Your guide to intentionally planning your next season of work
As you head into your next season of work, this is your reminder to give yourself the time and space to get clear on what you want this next season to look like for you. Each season in your business is different and will look different to others too. You may notice some seasons are focussed more on growth while others may be more about nurturing what you’ve created. I’ve shared some steps below to help you plan out your next business with intention, so you feel prepared and excited as you enter this season.
Step 1: Reflect on the previous season
I know there’s a tendency to want to jump straight in and plan the next season, but giving yourself the time to reflect on the last season can really help you identify what you’d like to bring with you and let go off as you plan out the next few months. Get a pen and paper, take a moment to reflect and answer these prompts:
What did you enjoy?
What worked well?
Is there anything you’d change?
What didn’t work and you can let go of?
This reflection helps you gain clarity on what feels good in your business and be intentional around what you incorporate into this season.
Step 2: Define the Purpose of this Season
As I mentioned above what’s the main purpose of this season - growth, nurture, shift, rebuild, sustain, recuperate? Knowing your purpose will help you in the next step with setting your business goals. As you want your goals to feel aligned with your purpose for this season. If your purpose is nurture but your goals are all focused around growth you may find these harder to achieve as your energy is focussed on nurturing rather than growing.
Step 3: Set Thoughtful Goals
Goal-setting is an essential part of planning your next season, but they can be done in a gentle and intentional way so they don’t feel scary or stressful. When setting goals for your business it’s important to consider your values and what’s important to you. Of course setting monetary goals that align with your needs are important but what other goals can you create that incorporate your values?
Example - if your value is freedom - how does that look in your business? Travel, passive income, flexible working? Identity what that looks like and then set a goal to help you incorporate this into your business
Step 4: Structure your work week around you
Have you ever spent the time really understanding how you work? Have you fallen into the 9-5 hours because that’s what we’ve always done. What if you didn’t have to work those times and actually you created your own schedule that suits how you work? And considers your energy levels, creativity flow, rest needs and goals. This may take some time to build into your structure, but start by finding out when you are most focussed during the day and week, then see if you can plan your days around when you are most focussed.
Example: I know my best times are in the morning and the start of the week, so my work days aim to look like 7am-3pm and Friday’s off.
Step 5: Create a plan that embraces flexibility
Remember it’s okay if things don’t always go to plan! That’s normal, but something that can help is creating a plan that allows for adaptability and flexibility. One way of doing this is blocking out empty space in your calendar so you can use that if you need to be flexible and switch things around! This not only helps you stay on track but also reduces that feeling of stress and overwhelm because you don’t have any spare time in your calendar.
Step 6: Regularly review your plan
Once you’ve made your plan, don’t forget about it. Schedule in a 30 min block every two weeks to check in and see how you’re getting on with your goals/plan. You may notice that some areas are lacking so you know to schedule more time to focus on those the following two weeks.
Step 7: Get excited!
You’ve done it! You’re about to enter your next season of work, with a purpose for the season, thoughtful aligned goals and a way of working that suits you so you can be more productive, creative, rested and balanced! Get excited, have a fab season of business!
If you would like help planning for your next season of work, I’d love to support you! Find out more about how we can work together in Your Season To Bloom here!