September, the real New Year (without conga lines and lentils)

Dear fellow professionals, managers, freelancers and Olympic champions of procrastination: here we are at that time of year nobody marks in their diary, yet everyone feels in their gut.

The real New Year isn’t 31st December. It’s September. Full stop.

No sparkling wine, no conga lines (thank goodness), no “money-bringing” lentils that have never actually brought anyone money. Just a steaming cup of coffee, an inbox overflowing with “As we were saying before the holidays…” and a pristine diary, ready to fool us into believing that this time we’ll be organised.

Why is September the New Year for professionals?

1. The resurrection of productivity

Sand out of the shoes, goodbye scent of sunscreen: back come charts, deadlines and Gantt charts crying out for revenge. It’s not a return, it’s a resurrection: the professional rises again like a Phoenix, but with fewer feathers and more Excel sheets.

2. Resolutions… minus the snow

In January, we join the gym. In September, we sign up for Notion, Trello and whatever else promises to save us. It’s the season when we swear: “This year I’ll plan everything!”. Then, by October, we’re back to scribbling notes on the back of a coffee receipt.

3. “Let’s talk in September”

The most repeated phrase of the summer. Simultaneous translation: “I’m ignoring you now, but in September you’ll be my top priority (along with another 87 emails)”. Professionals know the real countdown isn’t to New Year’s Eve, but to the day when clients suddenly remember you exist.

Finally : September is our annual reset, far more believable than 31st December: fewer fireworks, more goals. It’s the month when we start believing again, dreaming of impossible efficiencies, fooling ourselves into thinking we’ve got everything under control.

And that’s perfectly fine. Because without a “parallel” New Year, work would just be one endless Monday.