The day after labor day means something different to kids than it does to adults.  As an adult in the working world, coming back from labor day means it’s the end of summer, the end of trips & travel, and the start of the push toward the end of the year.  It’s a milestone, but not like it is for kids.

For kids, the day after labor day means that it’s time to go back to school.

The first day of school is such a charged day.  It’s full of questions, anxiety, promise, nervous energy, unknown obstacles, and so much more.  It might mean meeting new classmates or new teachers, and it will definitely mean tackling new subjects.  And in many ways, it means a clean slate.

There’s something so unique about the idea that each September, you had a chance to come in and start over.  Maybe not completely; you’ll be reunited with old friends and familiar hallways and cafeterias or dining halls, but there’s always the opportunity to start from zero.

When you walk into a class for the first time, you’ve got clean slates all around.  Your notebooks’ lines are waiting to be filled up with lecture notes and doodles.  Your textbooks’ margins are waiting to be annotated to death.  Your pencils’ erasers are waiting to be filed down to the bone.  Your report cards’ grade columns are waiting to receive a judgement.  

Everything is new.  Even if some of the settings around you are the same, there’s opportunity bursting from every corner, as long as you’re willing to look for it.

This fresh start is something we get less and less as adults.  When you start a new job it’s somewhat comparable, but there are still shadows of your last one following you around through your career.   Very rarely can you turn a page so abruptly to actually start from zero.  There’s so little in the “grown-up” world that is analogous to that wonderful, horrible, first day of school.

Still, it’s important to look for miniature versions of this at work.  These clean slates exist in smaller portions all over the place, even when you are coming back to the same cubicle today instead of settling in to a new locker.  

Whether it’s taking on a completely new project, or diving in to learn about a topic that could help reinvigorate your day-to-day, or even just burning your to-do list to the ground and forcing yourself to start fresh, there are ways to mimic that first day of school feeling.

The day after labor day can still be a significant day, even if you’re an adult in the working world.  It’s the perfect natural breakpoint in the year to force yourself to rediscover that nervous energy that can be so effective at driving progress.

So why not start a new tradition this year?  Go make today your first day of school.