Take a breath. Pause for reflection. Enjoy a well-deserved break!
These are all things that may be available to us during the summer months. But summer’s quieter pace is also the perfect time to spend a little time re-setting your physical space, your systems, and your to-do list. Consider the stuff that gets pushed aside during the more hectic winter and spring that we just plowed through. Does your workspace – home or business – need decluttering and reviving? How about the systems you’ve set up? Do they need tweaking, or do you need to actually put together some new systems that you haven’t had time during busier months to consider?
These next couple of months may be the best time to take a breath, analyze what’s working and what’s not, and re-set before the busier pace of fall returns!
Consider some of these five tips to reset your workspace and your mindset this summer:
1. Purge what you don’t use.
Go drawer by drawer or pile by pile. Toss or shred outdated papers, donate unused office supplies, and delete digital clutter. Less visual noise = more mental clarity.
2. Reevaluate your setup.
Is your chair comfortable? Is your desk layout still working for you? Does the lighting work or are you constantly squinting to see and suffering from tired eyes and back by the end of the day? Use this time to tweak your setup for better posture, flow, and function.
3. Refresh Your Systems
If your to-do list method or calendar system isn’t serving you, summer is a great time to experiment with new tools or routines—before the busy season returns. You may have the chance now to try out that new planner, or task-management app. Maybe you purchased some new software or a new app you just haven’t had time to learn and evaluate. This may be a great time to play around with it and see if it fits your learning style and lifestyle.
4. Batch and Automate
Review any recurring tasks you can batch together or automate.
For work: email filters, calendar reminders, checklists or any other system you can put into place to automate processes that you waste time on re-creating every day.
For home: consider meal-planning tools or daily/weekly/monthly household chore and maintenance schedules and checklists to automate the stuff that often gets forgotten or causes stress when left undone.
5. Do a Calendar Audit
Look carefully at how you’re spending your time. Spend some thought on re-evaluating your priorities. If you’re able to enjoy a slower pace right now, think about how you can do some decluttering of your schedule as well. Better time management means better priority management. What’s still important and what may have run its course in your life? Are your meetings productive? Is your task list realistic? Are your priorities reflected in your schedule? Are you spending all of your time getting done what needs to get done and missing out on time for things you really enjoy and want to get done? Summer time is a great time for deep reflection along with all of those beach days and barbecues. Re-evaluate, re-set, and rejuvenate. Use this time to block space for thoughtful reflection, focused work, and rest, so that when Labor Day rolls around again, you jump into your fall refreshed and ready to go!
