EAP 176: Enjoy Summer AND Reach Your Goals

Early Accountability

With Memorial Day signaling the unofficial start of summer, it can be easy to shift to “vacation mode” and start coming up short on your personal and professional goals. On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, Kimi gives listeners 4 strategies for enjoying summer while being productive. 1. Define your work-life balance – Understand your personal, professional, and family roles and goals. Think through your desires and what works best for you and those around you during this season and then define what and when your breaks are going to be. 2. Plan, plan, plan – Consult with the stakeholders in your various roles to make plans and then commit to them. Write them down, set reminders, create alarms on your phone, and use timers when you need to stay on track and hold yourself accountable. 3. Set contingencies for yourself – If you have something coming up that you are looking forward to, come up with productivity milestones along the way where you get to reward yourself with as aspect of the upcoming event. For instance, when you finish this thing on your to-do list, you can book your flight, etc. Not only does this build up the anticipation of the trip, but it helps you spur on your productivity ahead of time, so you can truly enjoy yourself without feeling stressed about the work that you didn’t get done. 4. Intertwine work and fun – When possible, add on a few days of vacation to a work trip or schedule a meeting with a client if you are going to be in their area for vacation. Double-duty trips like this are cost-effective and beneficial because you are able to check a professional box and a personal box at the same time. Get out there and enjoy your summer and use these tips to maximize your time and productivity! Topics Covered in this Episode: • Productivity maximization • Intentional planning • Work-life balance • Time blocking • Self-awareness and motivation