I get so excited when the seasons change. Even living in Arizona in the desert I can feel the seasons shifting. I feel it in the air and I smell it. The same thing applies to what is happening in your life right now. It’s so important you don’t miss the shift in seasons as you prepare for the next three months ahead as a mom and business owner. Fall is for us to prepare for the winter that is to come. On that note, I’ve got five must-do productivity tips for fall, the top five things you need to do if you want to have the most epic finish to your year to start refreshed for the next. These productivity tips for fall are just for you if you are looking for more peace and less overwhelm in the middle of this crazy thing called life!
Listen below for the entire episode on The Systemize Your Life Podcast
Productivity Tips For Fall – 5 Tips For A More Productive Fall
There’s just something so beautiful about the opportunity that change brings. A lot of us tend to focus on the negative parts of it. I’ve learned to look for the good in each season and that’s what I want you guys to be able to do as well.
I’m going to drop 5 absolutely non-negotiable productivity tips for fall that you have to do over the next 2 to 3 weeks. Whatever it is that you’re focusing on I want you to make maybe 30 minutes to an hour once a week to sit down and do these 5 things.
I want you to truly think about each of these five things. I’m not just talking about the little nuances, these are the major undercurrents of your life. Whether or not you’re in tune with those undercurrents in your life, I really want you to listen to this change of season happening inside you. You need to listen and then you need to respond. So here we go with number one.
There’s just something so beautiful about the opportunity that change brings. A lot of us tend to focus on the negative parts of it. I’ve learned to look for the good in each season and that’s what I want you guys to be able to do as well.
Productivity Tip for Fall #1 – Plan Your Big Events
Get out your Google calendar and plan your big events for October and November and December. You need to put dates on the calendar when all of your big activities that you typically do in October, November, and December are going to be happening.
Blaine and I love this time of year because we can be outside all the time. You guys are going to have your own reasons that you love this time of year. Those reasons make you want to be super busy and you know how I feel about that.
Look at your work calendars and school calendars, and your kid’s vacation times. Get those things in the calendar and look at when your husband can take vacation time. Do you want to take a family vacation? Are you going to visit family? What does all that look like? Get it on the calendar now.
Go Ahead And Put It On The Calendar
If you’re waiting on other family members to tell you, reserve dates. Literally, put it in your calendar as a reservation so that you don’t accidentally overbook.
Blaine and I like to go to a haunted house and so we’ve picking out a couple really good nights that work and are looking for a sitter. We are already doing these things because they’re so important to us and a we don’t want to miss out on them. We want to have fun but be we also want to make sure that we’re prioritizing and not overbooking our calendars.
We’ve done this for a few years now and it’s absolutely the best thing that you can do. That’s why I put it at number one number. On to your second must do productivity tip.
Fall Productivity Tip #2 – Decide On Your Christmas Budget
Here’s the thing, you really should have a holiday budget prepared before you get to September. If you don’t that’s totally fine, I still want you to sit down and I want you to talk about what your budget is going to be.
Here is why, if you’re anything like me you start to get real excited about giving gifts to people. I need to have that budget like now or I’m just going to start buying things and stashing them in bags and putting them in places where I can’t find them.
Set Aside Your Budget
Or you may be the last-minute person that just goes all out and buys everything all at once which is not good for your budget either. You can even put the days that you’re going to go shopping in your calendar if you feel inclined to be that strategic. But the important part is that you just have your budget set aside.
Blaine and I use this amazing hybrid budgeting system that’s inside the Systemize Your Life Academy. We sat down and really put pen to paper. We had taken three months worth of expenses around the holidays and looked at what our dream holiday looked like.
Create A Celebration Account
We put down that number and then we looked at what is the bare minimum that we would feel good about. We put that number down. So we divided those numbers by 12 and every single month we put some amount in between those two numbers into what’s called a sinking fund. It really is a celebration account for all the holidays and birthdays.
We’re not just like spending our money that is supposed to go to other things. We are actually spending money set aside for celebrations. It’s been such an amazing thing. If you don’t have that yet that’s okay, you can start doing it now.
You’ve got like three and a half months to really start setting money aside to get prepared for what you’re going to purchase for Christmas. Productivity tip number three is meant to get you prepared for Christmas as well.
Productivity Tip #3 – Declutter Your House
Inside of the Systemize Your Life Academy we do the ESCAPE challenge. I’ve been decluttering and it has been so much fun. I’m actually getting ready to go declutter another space in my house with the entire community.
You’ve got to get your house situated. Especially if you’ve got kids that get lots of toys for Christmas. That means lots of toys need to be coming out of their bedroom over the next couple of months. Put it down on your calendar. I’m intentionally looking for what groups of toys do they already have so much of that they don’t need anymore of.
