5 rituals to reclaim that back-to-school buzz

0:00This message comes from the Center for U.S. Voters Abroad Foundation. All U.S. citizens abroad may request an absentee ballot to vote in the 2026 election. Visit registerabroad.com to get started. Hey, it's Mary El Segara. You're listening to LifeKit from NPR. Remember how exciting it was to start a new school year? I used to love running my fingertips along the cover of a fresh marble notebook and picking out my outfit for the first day of school. There's something bussy about this time of year. Even if you're not in school anymore, it's a chance that a fresh start, a time to ditch old habits, try a new extracurricular, settle into a routine, or even completely reinvent yourself. On this episode of LifeKit, how to harness that energy with five back-to-school rituals reimagined for your adult life? Take away one. Pack a lunch. I'll take out has gotten so expensive. And most of the time, in my experience, it doesn't taste very good, and it's not healthy either.

1:03So why not get in the habit of bringing your lunch? Now, if you're thinking, I don't have time to make a sandwich every morning. Meal prepping is for you. Kevin Curry is the founder of Fit Men Cook. Twice a week, he'll spend 45 minutes cooking five components to mix and match over the next few days. Like chickpeas, chicken, jasmine rice, roasted vegetables, and sauteed greens. And with those five foods that I prepped, I made about 10 different meal combinations. Because one day I was like, you know what? I think I want chicken, rice, and greens. Boom. Another day, I think I want the chickpeas, roasted veggies, and the greens, and maybe a little bit of rice. Mixed everything together. Another tip is to make a sauce for the week. Something packed with flavor that you can toss on lots of different things, green bowls, sandwiches, salads. One thing I like to do is buy a handful of fresh herbs. Maybe that's basil this week, or dill, or parsley, and then make a sauce or dressing from that. Okay, while you're making your lunch, why not jazz it up a little bit?

2:05Get cookie cutters and cut your fruits and veggies into cute shapes, or write yourself a note. Sully Jessica Wu is a mom, an author of the cookbook Let's Make Some Lunch. Here's what she says. Makes a good lunch box note. I like to keep it relevant to what we're going through. Today, my daughter is having maps tests for the beginning of the year where they see what level your child is at in the court classes. So for that, you know, I'm I always just write like, hey, I know you'll do great in your maps testing. Just try your best. Stuff like that. And then with song lyrics, I just write like cute song lyrics about love or succeeding or being determined, anything like that. Quotes from movies that we're currently loving. I just kind of try to find inspiration in everything that we're doing and what's relevant and what they're into. So how about you? Got a big meeting at work next week. Write yourself a note of encouragement.

3:07Or are you so excited about the transition to sweat a weather? Remind yourself to take breaks and go outside. You could also draw yourself a little doodle. And of course, if you have a partner or you live with someone, you can do this for each other. Okay, we've packed our cute little lenses. Take away two. Plan your fall outfits. September is a great time to think about how your personal style has changed since you put away your cold weather clothes. And what you're excited to wear now. Start by trying everything you have on and asking yourself, do I still like this shirt or dress or whatever? Do I feel good in it? If the answer is absolutely not, that's easy. It goes in the donate pile. If the answer is, I don't know. I like it, but it just doesn't fit right. You might be able to alter it. Sophie Strauss is a stylist and Los Angeles. You know, I'll often look where is somebody sort of adjusting the garment. Are they fudzing with it at the hem, at the sleeve, at the neckline? Do they keep lifting it up? Go, oh, well, hmm, I see you're pulling at the

4:11hem line. Okay, what if we got that hemmed like two inches and we'll roll up the bottom? Do you like that better? Oh, yeah. Okay, great. What if we tuck it in if we don't hem it? What if we tuck it into pants that hit around that spot? Oh, I like that better too. Great. Another fun way to alter your clothes is to die them. And did you know you can actually do that with pieces of plants like avocado pits and onion skins? Life kit has a whole guide on this. We'll link to it in the show notes. Now back to school season wouldn't be complete without some fresh fits. Before you go shopping, though, look around for inspiration. Notice when you see someone wearing an outfit you like on the street or in a TV show. You can also look through magazines, current or vintage and designer archives and take note of any common threads. Ruby Redstone is a fashion historian and writer. Whether you're like, oh, I'm loving really feminine floaty slip dresses weighed down by heavy boots or I'm loving seeing things that are inspired by men's suiting.

