Hello there,
Welcome to my newsletter “One small thing.” I am so pleased that you are here. I help busy, professional women to escape from frustrated, miserable and exhausted to living life and doing the work that matters most to you.
I am just back from my two week summer holiday. We make good use of the fact that we no longer need to go away in the school holidays (one perk of being middle aged). Also the best of the summer in Scandinavia falls in the months of June and July. We went to Sweden and it was heaven. I had a really good rest and read 8 books (I'm a fast reader). If you are looking for reading inspiration for your summer holiday, check out the titles in the "Something else to read" section. There is a good mix in there so you should find something you will enjoy.
Ok, I admit it, I didn't manage to leave work behind completely but I had a damn good try.
It's hard to switch off completely when you work for yourself. I worry that something might need my attention or that I am falling behind in some way. This is particularly true with running two very different businesses.
In the run up to going away, I always have lofty ideas of being mega-organised and scheduling two weeks worth of posts for social media and a newsletter for my coaching business. The reality is that I get so busy tying up loose ends and trying to clear the decks in my aviation medical work, that the other "stuff" simply does not happen. I was very impressed with myself this year for planning what I wanted to take, washing, ironing and packing my suitcase two days in advance. I am usually doing that the night before we leave. That results in a late night and being exhausted for travelling the next day.
I had a minor organisational hiccup in that I forgot to block off my coaching diary so someone booked a discovery call when I was away. When I realised, I rapidly blocked out the rest of my diary but decided to honour her 20 minute call. It was a small chunk of time in the grand scheme of things…
Then there are the dreaded emails. I did remember to set up my out of office reply with clear instructions for what to do if a problem was urgent. I made a conscious choice to check my work emails twice per week. That is a huge step forward for me, as I usually check far more frequently than that. I am the sort of person who hates a full inbox and likes to have it as close to zero as possible! I have found that I get more stressed if I do not check emails at all during my holiday. I know that it’s not good for me, but I have not found a way to stop doing it yet.
Yes, I do not have work emails on my personal phone and yes, I leave my work phone at home. So I have to make an extra effort to look at them. That is helpful but not bullet proof sadly.
I like to filter everything to make sure that nothing is urgent and then leave replying for my return. The more I do this, the more I learn that nearly everything can wait. Who knows, next year I may get brave enough to ignore them completely. I am a work in progress...
Sometimes, I find that I brim with new ideas when I am on holiday and my busy brain wants to make business plans or learn a new skill. Reading hours and hours of fiction sorted that out this year. My business brain has had a rest and I deliberately did not choose any business related books to read. Consequently I feel ready to plan and do exciting new things. Thank you to the authors, but you have planted a seed that I may want to write a book (already added to bucket list).
I returned ready to devote a day to working through emails and spent yesterday chained to my desk. I feel so much lighter today and ready get back in the groove of my work/work balance.
I like checklists and keep a mental checklist for holiday packing (I used to write it down when I also packed for children and the things that my husband would forget). Not any more, now everyone fends for themselves and they know far better than to ask me "Have we packed..." or "Where's my..."
With a view to leaving work at home, I decided to make a small business checklist for my next pre-holiday countdown:
Block out all diaries in online booking systems (I won't make that mistake again!).
Create an out of office auto reply for work email.
Create a new voicemail message with holiday dates and instructions to email me.
Leave my work phone at home.
Do not EVER put work emails back onto my personal phone.
Take a device (laptop or tablet) specifically for checking work emails twice per week, until such time that I am ready not to.
One or two months before, think about creating and scheduling social media posts/newsletter. Then do not beat myself up if it doesn't happen.
Plan fiction reading to prevent busy brain.
Take the afternoon off the day before departure. This was a game changer this year; not working until the last minute was far less stressful.
Remind myself that emergencies happen in hospitals and most other things can wait. I no longer work in a hospital.
What do you do to make sure that you leave work behind when you go away on holiday?
Is there anything that you would add to my checklist?
Coming soon…
I have decided to offer an additional paid subscription on Substack. This will allow me to increase the value I offer while also providing me with an income for the work that I put into my writing. It is called “Beyond Success” and aims to take you beyond the conventional parameters of success to finding the ones that matter to you.
The paid subscription will be £10 per month initially and include "One small thing" once per month, a monthly longer form post with a voice or video recording, and a monthly discussion webinar about the topic in the long form post. If you cannot make it to the webinar, I plan to make the recordings available for you to watch on catch up. There will also be a private chat function.
I will be covering similar topics to the things that you are used to me writing about but with an additional focus on the issues that women bring to executive coaching sessions.
Something else to read...
My list of summer reading:
Strange Sally Diamond - Liz Nugent
The King's Witches - Kate Foster
You Are Here - David Nicholls
Everyone Here Is Lying - Shari Lapena
Prefer audio? Then check this out...
"Kathy Lette's midlife mantra: if it doesn't spark joy, it's time to toss it away "
The Shift with Sam Baker
Coaching Prompt
"What do you do when you want to relax?"
What do love to do? Do you like to do nothing? Or do you prefer active relaxation?
How can you use this in your day to day life when things are really busy?
3 songs long
I chose 3 songs for the playlist because it lasts for 10 minutes (ish). That 10 minutes is the perfect length of time for you to either listen, relax, do an exercise snack, walk round the block, or do anything you fancy to music (go wild with your imagination). You can listen to my playlist or make one of your own.
That's it for this week. If you would like to explore how to take the next steps please check out my website to find out more about working with me. I have one place left for one to one coaching starting in mid July, and I would love to chat with you to see how I can help you to make a start on your next fabulous adventure.
Best wishes,
Lucinda x
Lucinda- I can totally relate with this sentiment here: "Yes, I do not have work emails on my personal phone and yes, I leave my work phone at home. So I have to make an extra effort to look at them. That is helpful but not bullet proof sadly." Now that work emails are on our phones, which come with us everywhere, it's becoming so much more difficult to leave it behind and yet stay abreast of development at work/home. This is a meaningful thought-prompt. I appreciate it. Hope you're well this week. Cheers, -Thalia
Thank you Thalia. I think taking baby steps in the right direction is a good start. Understanding why we have the need for constant connection comes next. And that is coming from someone who remembers the time before mobile smart phones!