Hey there,

One consistent habit I have is tracking my time on my Google calendar with a color-coded mosaic of projects and activities.

The purple Daring Studios calendar with commitments to clients, colleagues, and other time-anchored and work-related meetings. The cherry blossom red Movement calendar with planned runs, dog walks, and softball games. The flamingo pink Adventures calendar with Spanish and piano lessons, board games, and social events. A light blue for life things, a dark blue for moveable working blocks, and a mango color for writing projects and content.

As I both forecast my time to plan and then track the truth of the week as it happened, this tapestry of time provides quite a wealth of information and insight when I reflect on it.

And as summer wraps up and the final quarter of the year begins, this transition has become a natural reflection and planning point.

A few highlights & insights from my calendar reflection:

• Spending the time to build out the supportive structure of a Notion dashboard with the various active and potential projects was worth it. In July 2023, I started with the Notion Starter Pack from WAIM - a business coaching program I’m in - and found it helpful. This August I’d learned enough from using that one about what works in my processes, what I like, and what wasn’t quite a fit for me to iterate into a new version. And it feels good.
• The intentional effort I’ve spent working ON my business foundations feels good AND ALSO is a work-in-progress. Things like reworking my website, clarifying my newsletter strategy, relaunching my Substack, teaching a few in-person workshops, and developing two new group offerings - the Solopreneur Strategy Sprint & the Building Business Challenge.
• Things just take the time they take, and as much as I’d like to hot-wire and rush things, that’s both harder and less rewarding. Building momentum takes consistency and time. That’s what it means to me to play the long game. And that’s what I’m practicing and aiming for.

While you might not have a color-coded calendar, you can still gain insight from a bit of reflection.

Here's how

1. Make a list of the activities, projects, accomplishments, and challenges over the past month, quarter, or the summer.
2. Add a layer of meaning with an icon, emoji, or a feelings-based grade. For me, WAIM’s Calm Launch Formula gets A+, 🎯, and 💯 as a helpful and supportive guide.
3. What do you want to stop doing, start doing, or amplify/continue doing over the next month, quarter, or season?

Choosing the right projects to focus on starts with reflection and surfacing insights about what’s true right now.

So, what’s true for you right now? What are a few insights you got from doing a bit of reflection?

More soon,

Rachel

P.S. If you, like me, need a bit of external support to help you make strategic progress working ON your business, reach out.

PPS: Poison ivy is not fun (F,👿, 👎🏻). I do NOT recommend it.