First – there has been a scam going around for the past two years or so where people impersonate someone from an author’s team, and try to get other authors to do various things in order to be featured in their podcasts/newsletters/etc. I don’t know whether to be flattered or not but someone has claimed to be from a Laura Vanderkam operation (or talking about 168 Hours) and is sending scam emails about that. If you get something like that, please know it is not from me. There is no big team here – anyone hearing from me is going to hear from me! You can always reach out directly to me to check.
In the meantime, I’m doing what I can to prep for a busy season. I have a lot of travel in the next six weeks or so (some work, some fun), plus recording the audio book for Big Time. I’m trying to book as many podcasts and interviews for the book as I can in March, to get ahead of April (which could be busier!). But given the travel, everything has to fit into more narrow slots. And, oh yeah, I’m writing the second book in my 2-book deal, which is due in October. So I’m currently doing a lot of interviews and time log analysis for that.
I’ve been through this before, though, so I am prepared for it. There was a time right before 168 Hours came out when I was literally running to the post office in order to get a book in the mail to someone before going to another interview and I was like, huh, I wonder if it will always be like this. And the answer is, well, around book launches yes. If they are going well. You want people to be interested in the book!
When I know I’m going into a busy season, I become even more reliant on my weekly planning. I don’t need to know everything over the next 2 months, but I do need to have a good sense of what is going on during the next 2 weeks. I also try to lock things in earlier (when I know exactly what is going on, and know that time will be available) vs. later when I don’t know what might be happening.
I make sure to recognize open time too. I get antsy about when I’ll be able to create my own content (podcast scripts, newsletters, etc.) but time on planes is great for that, or time in hotel rooms when I don’t have family members around in the evening or early morning. I make sure to make space for running, which helps reduce stress. It turns out I can run at night on the treadmill, so I’m planning to do a lot of that!
How do you prepare for a busy season?
I decide upfront what things im going let go of during the season and what things I need to hold sacred (bedtime = keep, decluttering projects and reading can be paused, exercise but at a lower level, etc).