I want you to get your house decluttered especially since you’re going to be spending more time in it. You are preparing for a season when you’re in your home and you want it to be a cozy place, not a place that brings you down.
Share With Others
Share what you do in your homes to make it inviting for fall inside the Facebook group. I love hearing about your essential oil blends and all your tips. I don’t want fall to just pass you by and then boom you’re smack dab in the middle of winter and you’re not prepared.
Do what you can in your home to prepare it for more of an internal and inward season in your life. That’s what the next three months should be for. Sometimes that might even mean putting some fall decorations out and sprucing up your home. I love to decorate but don’t go overboard.
Your home is such an important part of this. Just keep running with the fill-a-bag challenge. Go room by room and start decluttering one space at a time. Alright number four.
Fall Productivity Tip #4 – Start Your Capsule Wardrobe
Start your capsule wardrobe. Do it. Stop waiting, just do it. We have an entire guide inside of the Facebook group. I cannot tell you how much of a game-changer it is when you pull all of your summer and your warm-weather clothes out of your closet.
Even if you have like a massive closet just put them up in baskets in your closet or put your summer clothes all the way to the back of the closet. Section them off and then have your main functioning cold-weather clothes right up front. Just make sure you’re swapping out your wardrobe ASAP. Now my last essential productivity tip you need as you go into fall.
Fall Productivity Tip #5 – Prioritize Your Health
Finally, the fifth productivity tip for fall is all about prioritizing your health. Now, I’m not a doctor, that’s my disclaimer. But what I do know is I’ve been spending probably the last 20 years really focusing on what my body was designed to do to be able to help its self. Just my body alone without anything that I do to it has the programming to keep itself running at an optimal level. It really depends on what we do to it that either enhances or brings it down.
So here are the ways that I prioritize my health in the fall to get prepared for winter.
Sleep
First and foremost is sleep. It is so important that you learn to rise and fall with the sun. Now I know that that’s not going to happen every single day. You’re supposed to truly be turning inward a little bit more. As the days grow shorter so will your time.
The point is don’t overbook yourself and make your days as long as you normally would in the summertime. There’s less vitamin D happening, it’s a real thing and it’s important that you start paying attention to the effect that can have on your body.
Make sure you’re prioritizing sleep as the seasons change.
Exercise
Keep up on your exercise.
You guys also should be thinking about your kids as well and how to prioritize what needs to happen for them and their health. We have to get really creative in the summertime on how to stay active and I’m sure a lot of you have to get creative on how to stay active in the wintertime as well.
Mental Health
The holidays can bring hard memories for a lot of you. Whatever your beliefs are, turn to the support system that you know and that you trust.
Focus On Your Mental Health
Two more things I do to prioritize my health.
Supplements
Vitamin A,D,C, zinc, thieves, or On Guard. We have all this stuff on hand. These are all absolutely vital. Find out and research what you need. Then we look at food.
Food
Please be storing very very nutrient-dense food in your lives. It is vital for your children. Cut the sugar out of their life. I’m not joking. If you’re feeding your children drinks that have artificial flavors, food coloring, or artificial sugar in them or real sugar added into their drinks start there. Then you can work on swapping out snacks.
For yourself like is there any way that you could find a really good coffee replacement that you can make at home? Those pumpkin spice lattes are no good. Well they taste good but you know what I mean.
What You Eat Matters
What you’re putting in your mouth matters now more than any other time of the year.
I know some of you might not be tapped into this right now. You’ve thought about it, so don’t ignore it. Start researching and start reading. Ask for book recommendations inside of the Facebook group.
It truly is such a big deal and such a game-changer and it really really can help you be prepared for the months to come.
Conclusion- You Can Have Less Overwhelm This Fall
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Plan your calendar
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Set your Christmas budget
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Declutter your house
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Start your capsule wardrobe
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Prioritize your health
Please tell me which one of these you love the most. Don’t overwhelm yourself, pick one and run with it. Tell me about it over inside the Facebook group. I’ll be hanging out over there waiting it’s to hear your answers until next time!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stay organized with all the things as I head into the busiest time of the year?
Just start one step at a time. Make sure you work on getting your 5-time blocks in place so that you can schedule out your week allotting time for the things you absolutely need to get done. Be sure to start off each week by working on prioritizing your Fundamental Needs – this is to keep you fully you and your cup full as you head through the busiest season! Remember, don’t try to take it all one at once. Just start one small step at a time! Find out more details on the Systemize Your Life Academy too if you need the extra support!
