How To Set Up for Autumn

How To Set Up for Autumn

I’m writing this to you in my last few days of work before about 2.5 weeks unplugged and off of work. I’ve been hearing a lot of women talking about the different ways they feel when they come back to work after a vacation, and it’s gotten me thinking.
 
 Which way do YOU tend to feel when YOU come back from time off? Calm, rested, relaxed, and ready to strategically dig into the pile of work that has piled up– no stress, no frantic-ness, no fires to put out– just you, coming back to the systems and organization that you’ve set up so things run well while you’re checked out… OR FRANTIC-NESS. The ringing phone and 3000 emails hit you pre-dawn like a stack of bricks. You know it’s coming so you have a sense of dread and anxiety the night before. You walk into your office with clients screaming for you, fires to put out, a never-ending to-do list and a maxed out box of emails. Or maybe it just FEELS like those things are happening even if your email box ISN’T full and no one’s yelling at you. The sheer amount of work you come back to make you nervous to even take time off at all.(DO one of those describe you?)
 
Feeling awful when you take time off of work discourages you from doing so, and I’m ALL about that stopping. The more regular time off and unplugging you can set up, the more effective and happy you’ll be when you ARE at work (and in your relationships, and your self-care, etc).

I wrote an email for you on summer tips for taking time off without crashing your biz– just email me at britt@inarmscoaching if you didn’t get it and I’ll make sure you do.

But the next step is setting your fall up to get back to work in a focused way that eliminates craze, frantic-ness, and burning through all the peace you got from your summer time off 🙂

Here are a few of the pieces I ALWAYS make sure are set up for a successful-feeling fall that gets me closer to my goals.
   

Set Up For A Fall That PULLS You Towards Your Goals

1. Time Management that actually WORKS for you.

So, by August I’ve gotten my kid’s school calendar for the year. Into MY calendar I put ALL her days off and vacations– I don’t work those days.

I also put in a week to work ON my biz every 4-6 weeks.

I put in the days I want client calls times, my lunch break every day, team meetings, when I want to launch programs (all feeding towards my funnel for the year, which, in turn, feeds into my year-long goal).

I also put in self-care (usually every Friday morning and early afternoon– that’s my time for lunch with friends, massage, long walks with a dog, etc).

I also block out time for ongoing work and projects: website revision, program and content creation, etc– those all have a spot in my weekly calendar.

This spring and summer, what WORKED for you in your time management? And what’s ready to change so you can reach your goals with less stress and struggling?
  

2. Have a clear funnel or plan.

You will see so much more ground gained and even BETTER: you’ll feel SO much happier if you’re working from a clear plan with an end goal.

Imagine how many times you’d hit the bull’s eye as an archer if you were aiming your bow and arrow straight up into the air– or better yet, spinning around in circles and THEN letting the arrow shoot?

Are you actually AIMING your energy…or just shooting without picking a clear focus?
Do you know where you want to be at this time next year? Do you know what your overarching goal for the year is? Do you know what exactly you’re going to do to hit that goal? The steps needed? The ways you might get in your own way? Do you have tools for bad days? For when life comes up and makes you change your plans? Do you have support set up? These are all CRUCIAL pieces to have set up (and again- that funnel and blueprinting video in the above bonuses will REALLY help you).

3. Boundaries

This is the troll that likes smashing your boundaries if they’re not ROCK SOLID.

This is a big, toothy topic, so I’m only going to be saying a few words about this, since I’ll be talking a lot more about it in my upcoming virtual week.

Do you have clear boundaries around your time? Your value? Your ideal clients? The work you want to be doing? The delegation of chores and responsibilities in your personal life? In your friendships and intimate relationships? In your parenting? In your family of origin?

Boundaries are one of those issues that refuse to impact only ONE part of your life– boundary issues in ONE area almost always indicate other areas that need work. But DEFINITELY look out for this one– it can cause major misery and lack of joy as you move into fall.
 
What are you taking from these tools? Hit me up at britt[at]inarmscoaching.com and let me know.