School is out for summer!
I don’t know about you but we’re finding it really hard to focus the last few weeks.
As the kids start to say their farewells to school friends, the smell of BBQs permeate the neighborhood and vacations loom near, it is most definitely feeling like summertime. Bring it on!
Whether you have kids or not summer can be quite distracting when it comes to your business.
It’s a time to take advantage of being outdoors (especially after the rough winter many people endured), to spend time with family and friends and to take advantage of the extra daylight sipping wine (or iced tea) out in the backyard.
I’ve successfully gone to bed 2 hours later every day for the last two weeks (so has my 4 year old). Yikes.
So how do you keep your focus when you’re deep into building your business and STILL enjoy the summer?
You can’t!
Haha – I couldn’t resist – just kidding!
Of course you can!
We have big plans for Fall which means we have a lot of work to do during the summer. It was beginning to stress us out until we realized that we need to balance our personal needs with the needs of our business and ambitions. We want to enjoy summer yet still enjoy progressing our business forward.
This is our summer guide to stay on track!
Stay flexible
Don’t set yourself up for failure by creating rigid overly ambitious goals for the summer. It’s easy to think that with the kids at camp or the slowdown with client demands, that it’s a great time to completely revamped your business or take on a gigantic, time-consuming project. Take it easy and be flexible. Maybe it IS a great time to do this but make sure you understand what summer demands you may have ahead of you.
Keep moving
If you look at your social calendar and you see that nearly every weekend is booked up – plan ahead. You don’t want to completely grind to a halt. Make sure you set some realistic weekly goals and keep moving forward. You may not be moving as quickly as you typically do, but make sure you simply keep moving. You’d be surprised how much you can get done if you block off a set amount of hours per week and keep certain goals top of mind.
Utilize the summer slowdown
For some businesses, summer is a slow time. Utilize this time to review your bigger plans and set up some very specific goals and objectives for the rest of the year. You may even be able to take the quiet time to knock off some things you’ve been wanting to do.
Communicate your needs
Just because everyone else is on vacation doesn’t mean you’re on a 3 month sabbatical from your business. Make sure you let everyone know that you are still working (set expectations) and be clear with when/where/how long you might be working (set boundaries). Make sure you make time for yourself/your work and let others know your intentions.
Take it outside
Sometimes we’re just simply itching to get outside. Don’t deny yourself, take your work outside. I find that you need to be super clear what you’re taking and whether it’s conducive for the outdoors. Researching, reading a biz book, writing a blog, creative doodling – all great things to do on a blanket under a tree.
Take advantage of the extra sunlight and get up earlier
If the days are busy running kids around or you have other commitments coming up, get up an hour or two earlier. Take advantage of the early morning sun and crank out a few hours of work so you can play guilt free later in the day.
Utilize vacation time
Stepping away from your business because vacation calls can be stressful. You may worry that if you slow down, your business will also slow down. However taking time away is a great business move. It can be wonderfully inspiring and provoke new connections and new ideas as you step out of the normal day-to-day of your business. Read a book you’ve been putting off. Journal. Spend time day-dreaming. Move your body. Stare at nature and soak it up. Utilize the time away to rest, reflect, recharge, re-engage with your creative side that often gets shoved aside because you’re too busy the rest of the year.
Summer is a wonderful time a year.
Make sure you enjoy the time with family, friends and nature. But also make sure when Autumn hits you still are on our track with your big dreams and goals.
Happy Summer to you!
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