The Science of September: How to Harness Its ‘Get S*** Done’ Energy in B2B or B2C organisations

What inspired this post was a subtle offer of a gift from my post-holiday Ocado shop - the magnetic meal planner has returned! Order will reign in the kitchen once more (the one from years ago is now stuck to the boiler and gives a run down on which pets need what and when!) so what is it about September that marks the start of getting S*** done?

What that mean for customers, clients, members, the people we work with and ourselves?

September is more than just a change in season. Behavioural scientists call it a temporal landmark, a moment in time when people mentally separate their “old self” from their “current self” and become more motivated to act. Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman and Jason Riis coined the Fresh Start Effect in their landmark 2014 Management Science paper, showing that gym visits, savings deposits and goal-setting spike after moments like birthdays, new weeks, or new school terms.

Unlike January, where behaviour is often driven by guilt and overcompensation, September is about recalibration: a quieter, more sustainable reset. Routines sharpen, habits reform, and both consumers and organisations move into “get organised” mode.

What does this mean for your organisation?

For businesses, September is one of the most behaviourally rich points in the year and also, one of the biggest missed opportunities as we all slink back into the office and miss the chance it presents:

• Decision-making windows open. People are psychologically primed to commit to new projects, products, ideas, systems or memberships. B2B organisations should use this to frame September as the real “new year” for business planning.

• Budgets shift. September often coincides with Q4 budget reallocations, as marketing and ad spend pivot towards social and retail media to maximise “golden quarter” returns. This is an opportunity to position your brand to align with this in both B2B and B2C because the buyer has changed their mindset - they are still the same, but working with a different mindset.

• Routines return. Whether in B2C or B2B, messaging that acknowledges people are regaining structure (“back to routine,” “ready to reset”) resonates more deeply than summer’s light-touch campaigns.

• Behavioural framing beats product framing. As Richard Shotton notes in The Choice Factory, timing matters as much as message. Products that promise control, organisation, or simplicity have more salience in September than those positioned around novelty or indulgence. This is particularly relevant in food marketing...and possibly why Frive, Stocked and Simmer are all over my socials - despite being an avid home cook I am sorely temped to have a more planned and organised fridge.

  
  

What does this mean for you?

It's not all about the business, there is so much opportunity for you as a real life person as well. September is a natural point to reset personal and professional goals and you are more likly to achieve them...statistically speaking. Research shows that people use temporal landmarks to:

• Forgive past failures. Missed goals from spring or summer feel more distant, making it easier to start again without baggage (Dai et al., 2014).

• Reassert identity. September cues a return to structured roles—parent, professional, student. Behaviour shifts to match those roles, from dietary resets (gym sign-ups, new meal routines) to financial planning.

• Adopt sustainable changes. Unlike January crash diets, September resolutions are grounded in context: shorter days, new routines, clearer priorities. They stick because they’re integrated into lifestyle.

  
  

For you as a professional, this is the perfect time to:

• Audit your goals and decide which projects still matter before year-end.

• Reset your work rhythms (emails, meetings, focus time).

• Leverage September’s momentum to try a new habit—whether personal (health, learning) or professional (networking, training).

September Checklist

Here’s a practical, evidence-backed list to make the most of September, personally and organisationally:

For Your Organisation

✅ Reframe campaigns: Position your product/service as the tool for order and clarity - the solution to a problem while they are in the headspace for a change.

✅ Target the planners: Tailor comms for people allocating Q4 or FY budgets, professional services, SaaS, and membership bodies can frame offers as “quarter-start solutions.”

✅ Short horizons: Package offers as “90-day sprints” (now–Christmas), not 12-month commitments to better fit with how people frame time in September.

✅ Maximise media spend: Lean into the September shift towards social/retail media—attention levels rise as people return indoors (BARB viewing upticks).

✅ There is more than one persona in september: Back-to-school messaging works, but so does “back to business,” “back to health,” or “back to planning.” Not everyone is thinking about school!

For You

✅ Review goals: Which of your 2025 goals still matter? Reset them now while you have time and space to do it properly.

✅ Use the calendar effect: Anchor changes to temporal landmarks (start of Sept, new week, new quarter).

✅ Start sustainable habits: Focus on organisation, not transformation, e.g., blocking thinking time, re-establishing exercise.

✅ Plan quarter by quarter: Treat Sept–Dec as its own cycle with achievable wins, not a scramble to “fix the year.”

✅ Boost visibility: If you’re in sales or comms, September is the ideal time to re-engage your network - people are back, present, and open to new conversations.