as it was.
It can also be an opportunity to pause, reflect and consider what you want your life to look like as you move into the next season.
Could therapy help?
If you're finding the transition back to work, school or everyday life difficult to manage, you don't have to wait until things become unbearable before seeking support.
At Bradshaw Therapy & Wellbeing, I provide online CBT and IPT therapy for adults across the UK.
I offer a free 15-minute consultation, giving you an opportunity to briefly discuss what you're experiencing, ask questions about therapy and decide whether it feels like the right next step for you.
Book your free 15-minute consultation
You don't need to have everything figured out before you make an appointment.
Sometimes the first step is simply talking to someone about what's been happening.
About Bradshaw Therapy & Wellbeing
Bradshaw Therapy & Wellbeing provides online CBT and IPT therapy for adults across the UK.
If you're experiencing stress, anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem or difficulties associated with significant life changes, therapy can provide a confidential and supportive space to understand your difficulties and work towards change.
