summer 2021 email series
Email 1: How to have a great summer (professionally AND personally!)
Originally sent May 20, 2021
Hi there,
It feels like the summer ahead will be a big one. As restrictions continue to lift and comfort with expanding our interactions and activities increases, most of us are hoping to incorporate versions of at least some of the things we’ve missed back into our lives, whether that’s time with extended family, gatherings with friends, travel, live events, or other favorite pastimes.
Those feelings of expansiveness and possibility just might have an inverse relationship with your desire and motivation to grind away at work. If that resonates, know you’re not alone. The problem, of course, is that workloads will probably not lighten in order to enable a free-and-breezy summer of fun.
So what’s a professional pulled in two opposing directions to do? I believe that, with a small upfront investment in prioritization and planning, and a willingness to release perfection, it’s possible to maximize the summer ahead and fulfill our most important personal and professional commitments and goals.
You in? If so, here’s the plan. Today we’ll lay the groundwork for you to begin prioritizing for the summer ahead. In my next newsletter (early June), we’ll talk about planning. July’s newsletter will focus on releasing perfection as we head into a holiday weekend and summer swings into full gear. Then in early August, we’ll take a pulse check and recalibrate as needed.
I’m trying something new this summer and moving the newsletter to a monthly cadence (first Thursday of the month). In the fall, we’ll return to the standard every-other-week schedule. This is how I’m planning to balance my priority of providing valuable content to you with a big personal commitment this summer!
When it comes to prioritization, I find it helpful to identify what’s not so important in addition to what’s important. It can help us make the tough trade-offs necessary to actually prioritize (after all, when everything is a “priority” then nothing is!).
That said, let’s start with what’s important to you – and for you – first.
On the personal front, what are you most looking forward to this summer? Put differently, what would you regret not making time for? Perhaps you’re most excited about taking a week or two of vacation or planning a series of weekend adventures (or both!). Or maybe you’re most looking forward to a weekly outdoor concert series or happy hours with friends. Write down your top few personal priorities.
On the work front, what are your most important goals and deliverables for the rest of Q2 and Q3? What do you need to accomplish – whether on your own or with your team – in order to do your job well, fulfill your responsibilities, and meet (or exceed) the objectives, KPIs, or other parameters by which your performance is measured? Hone in on your key actions and areas of focus that will enable you to deliver on whatever it is that matters most. Write these down too.
Now let’s talk about what’s less important. On the personal front, consider the activities to which you dedicate large chunks of time but don’t necessarily expect you’ll value as much in the months ahead, particularly in comparison to the priorities you already identified for this summer. Perhaps scrolling your social media accounts comes to mind, or binging on Netflix. It could be your workout schedule, which you’d rather lighten temporarily in favor of time spent outdoors with friends. Or maybe you’re willing to tolerate a slightly messier house for a few months (especially if your goal is to spend less time there anyway).
My goal with these examples is to spur you to question your assumptions about what’s actually required of you, versus optional activities that might get in the way of pursuing what you value most over the next several months; your actual “less important list” will probably look pretty different. Whatever makes the cut, write those things down!
Finally: what’s less important at work. This one may feel especially tough, particularly if you work in an environment where “everything is important” (which I’d argue is code for “our leadership is unwilling to make tough decisions and tradeoffs in order to achieve what’s most important,” but I digress). But if you’re like most professionals, you spend a significant number of hours each week on activities that don’t truly move the needle.
Are there standing meetings that are not particularly productive that could be held less frequently this summer? (Sometimes temporary schedule changes are a great way to start phasing those things out all together.) Could you check your email less frequently or turn off email/Slack notifications for periods of time?
If you’re not sure where to start, try tracking your time very closely for a few days. Once you have a few days’ worth of data to analyze, you’ll likely see some areas where you’re spending time on tasks that don’t move the needle or where you could work more efficiently if you were to minimize distractions. Another approach is to critically review all of the meetings on your calendar and shorten, modify, or cancel as appropriate (where you have the control to do so). Write down the actions you’re willing to take – or at least try!
Now you should have four short lists:
What you plan to prioritize personally during the summer ahead
Where you’re going to apply laser focus professionally
What you’re going to do less of on the personal front to make space for what matters most to you
The unproductive or low-value time drains you’re going to try to minimize during your work day, in order to achieve what’s most important (and allow you to spend a bit more time enjoying your summer)
If you’ve taken the time to create those lists, give yourself a serious pat on the back! If you don’t have time right now but see value in this exercise, I hope you’ll carve out space to work through it sometime soon.
I’ll see you back here in two weeks to discuss planning for and implementing your priorities and deprioritizations.
Best,
Courtney