At last, it’s raining.  Not only does this mean some much needed grass should grow so my sheep might stop ‘wandering off’ but it also means I find myself at my desk which is a place I have avoided for the last 3 weeks almost completely.  That’s been, quite frankly, really rather lovely.  We haven’t been away but the children have been home since the beginning of July so the pattern, the timetable, the days (and the fridge/oven/poor, poor washing machine) have all been turned on their heads.  It’s a good feeling.  Yes, there will be an element of gentle chaos building up in the filing trays by my desk and yes, that will take a while to sort out come The Day (as yet unidentified in The Diary).  But, my friends, So What?  It is SO easy in the general busy-ness of everyday life to get swept up in the Business of being Busy.  Because surely if we are rushing from pillar to post with a ‘phone in one hand and a Flat White (in a reusable cup) in the other with a nice notebook somewhere in a nice bag with LISTS and THINGS and URGENCY then we must be doing something right.  Right?

Hmmm.  Maybe.  But one of the many things I really love about the enforced change of daily life brought on by the long summer holidays is that we have to see things in a different light and shake things up a bit.  Suddenly, what we thought was really, really life threateningly, breathtakingly, overwhelmingly important becomes…. oh, what was that thing anyway?  Exactly, it becomes forgotten and irrelevant.

I’m not suggesting we let go of our professional brains completely.  Over the 8 weeks or so, I still have clients coming to see me and I still go through the same process of preparing, coaching, writing follow up notes and considering where they should be aiming for next.  Of course, they still get the same level and style of coaching.  But when I’m not doing that, like you, I am probably more likely to be outside with my children rather than going back to my desk.  And that’s when you have time to see things differently, when you are not really setting out to consider this or that aspect of your business, some idea is going to pop into your mind.  So that’s what I’m flagging up.  Be aware of the space and freedom that bring new ideas, new targets, new goals to come to mind.  Then just put them on hold until we all go back to the hurly burly of ‘normal’ life in September!