It’s time of year again, the nights are drawing in and the prospect of autumn is looming.

My car was reading 6⁰C on the way into work this morning, the kids’ school coats are out and I’m back in tights for the first time in months.

I work pretty much full time, so September doesn’t fill me with as much dread as it did in my younger years. I chanted the words ‘I hate school’ throughout most of my school years – I don’t think I really hated it, but I hated thought of it as having fun over the holidays was much more appealing. I remember my mum regularly saying, ‘you don’t know how lucky you are, school is the best years of your life’ and, as always, she was right, being an adult, I now realise, mum is always right!

Going back to school after a break was a chance to catch up with friends that I hadn’t seen for weeks, and compare all the fun I’d been having, plus I got to see that cute guy in the year above that I had a crush on. School was pretty much carefree.

I love my job. I had a couple of weeks off over the summer – which I needed, working a 30.75-hour week, building a house and being the mother to 6-year-old twins had well-earned me a break. We spent much of our time off moving into the new house and had some days out here and there with the kids. I had time to relax and recharge and I didn’t dread the thought of returning to work, I embraced it and came back fully charged and raring to go. However, even the most satisfied employees get the back to work blues – and without a positive mental attitude I could have been one of them. September isn’t the greatest month to return to work as those evenings do start drawing in and the colder mornings make getting out of bed in the morning that bit harder – the list of excuses is endless but ultimately, it is what you make it.

My advice is Smile. If you look on the bright side of life, there is always a reason to smile. The only reason not to smile is if you’re hiding it because you don’t like it – and that is something that we can help you with.