5:14And then finding a way to do that that's within your budget, whether that's going to a bunch of thrift stores and thrifting slip dresses or if that's going to a department store trying on a bunch of options and investing in one beautiful piece that you know you're going to be able to re-wear. She mentioned thrifting. It is such a good way to try out new styles. And one tip on that front is to know your measurements. Mary Jacobs is a secondhand stylist. She puts together looks for people with thrifted clothes. And she says you want to measure your chest and your hips ahead of time and then bring a tape measure with you to the store. That way you don't have to try on as many clothes. So you definitely want your chest measurement. You'll go around the largest part of your chest and you'll take that measurement and you'll divide it in two and then you'll measure across armpit to armpit on whatever top. And if armpit to armpit is at least half the measurement you took at home, it should fit. Same thing goes for your hips. Wrap the tape measure around the widest part, divide that number in two and compare it to the front or back side of a dress or pants.

6:17Lastly, when you're shopping, it helps to have a set of rules about what items you will and won't buy. That tip comes from Asia Jackson, who makes videos on YouTube about personal style. One of my rules is that I don't buy ballet flats. They're uncomfortable. Every single time that I purchased them, I hated them and I never wore them again. So even if I see a really nice outfit on Pinterest and the girl is wearing ballet flats, I'm not going to go out and buy ballet flats because I've known that they just don't work for me. On my don't buy list, blazers, I buy them and then I never actually wear them. Of course, back to school is not just about lunches and outfits. We were there to learn. So after the break, we dive into the stacks. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Rula. With Rula, finding a therapist and getting the help you need is easier than talking yourself out of it.

7:17Because Rula offers personalized cost estimates and has no hidden fees. With sessions costing an average of $15 and over 120 insurance plans accepted nationwide. If you're ready to stop talking yourself out of finding care and making progress, head to Rula.com. That's R-U-L-A.com and take the first step. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast, Democratic Socialists are having a moment. What's their goal? The goal being to eventually realign the Democratic Party to perhaps someday develop an independent party, but we recognize that in the United States there just is a two-party system. How Democratic Socialists are staking out political territory. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast. This week on Weight Weight Don't Tell Me, we talk with our panel, Joy-Elm Nicole Johnson, Peter Gross, and Tick-N-Taro about the new trade war with Canada. I can't imagine maple syrup being any more expensive, like it costs as much as a car. Like the strip? What kind of car are you buying?

8:18Don't miss our full conversation and the rest of our games. Listen to the Weight Weight Don't Tell Me Podcast and the NPR App or wherever you get your podcasts. Billionaire Mark Cuban has stared into the belly of the beast of America's health care system. I mean, it's so bad you can go through a long list of really quality hospitals and they don't know their costs. So, can Medicare for all be a solution? We take a hard look at the cost of the program along with US health care itself. Find this and hear more stories from the indicator from Planet Money on the NPR App. All right, take away three. If you miss learning new things, read some more books. Your first step here is to find books that you think you could love, because there's no summer reading list that you have to get through, right? You're not going to be graded on this. You're reading because you want to. Tracy Thomas hosts the book podcast, The Stacks, and she says, go to a library or a bookstore and wander around and talk to the booksellers or the librarians. I mean, booksellers and librarians are book matchmakers and sort of magicians. You can

9:24go in and say, I read this and this and this and I loved those three, but I also read this other book that I hated and I'm in the mood for something that feels like, you know, a long drive on Christmas Eve and they'll be like, oh, here you go. And they always come up with something. And here's her strategy for that walk about. You might be surprised to hear. She actually thinks it's fine to judge a book by its cover. I like to look and see what's on the tables in the front because that usually is something that's new and exciting to either the world at large or the booksellers in that specific store. Bookstores get to decide what they stalk. So they're going to stalk things that they think will sell or that they think are really good or interesting for their community. If the bookstore that I go into has books that face out on the shelves, I like to see which books they've sort of picked to face out. And I'm also just kind of looking around to see what jumps out at me. Once you have some books in hand, don't wait for that perfect distraction

10:24free moment to crack them open. This tip comes from Kevin Wynn, author of the novels, My Documents and New Waves. He says to look for smaller chances to read throughout the day. Read when you're early to school pick up or when you're waiting for your clothes to be done at the laundromat. And if you commute to work, well, that's a gimmie. You're driving to work. It's audiobook time. You get on the subway. It's time to like open the book. I'm not going to play video games on my phone or listen to podcasts. It's really easy to have that kind of discipline because it's sort of like a sequestered part of your day where you decide I'm doing this thing at this time. Also, Tracy says if you find yourself constantly getting distracted or rolling your eyes or falling asleep when you're reading a particular book, put it down. There's no need to push through if you aren't enjoying it. Save yourself. There are too many books in the world to read books you do not like. That is called cultivating taste. Did you hear that? Bell's ringing. Time for recess. I loved the make-believe

11:28we did during recess. When we pretend we were teachers or ship captains or that we were doing battle with fire-breathing dragons. Or, you know, we just play tag. Take away four. If you miss horsing around at recess, bring some of that energy into your adult life. Play more, especially physical play. Now, if you aren't sure what kind of play you like, you can ask yourself, how did I like to play as a kid? Here's Play Coach Jeff Harry. Your kid self knows what makes you happy. Your kid self knows what makes you fulfilled and satisfied. So, for instance, were you super into Legos or finger painting, catching fireflies, seeing how far you could catapult yourself off the swing set? For me, it was Barbies. I love to dress them up and make them fight or kiss. However you played, think about why you loved it. Is it that you like telling stories or moving your body, competing, making people laugh, building things? How might you embrace those as an adult?

