New Year’s Day isn’t the only time for a restart. Back-to-school season, or just getting back to your normal routine after summer, is a terrific time for a fresh beginning. That’s why September is the other January—a clean slate, a chance to use new pencils, fresh notebooks, and start again.

In fact, in my book Happier at Home, I did a happiness project that stretched from September to May, to take advantage of September’s atmosphere to make my home a happier place.

September feels like a good time to make a new push. Orange is the new black, breakfast is the new lunch, Monday is the new Thursday, sitting is the new smoking, self-expression is the new entertainment, and September is the other January.

January is the official start of the new year, and I always get a burst of renewed zeal at that time, but here in the United States, for me, September also gives the same feeling of an empty calendar and a clean slate. The air seems charged with possibility and renewal.

Back-to-school is a time of self-evaluation and reflection–and also a time when I feel the urge to clean out my office.

What’s the Strategy of the Clean Slate?

In Better Than Before, my book about how we make and break our habits, I identify the 21 strategies we can use to master our habits. One helpful strategy is the “Strategy of the Clean Slate.”

When we go through a big transition, old habits get wiped away, and new habits form more easily.

• The slate may be wiped clean by a change in personal relationships: marriage, divorce, a new baby, a new puppy, a break-up, a new friend, a death.
• Or the slate may be wiped clean by a change in surroundings: a new apartment, a new city.
• Or some major aspect of life may change: a new job, a new school, a new doctor.
• Even minor changes can amount to a clean slate—a change as seemingly insignificant as taking a different route to work, or watching TV in a different room.
• A milestone in time can also act as a clean slate: a significant birthday, the new year, an important anniversary—or September.

How does a clean slate support habit change?

The Clean Slate is so powerful that we don’t want to miss the chance to exploit it. For example, in one study of people trying to make a change—such as change in career or education, relationships, addictive behaviors, health behaviors such as dieting, or change in perspective—36% of successful changes were associated with a move to a new location.

If you’re thinking about doing a happiness project yourself, or you want to work on your habits, now is always the best time to start—but if you do like to pick a particularly auspicious time, September is a good one. Think about it! From September to May, in one school year, you could take some steps to boost your happiness or change your habits.

What does research say about September resolutions?

A few years ago, Anne Marie Chaker wrote a fascinating piece in the Wall Street Journal about the power of September: “Now Is the Real New Year.”

Some interesting points about why people make resolutions in September:

• with the start of school, families get back into routines, and that helps people get organized and set goals
• January is a tough time for resolutions, because of post-holiday exhaustion
• summer efforts can get derailed because of vacation
• September is one of the biggest months for enrolling in weight-loss programs, going to the gym, and cooking at home
• people often change their hair style in September
• people often take steps to change careers in September, and work on household budgets
• September is now bigger than June as a time to get married; it’s second only to October

It’s also important to think about fun! If things are feeling flat, look for ways to add fun, play, whimsy, and surprise to your life. If you’d like to start planning your September reset, download my free “September Is the Other January” worksheet.

Frequently asked questions about September habit change

Why does September feel like a fresh start even for people who aren’t in school?

Back-to-school season is an obvious milestone for students or people with school-age children. That reset often carries over into many other areas of our lives. Work schedules may shift to accommodate parents, community resources shift out of their summer programming, even traffic patterns change. We all remember our own school days.

Why are September resolutions easier to stick to than January’s?

January resolutions do work for some people, but for many others, post-holiday fatigue can make a New Year’s resolution more challenging. September’s clean slate offers a “do-over” for a habit that failed to launch at the beginning of the year.