Whether it’s long summer days spent by the pool, Independence Day barbecues or Griswold-family-style road trips, most of us have some fond memories of summer vacations past. Particularly here in the Midwest, where winters can seem to drag on forever, summer gives us all a chance to get outside and enjoy all that our cities have to offer.
In legal marketing, summer also used to mean a slower season, a chance to catch up on all of those things you didn’t get to earlier in the year and some time to plan for the fall.
Now though, it seems a time when everything speeds up. I talk with so many of you, and it seems we’re all wearing the same frantic, stretched-too-thin faces that come from never having enough hours in our days.
But I think it’s even more important when we’re busy to try and schedule some breaks to recharge the batteries and get a bit of perspective. It enables us to be better people and to be better at our jobs.
Maybe you can’t take a month off to rent a convertible and go on the great American cross-country road trip. But there are some small things you can do to give yourself a break:
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Tune In. Schedule lunch with a friend or colleague once every two weeks. This could be someone you know through LMA (or someone you want to get to know), someone you work with in another department, or maybe a connection on LinkedIn that you want to get to known better. Expand your network and your support system.
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Check In. Schedule a two-hour meeting with yourself. Create an inventory of everything you’ve accomplished so far this year. Then dust off the marketing plan you put together at the end of last year and compare. Reevaluate your goals for the next five months. Then go back to your list of accomplishments and give yourself a pat on the back.
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Check Out. Schedule a little time for yourself. Volunteer. Take a road trip. Go to the beach. Take a hike in the woods. Attend an outdoor concert.
The important thing is to do something for you and forget about work for a while. It will still be there when you return, not unlike the pile of dirty laundry that follows you home from a great vacation!
Midwest Conference
Our volunteers have been busy putting the finishing touches on the 2013 Midwest Conference. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending this worthwhile event. The dates are Thursday, Sept. 19 for our evening networking reception, with the conference on Friday, Sept. 20 at the Metropolitan Club in the lovely Sears (I mean, Willis) Tower. More information on the conference will be sent out shortly. We hope to see you there!