When my four kids were little, I used to feel really sad when they went back to school in the autumn. However, this September I actually looked forward to getting back into a routine, albeit a busy one, filled with fall sports and various back-to-school events. I’ve come to love the little moments of quiet between getting the kids out the door and the bus pulling away.
As the autumn begins, I feel a combination of total overwhelm and excitement for the season ahead. After all, as fun as these events are, this season can be incredibly busy for many of us! And I’ve come to learn that my active creative brain makes mistakes from time to time, especially during this hectic time of year.
That’s why I’m here to tell you that slipping up every once in a while is perfectly okay.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
The first week of September, I scheduled an appointment with my client at the same time I needed to attend a morning orientation for my daughter who’s starting high school. On the way home from orientation, the client called me—I had totally forgotten the meeting in all the excitement!
While I started to beat myself up mentally, after a moment of reflection, I instead decided to embrace the mistake. After all, as someone who is generally quite organized, this wasn’t a usual occurrence. Because I had built a reputation for reliability and a fabulous relationship with my client, the whole issue was easily fixed just by being honest and offering my client a free coaching session to thank her for her flexibility.
Come Up for Air in October
We all have our stressors and our unique challenges this time of year. I recently heard from a military spouse whose son is blind. Often, she struggles to find him services, which can get especially overwhelming at the beginning of the school year. Between appointments, school events, orientations, and meetings, all of us have a lot on our minds, especially during the busy autumn season. So, it makes sense that we might miss something here or there—we’re only human, after all!
To celebrate the hard work of transitioning from summer to autumn, I’ve decided to coin October my “coming up for air month.” And I encourage all busy moms, entrepreneurs, and spouses to schedule some downtime in their calendar. Even if you have a lot of September obligations, just knowing that you can schedule some “me time” in the month ahead will remind you that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
I was swamped with work this week and will be incredibly busy for the rest of September. So, I decided to take a moment to stop what I was doing, text a couple of girlfriends, and begin planning a movie night out for October. What is your signal that you’re doing too much? And how can you motivate yourself to make it through this hectic time of year, while forgiving yourself for any minor snafus that come up along the way?