Even if you’re no longer heading back to the classroom, the back-to-school season offers a chance for a fresh start. You can harness the energy of a new school year to refresh your routines and lifestyle. Here are six adult-friendly adaptations of activities you might have enjoyed in school.

Revisit Meal Prep with a Grown-Up Twist

If you miss packing school lunches, try meal-prepping. Kevin Curry from FitMenCook spends 45 minutes twice a week preparing five different dishes. These include chickpeas, chicken, jasmine rice, roasted vegetables, and a greens mix of spinach, chard, and kale. With these ingredients, you can mix and match to create various meal combinations, such as chicken with rice and greens or chickpeas with greens and chicken. Enhance each meal with condiments like tahini dressing or barbecue sauce.

Refresh Your Wardrobe

You don’t need to shop for back-to-school clothes to update your style. Try a closet purge. Actor and YouTuber Asia Jackson suggests trying on every item in your wardrobe. Ask yourself questions to decide if you should keep or donate an item. “Do you feel good in this item? Do you look good in it?” If not, consider letting it go. Build a new style around the pieces you love.

Embrace Reading as a Habit

Reading books is an excellent way to keep learning. Former NPR correspondent Lynn Neary advises reading in the morning, especially on weekends. This habit reduces the chance of falling asleep while reading, as often happens at bedtime. Starting your day with a book can be refreshing.

Enhance Your To-Do Lists

Transform your planner routine by improving your to-do lists. Follow the two-minute rule for tasks. If a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately, suggests Angel Trinidad from Passion Planner. For larger tasks, break them into smaller, specific action items. Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, notes that tasks often go unfinished because they’re not clearly defined.

Reintroduce Play into Your Life

Consider what kinds of play brought you joy as a child. Stuart Brown from the National Institute for Play recommends finding simple ways to integrate play into your day. Play can be a hobby like painting or a mindset change. Ask yourself how you enjoyed playing as a child and try those activities again.

Rethink Your Approach to Friendship

Building new friendships involves assuming others also seek friends, according to Heather Havrilesky, author of the Ask Polly advice column. Many people believe everyone has enough friends, but that’s often not true. Embrace the vulnerability that comes with reaching out to others. Accept the awkwardness of making the first move to hang out; it’s a step toward forming meaningful connections.

This digital story was contributed by Clare Marie Schneider, edited by Malaka Gharib, and visually edited by Rebecca Harlan. For feedback, email [email protected]. Discover more insights on Life Kit through Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe to our newsletter for updates.