Hey, Women and Womxn — it’s been a while since FSW has been online! I’m excited to get back to writing. An unexpected trip took me away from home and while I thought I could work some, it didn’t happen that way. I’m glad to be back and reconnecting with you all once again!

When driving back across the western half of the country, I was getting a little spun up… The beauty of an online business is that it can hit the road with me, but my time was spent in all sorts of ways and I wasn’t sure how I’d find my groove again. It hit me after getting angsty: some of you may be in a similar boat, too. Holidays, family demands, surviving 2020-2021, and feeling like you’re treading water, have created gaps, absences, and times of pause.

That’s why I wanted to share four tips and ideas that I’m doing as I get back on track, too. However, I want to intentionally accelerate, not bust through things without thinking. Let’s just look at regrouping with intentionality, grace, and accelerate steadily, eh? Here we go!

Tip #1: Self-care and Compassion Set Your Foundation

I do write about self-care and compassion a lot for a couple reasons. First, we can be our own worst enemy sometimes. Second, I’m quite poor at providing myself these gifts sometimes, so it feels important to mention them and practice, practice, practice.

Use whatever words make you like, but when we look at foundational shifts, it usually begins with loving on ourselves a little more, forgiving ourselves, and believing in our ability to change. From there, we can make amends, step forward, and move in a new direction of productivity. During the last few weeks I’ve been basically offline; initially, I was pretty wigged out about it. But as I was dealing with tasks, necessities, roles, and more, I can see that time was filled with a ton of “work,” just not what I envisioned.

Perhaps that’s another tip: expectations only get us so far, friends. While we go into a work week, or a length of time, with goals, objectives, hopes, and desires, if they don’t pan out it’s usually more complicated than “not trying hard enough.” Let’s just dust ourselves off and get back on the path we want to travel on.

Tip #2: Assess the Gap in Work & Regroup

We don’t need to dig too deep here, but suffice it to say that if we recognize why the gap happened, and the choices and lessons involved, we have more information for the Future Us to work from. To be transparent, I found out (again) that my body can’t run on empty and what happens when it does. I also mulled over some of my past history and present choices, which was interesting.

All-in-all, being away from work made me realize just how badly I missed it. If we set aside my general nature of being busy and independent, I missed even more working with women and womxn and connecting with them. Who knew I’d even miss connecting with others on social media… I know, Hell hath frozen over, People.

In all seriousness though, have you had work situations, that you deeply missed after an absence? If so, what was involved in that job or work environment? If you haven’t found yet “what you would miss,” let’s talk about that more: what job/occupation would you miss after being away from it for a while? What would that look like? If inspired right now to share, I’d love to hear from you 1:1 or by commenting below.

Not only did I miss home, but I realized I missed what I’m doing in this business. What a blessing, y’all, and I don’t take it for granted. So, after reflection comes the next steps: organization and then action.

Tip #3: Grab Old and New Organizational Tools that Work

Being gone nearly three weeks meant I lost track of time, a routine, my schedule, and more. Getting stuck in a snowstorm in Montana didn’t help either: the tears and cuss words came out, and it was worse because I only had one more remaining day on my drive. The Fates said I was staying put in the hotel, though, and that’s probably better than getting stuck in a ditch or on a mountainside.

Now that I’m back at my desk my tasks feel a little insurmountable, but I’ve tried to break them down into categories:

• Wrapping up 2021 efficiently
• 2022 planning
• Weekly and daily to-dos for both objectives

I’ve already written about organizational tools and, funny enough, this post was written 45 days before 2021 began. While we’re only a few days away from 2022, I’d say use what works, friends! Grab that planner, those sticky notes, the markers, the whiteboard, etc. Use the phone or tablet, if that’s your thing, and use a buddy system, too!

Tip #4: Remember to Create a Productive, Intentional Pace Not a Rat Race

Nobody likes the feeling of the Rat Race, deep down anyway. It’s not a sustainable pace and one that’s holistically focused. Understanding we don’t live in a bubble, without stressors or triggers, how we orient our environment, ourselves, and our work, naturally affects our well-being. If there’s anything that you can do to create a balanced, intentional work plan, it’ll be a beautiful gift to yourself. I promise.

• Have some clutter driving you nuts after gift exchanges? Donate, re-gift, etc.
• Exhausted after family or friend shenanigans? Downtime and quiet works wonders; even five minutes.
• Feeling like you want to make some professional changes in 2022? Write them down and reflect on them—the what, the why, and the how.

Intentionally accelerating is a mode of movement that doesn’t have to be quick, per se. And definitely, the last couple years of pandemic living has been pretty damn exhausting, but we’ve also seen shifts in our own activities, dreams, and behaviors. However, if we accelerate too much, too often then we can burn out, right? Not worth it. Let’s sit and marinate on how 2022 can become an intentional year in the work we do or want to do. Though, if that seems overwhelming, how about we reflect on what we can do in our work today? Hmm, maybe that can be a new bumper sticker motto: “Less rat race, more intentional pace.”

On that note, I hope you’ve had a good December and thank you for your patience in my absence. I look forward to reconnecting and hearing what your 2022 could look like—what is the work you do (or could do) that you’d deeply miss if away? What makes your heart sing? Feel free to share 1:1 or comment below. If you’d like to join the FSW Circle for updates on posts and upcoming projects, go ahead and become a part of it. Feel like taking a free quiz for fun? You’ll get a lil’ mini-guide to help you regroup and feel less lost. As always, I’m walking on a journey, too, and I’m by your side as you reconnect with yourself and your strengths. Happy Holidays!