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Happy Friday, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]! This one will be short and sweet because… if I’m being honest— between client and work and launching my own thing this month…I AM SWAMPED. Here’s the thing I have been sitting with: it’s OK to let go of the way you wanted something to be—or thought something would be—in order to make room for the way it’s going to unfold. Let’s be clear: this is NOT my forté.I love to plan and envisions things, down to the details of the way the it will feel in that moment… and then if it falls through, or takes a left turn, I often find myself frustrated and beating myself up for not being able to predict something or to better prepare myself. Here’s my example. Over the past 5 months or so, I really imagined slowing down this summer—A LOT more than I have the past few years of freelancing. The truth is that since starting this business in earnest in summer of 2022, I haven’t taken any “vacations.” You know where you completely unplug, leave your computer closed, don’t check your email etc. I haven’t felt like I could. “But if I can work, (and I can), I should!” I have said to myself. There aren’t any “paid vacation days” when you are freelancing. What I have failed to recognize up until this year, is that it’s actually ME that’s in charge of giving myself paid vacations. This equal parts great news and devastating news, because it’s means (on both accounts) I am responsible for making sure it happens. That means I have to figure out how much time I want to be “work free” and then work backwards to ensure I have enough going on leading up to that to make it possible + that I have enough time to wrap up important projects and let people know I won’t be available…
There it is. Telling people “I won’t be available.” What happens next? Well probably nothing. People mark it on their calendar that I’m not available and don’t contact me. Or they do and don’t get a response until I open my computer to respond again. As I told them I would. My business doesn’t fall apart, the sky doesn’t fall down and I don’t go broke over the how ever many days I want to unplug. Like most things about running your own business (godammit), it’s a mindset shift. One you must INTENTIONALLY MAKE in order for it to work FOR you. So while I’m not super thrilled to be working a lot this summer (AND, TO BE CLEAR, also very thrilled because it’s my business and I want it to thrive) I am using it as very important information that will be paramount to how I set up the months of April and May next year to make sure I am able to have a little less on my plate come Mid-June and July. Everything is data right? That’s what I’m telling myself while I watch another summer week tick away, knowing that these are the years my kid actually wants to hang out with me. Next summer, I hope to be saying, “Yes, let’s do THAT!” way more than I am able to this summer. How do you organize your summer months? Or whenever it is you decide to unplug? I’m collecting all the strategies and I’d love to hear yours. Hit reply and school me in your planning tips and tricks! Summer love and lightning bugs, Meredith The 4 x1
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