Are You Thriving or Surviving This Summer?

By Tricia Scott

It's that time of year. School is out for the summer, you can't get anyone on the phone for love or money, and as the weather heats up (even here in the UK), it seems every email is instantly responded to with an 'I am currently away from my desk' autoresponder. 

Are you feeling it?  

There are two sides to August, depending on who you speak to. It's either the frustrated business owner looking to get hold of someone, anyone, to make that sales decision, or it is the parents and caregivers run ragged at home, kids on school holidays living on leftover turkey dinosaurs and cold beans who cannot even fathom managing anything other than refereeing the ten thousandth boxing match of the morning.

In either case, the answer is To Stop. Drop. And Rethink. 

In both scenarios, we're working flat out, and it's not working, so let me save you a lot of heartaches, my beauty; you can't do it. 

Nope. 

Much like you've only got so much wardrobe space (don't I know it) and so much brain bandwidth, similarly, you've only got so much time to do all the things you need to do, including looking after yourself and your own time. 

Ah, time. 

We're all stuffing SO MUCH onto our already overflowing plates under the banner of 'nurturing' (our family/ business/ colleagues/ insert-your-own-here), but get this. If you want a successful (enjoyable and happy) business and some actual,real sleep, you have to get logical about your time and energy.

You already know what happens when things get out of whack: You start showing up late, tired, and feeling like a great big hot mess in a constant state of panic. It's no good for you or anyone around you. Everything will suffer, including you, and your endeavours will be less than your best work (to put it mildly). 

Now, don't get me wrong, slowly and strategically does not come easily to me and the thought of stopping everything to 'take time out for me' makes me want to gag, quite frankly, so what is a girl to do? 

I am, by nature, a nurturer. I am basically programmed to take care of those around me, and it has been known occasionally to be to my detriment, so I have had to devise a way to work in several companies, use two mobile phones, an iPad and two computers and still take care of the people around me and myself with the same 24 hours in a day as everyone else. 

It comes down to stamina. 

Not patience. Patience requires forced stoppage time, and as we know, anything that feels forced just isn't going to cut it, so I prefer to use the strategy of stamina. Think about the athletes in Paris right now; I guarantee you that none of them got onto the world stage in a day or two of throwing themselves into a pool or onto a gymnastics mat. They grew into their sport, little by little carving out time every day to become better (and with a team of coaches, but that's a love letter for another day).

Little and often feels so much more manageable to me. I don't have to fly around at 400mph, so I fit it all in today. I'll chip away at it; I'll create better things over time and do just enough to achieve my objective and retain my sanity at the same time. It won't always be perfect, but I know I can adjust as I go. 

I can plan (and I do), and when I look at my diary, and it's completely packed out, I'm no longer afraid to say no. It may not be a flat-out no, but it might just be a 'not right now'. Good work takes time, and you owe it to yourself and your business to give it your absolute best. 

That brings me back to where we started. How do we manage the energy of the day (or the month)?

There are options; you can choose to throw your hands in the air in an 'if you can't beat em' join em' grab your bikini, and head for the nearest pool bar until everyone is back at work (tempting, I agree) or you can look at this time for the gift that it is. 

While the world (it seems) is away, you can rethink, plan, strategise and use your time to your best advantage because in a few weeks, when working hours are back to normal, you'll be ready, front and centre. You'll be striding ahead while everyone else gets back into their stride.

You can also decide that you are doing as much as you can, mute every ding, swish, ping and donk notification, and build a blanket fort

or...

You can take the strategy of stamina and look at where you can carve a few minutes into your day. If you only have 10 minutes, what's the priority? Can you get the ball rolling on something and pick it up again in ten minutes tomorrow? And then the day after? What would feel good today?

Where can you mute the noise on what you don't need, tune into the things you do and chip away at offering the best that you can given the time you've got whilst still giving at least time to yourself to allow that space for creativity that I'm always going on about? 

Because that space, that little bit of time between the 'things' every day, is where the magic happens.

Your time, your energy, your way. 

I believe in you (always).

👉🏼If you want to journey with me through 2024, I email our Hello CEO mailing list every Monday. To join, head to The Homepage and sign up!

Tricia Scott is a passionate startup business mentor and the Founder and Editor of The Female CEO - Create Evolve Overcome, a platform and digital magazine holding the space to showcase female entrepreneurs from all over the world. 

The Female CEO is gaining global recognition daily and Tricia is able to bring her own level of expertise as a start-up mentor and multi-company director to her very exclusive table along with her team of brilliant Guest Editors and Contributors. You'll usually find her with her MacBook in one hand and a coffee or a glass of something fizzy in the other. Reach out anytime!