Summer doesn’t end in the seasonal sense until September 21st (here in the northern hemisphere), but the end of August certainly feels like a last chapter. So in this week’s episode of Best of Both Worlds, Sarah and I reflect on the summer of 2022. What worked? What didn’t? What are we thinking about for future summer plans?
Sarah announces some major work news in this episode. I’m personally very excited to have this podcast be the beneficiary of some of her freed up time! You can read more about her decision in her blog post today.
In the Q&A we address a listener who’s looking for inspiration on how to enjoy a slower season at work after a blistering past year. How can she use the time well and keep low-value work from filling the extra minutes?
Please give the episode a listen! We’d appreciate a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts. We didn’t do an official 5th anniversary episode, but this podcast is now five years old, if you can believe that. The best way to celebrate would be to let a friend know about Best of Both Worlds! We’d love to grow our audience for the next five years!
Great episode! I often forget to reflect on what went well so this was perfect timing to look back and make some notes.
The structure of the question askers job is so different from mine but I wonder if planning PTO days would help – like intentionally setting aside 1 day/month or however often she wants to give herself a break would help. This is something I am working on. I tend to only plan/take PTO when we have a trip. Pre-kids I would take what I call “shouldless days” – on those days I only did things I wanted to do, no shoulds like laundry, errands, etc. I’m trying to get back to taking those once/quarter, but if I don’t plan the time off, it doesn’t happen and for me, I need to take those days off in advance or the day will get filled up with meetings. i.e. it would be hard for me to decide on a Monday that I would take that Friday off. So maybe she can clear her calendar for a certain number of days over the next 3-6 months?
Similarly, I meant to do a one-one-one day with our son this summer and now here we are at the end of August and it never happened because I did not put it on my calendar/block off the time. So I’ll end up doing it this fall, which is fine because he’s in daycare. Next year I will need to do it in the summer because he start kindergarten in Sept. In my mind I thought I should watch the weather and pick a day when it would be nice enough to go to the pool. But then my days filled up with meetings and it just didn’t happen.
This is me, too! And it’s gotten worse in the last 2 1/2 years, with less travel. I have the best of intentions, then end up “burning” the days doing chores or other low-enjoyment tasks. I get so mad at myself but I don’t do it any better!
@Lisa – It is true that many summer fun events are weather dependent – and meetings get booked regardless of the weather. What I’ve done sometimes to make sure my Mommy Days happen is pick a weekday date for any that are weather dependent, and then designate a back-up date too. The back-up date usually isn’t a workday because it is hard to leave one day open and then a second nearby mostly open but I pick a light weekend date and then if it did pour, my husband will cover the weekend spot with the other kids. That isn’t my first choice but if I need it as a back-up slot it’s there.
Really enjoyed this episode. Especially the honest conversation around screens. I struggle with how much time my kids spend on screens and try different screen time rules and nothing sticks. Mostly because I don’t want to spend the mental energy to monitor. I like the idea of just having a more relaxed approach to screen time. When I feel they’ve been on screens for a while I can just say, “Hey, take a break!”
@Jessica – this is me. Strict rules just take so much mental energy from me to enforce that it doesn’t feel worth it. There are times the screens go away, there are lots of other activities, and I reserve the right to kick any kid off who’s been on too long…