My daughter headed back to school yesterday after a mammoth session of labelling school clothes and kit and a last-minute dash for blue socks. So now I have a different schedule, in a different country (having moved back from Germany at the beginning of the Summer).
You might also be finding yourself in a new routine with the turn of the season. You might, like me, find yourself with more time to devote to your work than you did have over the summer.
It feels like a blank page and as anyone who writes knows a blank page can sometimes be a little daunting.
So that set me to thinking about how to ease in and through this time of transition:
- Don’t think you have to do everything on day one. As the saying goes ‘Rome was not built in a day.’ Be realistic about what you can achieve and kind to yourself about what this is, especially as is usually the case, when it’s not as much as you would ideally like to get done. Just notice when the ‘I should be doing more’ thought comes up and name it. ‘Oh look, there’s the should be doing more thought!’
- [Tweet “Goldilocks planning – Give yourself some structure, but not too much.”] I use Googlecal to organise my day and colour code time spent on my business and time spent in my business, exercise time, lunchtime, time to walk my dog and any other appointments that I have.
- Use the Pomodoro technique to get things done. I use tomato timer and work in chunks of twenty-five minutes with breaks in between.
- Take the opportunity to meet new people. Your business is not helped by you becoming a hermit, chained to your desk and your computer. If you want to be a life coach it’s really helpful to be out there, you know, living life.
- Get lots of rest – this is your homework, getting to bed on time, whatever that right time is for you.
- Use an online scheduler and set up your schedule for clients for September and into October. Take the brave move of posting the times that suit YOU. I use Satori but have also used Timetrade and Schedule Once in the past and all are worth a look.
- Don’t plunge so far into caring for your business that you forget to care for yourself and your home. Make the time to exercise, make the time to keep your house tidy at a level where it feels nurturing to you. Your business will not grow more quickly just because you let everything else go.
- Nurture yourself with good nutritious food. You are in your business for the long haul and so you need to fuel your brain and body for this work.
- Don’t be a lone ranger – have coaching buddies that you swap coaching with and ideally have your own coach too.
- [Tweet “Remember if day one goes wrong, there’s always day two”] – and in any case building a business is not about perfect days.
I’d love to hear from you. What are your transition tips for approaching your work with confidence as you head into a new season of it? Let me know in the comments below.