This summer, like every summer for our family, has been a time for stepping away from our structured routines to travel more, play more, sleep more, relax more, but also get more projects done around the house. The kids are out of school for two-and-a-half months which means a welcome opportunity to live our lives as we please, whether that means spending time in our happy place in Flagstaff, Arizona, touring historical sites on the east coast, jetting off to wherever our son’s hockey team takes us, or checking out colleges for our eldest (I can’t believe we’re here!). I cherish summer or what it is, mainly a time for making care-free memories, but now it is winding down and so must our days of little to no structure and travels galore.
For many of us, the end of summer means crisp fall air is around the corner followed by dreaded blizzards and icy roads. For others of us, it means the scorching heat will soon come to a welcome end (can I get an amen, Vegas?) and cooler, tolerable weather will replace it. A lot more than the weather changes as summer fades into fall, however, and I’m not talking about Costco selling holiday décor. I’m talking about the change of transitioning back into a more structured routine full of school, homework, sports, social events, and diving into my business.
As we all press onward into fall and all things pumpkin spice, it can be difficult to get back into the swing of things. There’s setting the alarm earlier, having to be on time to more places throughout the day, new teachers and friendships to navigate, math homework (possibly the biggest headache of my life), and earlier bedtimes, among many other things. Those transitions can be hard to manage so ease into them, perhaps starting to edge toward your ideal fall bedtime two weeks early, before the chaos of the first week of school commences if you have children.
Don’t make those transitions even harder by setting unrealistic expectations for yourself and your family in the fall. If you’re like most people, you will have less freedom from schedules in the fall. You might even feel glued to your calendar. Aim to be ruthlessly realistic with how much time you actually have from August-December to tackle projects, prepare for the holidays, spend quality time with your family, create your strategic plan for next year, and adjust your expectations accordingly. Knowing my fall seasons tend to feel a bit overwhelming, I have learned to avoid taking on new projects and instead, focus on completing any outstanding tasks and project I wanted to get done this year. It might serve you well to do the same so you can have a clean slate to work from in January.
What’s one intention you can set for yourself this fall season?
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