I’m already looking forward to July even though it’s still several weeks away.
It happens to be the only month this summer where I’m not traveling. Getting to July will also mean that I’ve completed a few large tasks on my plate.
In June, I officially launched SoTL by Design; I’m also editing my fourth book manuscript early in the month; as soon as that’s done, I’m trying to finish some revisions on my fifth book proposal and get that into my publisher.
As with most months, June is busy. July, however, seems filled with possibility.
July holds a special place for me because it’s when I launched the branding components that would become my side business two years ago. The You’ve Got This podcast was launched in July. My professional website was revised (it’s since been revised a few more times). I also launched what would become The Academic Creative, my newsletter and blog.
This year, July will also include some much-needed time for rest.
I’ve needed a break for a while, so I’m looking at the possibility of pulling back in July to get in some rest. I don’t have vacation time to take, so I will still be working full days. I will also need to continue to publish podcast episodes and blog posts. But July will represent the first month in a while that I won’t be taking on a significantly larger project.
Over time, I’ve learned that I need to plan for restful periods like this because my project pipeline is full. These restful periods are necessary, though, because they act like fallow seasons, giving my brain and creative energy a chance to recharge.
Here are some of the things I’ll planning to build into my July schedule:
- Morning workouts. These are going pretty well lately, so hopefully it will just be a habit by then. I’ve been using Aaptiv to stay motivated and to change up my workouts each day since I stopped working with my personal trainer due to some scheduling conflicts.
- More sleep on the weekends. Whether this is sleeping in or taking naps, I want to get more shut eye.
- No weekend meetings. These have crept into my calendar lately due to the recording schedule for AcademiGig (now Make Your Way). I’ve also been taking weekend meetings to get my next book proposal drafted with my co-author and that should also be completed by July as well.
- No evening work. This means planning ahead for podcast releases on the weekends, so I can publish each episode with the click of a few buttons. It also means just generally using my weekends as efficiently as possible for side-business work.
- More reading. I’ve gotten back to novel reading lately and it has been a great reminder to slow down and set aside time for solitude. My to-read pile is always quite large, so I’d like to tackle some extra books this summer.
- Strategic planning. Fallow and rest periods are perfect times to review how things are going and to make plans for the future. I’m well into my 1,000 day plan and a lot of things are coming to closure with those goals, so it’s time to think about what’s next.
Hopefully, July will offer a nice chance to relax a bit and planning it now gives me a nice feeling of anticipation as I wrap up some larger projects in June.
To think on:
- Do you plan for restful or fallow periods with your creativity?
- What kinds of things do you do to recharge?
