Q4 Planning and Getting Cozy (+ Free PDF Quarterly Planner)

Emily here, writing from New York, where we are slowing down, embracing the season, dropping leaves and dropping temperatures.

The garden is dug up, the plants are brought inside to avoid frost, we’ve gone apple picking, and I have switched to crockpot meals.

But I always struggle with this season transition... I hate to give up sunshine, hot weather, and living life barefoot and in the dirt, but I love knowing that autumn always brings a soothing presence, a quieting, and brings holiday goodness that I love. 🎃🦃🎄

This year, I’ve been trying to embrace the transition and take time to slow down, regroup on my habits, and move with intentionality through business and in the home.

Before I can completely relax, I always need to reset. Like trying to sit down to read a book or watch a movie, but having that list of, "Maybe I'll just do that quick" things running through my head.

Instead of a spring clean, I love an autumnal clean-up so that Q4 feels like that big comfy sigh of relief when you sink into the couch after the laundry is folded, dishes washed, a project finally finished, or a day spent filled with productivity doing whatever else is running through that to-do list in your head.

Lisa and I had a business meeting recently (coffee dates and couch hangouts 😉) regarding business plans for the future, and we agreed that before diving into all of our big ideas, we have to clean up first. It’s hard to create something new when a Google Drive is in chaos, or you can’t find the Canva design you were using last year for your content planning.

But... Does it have to be a deep clean? All or nothing?

I was dragging out the Halloween decorations → but nothing could go up until I cleaned the house → but I couldn't clean the house until I gathered up the shoes, water bottles, and gardening supplies strewn across my house from summer.

The final results were half the decorations up → half a clean house → I got interrupted to make dinner and felt unsettled because I didn't check everything off of my made-up mental to-do list.

It's the same with business. I've been putting off cleaning up that Google Drive because it feels like it needs to be an all-or-nothing, when in reality I need to find the files so Lisa can put together our content plan. It just needs to be one piece at a time, and we need to stop making up rules for our own internal to-do lists.

“We laugh, we hurt, we fall, we get back up. We’re a mess. And that is… fantastic. ‘Cause… being messy just means… being alive. And we could all do with being a bit more alive."

-Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), Ted Lasso

We strive for perfection in so many areas of life, but being human is messy business, and we make up silly rules for ourselves. Everything doesn't have to be pie-in-the-sky, and progress is better than perfect.

Lisa and I are really working on not getting stuck in the loop of, “I can’t do this until this is done.” We’re cleaning up, we are refreshing the page, we are taking a breath, and we are just starting.

Messy moments are the backbone of creative businesses. The unfinished drafts, the hundreds of Google Doc ideas, the cluttered desk. These aren’t signs of failure or being “behind”; they are indications that you are actively living and creating. 

Don't let Q4 hustle the productivity and focus right out of you just because you're trying to check off all the to-dos you've been procrastinating this year.

We aren't pulling 80-hour work weeks through the holidays. We are getting organized early and making space for downtime, creativity, and joy.

Q4 is go-time for so many business owners planning for Black Friday deals, New Year launches, or special collabs, but amongst all of the planning and launching, are you scheduling downtime? 

Taking time to slow down and schedule yourself free time stimulates creativity and gives your brain much-needed time to recover. As entrepreneurs and business owners, we don't get paid days off, but that doesn't mean that we don't NEED days off.

Don’t just schedule your breaks in alignment with the holidays; schedule yourself a free Friday for a long weekend, slam that laptop shut, and walk away until Monday. When you log off, log off. Delete the apps from your phone if you have to, barricade the office door if need be.

I’ve been sticking to my boundaries (with myself) and avoiding my work and office all weekend long. I’ve canned some apple butter, and I’ve been digging into a new book series, and I can feel a change. My weekends feel more sacred, and I look forward to them, instead of crunching my way through life tasks with work tasks nagging me in the background. I feel calmer, I'm more focused at my desk, and I have been building a better routine throughout the week by scheduling times to be “on” at work and “off” work, doing things I enjoy... Like reading a new, giant book series and nerding out over it:

“Being eaten by a bugbear makes me uncomfortable, Carl. So if your boyfriend ogling your tootises keeps these easy-peasy bugs coming at us instead of more of those lava-spitting llamas, then you better buck up, get over your human male privilege, and take one for your princess.”

- Princess Donut, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

I hope your Q4 is filled with fun and frilly things, maybe a spooky or silly thing this season.