12:30And you can actually take a quiz to figure out your play style. It's based on thousands of personal play histories collected by psychologists Stuart Brown and the National Institute for Play. We'll have a link in the show notes. Stuart studied play for decades and he says another way to figure out your kind of play is to think about what makes you feel free. Was there a moment? Was there a circumstance? Was there a situation that allowed you to really feel like you were yourself? Whether you were four years old or 40? I always felt free when I was on the swing set and when I was singing or dancing. So, I do those things now whenever I get a chance. Even if I'm just, you know, singing in the car. All right, on that note, it's time to make some friends because duck duck goose is hard to play alone. Take away five, make new friends and keep the old. I love the idea that kids just go up to each other and say hi. They share their toys or their snacks and suddenly they've got

13:30a new friend. What if we did that? I mean, it was a bit easier when we were in school because we saw these other kids every day. On that note, Marissa Franco, author of Platonic How the Science of Attachment can help you make and keep friends says it helps to join an activity that repeats. So, don't go to a networking event. Go to maybe a regular professional development group because you're going to see people over time. Then you capitalize on something called the Mirax Fosure Effect. Our unconscious tendency to like people simply because they're familiar to us. You can expect that once you first meet new people, it's going to be uncomfortable. So, don't assume if we don't connect it in the first meeting, I shouldn't keep going to this book club because it's too awkward. No, right? That's just a part of the process. She also wants you to assume people like you until told otherwise. According to research on a phenomenon called the liking gap, when strangers interact, they underestimate how liked they are by the other person and the more self-critical we are,

14:30the more pronounced this underestimation is. So, reminding yourself that even if you think people might reject you, they're actually a lot less likely to reject you than you think they are. And then I would say, shoot your shot. It just looks like, hey, it's been so great to talk to you. I'd love to connect further to you mind if we exchange contact information. And reach out! It sounds simple, but when you meet someone you like, ask them to hang out and do it soon. Here's Kat Velos, author of the book, we should get together, the secret to cultivating better friendships. A common mistake that people make when they're trying to get together with a new acquaintance or build a new friendship is they wait too long to see that new acquaintance again and in that time the spark can fizzle out. And don't just say, hey, we should hang out sometime. Be specific. Like if you met playing softball, invite them to the batting cages the next week. Because that we should hang out some time. Sometimes is a vague sense in the future. And this is part of why my book is called We Should Get Together because everyone says that, but it's like no literally, we really need to get together. Don't just say that as a substitute

15:33for it was nice to meet you, say it if you really mean it and then follow through on it. The other thing you can do to bring back that carefree spirit of friendship. Remember having sleepovers in elementary school? Invite one of your close friends to stay at your house for a night. You can order pizza, braid each other's hair, play video games, stay up way too late and tell each other ghost stories. Bonus points if they're true. Alright students, it's time for a recap. Five activities to try this September. Pack your lunch, plan your outfits, read more books, plan your own recess, and make some new friends. Yes, it is hard to put yourself out there, but remember that was what made back to school so exciting. It wasn't just the new shoes or the new notebook. It was the other people that we're going to see those things to see you in a new light after a long summer. That's our show. Before we head out, if you found something useful in today's episode,

16:35there's probably somebody else in your life who would too. Why not hit that share button and send them this episode now. This episode of LifeKit was produced by Claire Maurice Schneider. It was edited by Brent Bachman. Our digital editor is Malika Garib and our visuals editor is CJ Ricalon. Megan Cain is our senior supervising editor and Lauren Gonzalez is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle, Margaret Serena and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Tiffany Vedakastro and Quacy Lee. I'm Mary El Segarrah. Thanks for listening. Artificial intelligence is everywhere and the public backlash is growing. This week on Here and Now Anytime, Arizona is a charity general. On white sheet is reviewing the state's policy on AI-powered cameras from flock. And New York City Public Schools is banning AI for kids until they enter high school. Can you really keep AI out of the ABCs? Find out on here and now anytime on the NPR app or anywhere

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