I didn’t mean to take all of September off of the blog, but like I’ve been saying this on repeat: September hits hard!! Whew, this month has flown by.
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To be honest though, I vibe way more strongly with the back-to-school-let’s-get-down-to-business energy of September than I do with the new-year-new-you vibes of January.
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Like, a lot more.
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But it’s been a lot to manage, and I know I’m not alone. All of the sudden, there’s a ton of in-person events and get-togethers. I’m still being pretty judicious with my choices, but even so, it’s been busy.
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Plus, balancing it all with work commitments, building out new projects, refreshing existing ones, and of course enjoying the Jewish High Holy Days–with family! IRL! 🧡 – and, it’s a bit overwhelming.
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I know I’m not alone. A lot of people are talking about the dramatic and intense pace acceleration of the last month. Summer is over. SO over.
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But in good news, fall and all its lovely crispness and gorgeous red, orange, and golden beauty is here. And of course, so is the pull to do way more. The pull to do perhaps way too much. It’s a lot. Need to rein your October schedule in? Here are a few tips to help:

1. 1. NOTICE what’s been draining your attention this past month. Has your schedule become too packed and unwieldy? If you’ve become over committed, then chances are your calendar is running you, instead of you running it. Get aware of what’s going on, it’s the first step to changing anything.

   2. PAUSE. One of my favorites, I never get tired of it. I know you think you have to cram more in, but in reality, when you sloooooowwwww things down, it amps up productivity. This is because you’re able to assess what actually matters most and put those all important first things first, and typically those are things that matter most to you. We can only evaluate what’s working if we take a moment to actually do so.

   3. YOU decide. Start building out your schedule with what YOU need and want to focus on. Make sure that time to think and strategize remains on your schedule. Use those blocks as anchors and then let the necessary meetings and obligations populate available time slots. Be strategic, don’t try to cram it all in, and don’t sacrifice what matters most in your priorities.

So many people I know are working this in the other direction, scrambling to do it all, not taking even a small breath, and wedging in the deep focused thinking time in the cracks of their schedule.
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The outcome? These important blocks of time, time for you to be your best most strategic thinking self–even if these blocks are super brief–just don’t happen.
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That’s why you must decide what needs gets on your schedule first, place your priorities first. The good news? It’s never too late to get your time, life and schedule back under control. New month, new opportunity to make an adjustment. And remember, small tweaks compound over time into massive change. Keep going.
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