September is my favourite month.
We’re in the dog days of summer in the UK, with an enticing whiff of autumn in the air. I’m getting back into my routines after my summer break and starting to write again, from 8-9am every day.
After a month of not setting an alarm in the mornings, the first couple of days were a bit of a struggle. But I soon got back into the rhythm of it, and by mid-week I was at my desk with a coffee at 8am, ready to start.
I’d forgotten how much I can get done, in a focussed hour. And how much I enjoy it, once I begin.
I loved my August break. But I’m not fully myself when I’m not writing regularly.
We have four months of 2026 left.
Which is plenty of time to get something substantial done. This final third of the year is usually a fruitful time, for me. I’m rested after my summer break, the nights are drawing in and I feel ready to hunker down and get to work.
This year, that will mean finishing my next Useful Little Book, Time Management for Creatives. I’m also making an exciting house move, and launching a few new coaching programmes to support the creative professionals I love working with.
How about you? What would you like to make progress on?
Planning can help you make the most of your time.
If you’ve had a frantic summer (and most parents with school-age children will be feeling a little frazzled, right now), you might want to take a couple of days to recover before considering what you want from the next 120 days or so.
But if you’re rested and raring to go, just take an hour or two to journal and think about what you want to achieve in this next season.
Some questions to get you started:
- What would you like to do with the next four months?
- What needs your attention most?
- Is there a project you’d like to start – or finish?
- What could you do to move your business forward?
- Is there a system you could set up, a task you could complete that will make everything else lighter and easier?
- How are you going to tell your people about the work you already have out, the services you offer?
This is a perfect time for a reset.
In work, but also in the rest of your life. It’s important to include everything. It all matters! So questions like this are worth considering, too:
- What are you doing for fun?
- What do you have to look forward to?
- How will you look after your health and fitness, your general well-being in the next few months?
- What do you personally need most, at the moment?
- Do you have any big social commitments or family events? If not, do you want to plan some?
- How are you learning and growing?
- Is there a hobby or activity you want to try, or spend more time on?
Make a visual map of your next season
I like to journal generally until I get an idea of what I want, and what I already have on my plate. This often generates wildly over-ambitious lists of tasks, projects, ideas. To edit them into something more manageable, I draw a map, a rough plan.
I always try to pack in too much, and laying it out visually helps me see that. Trying to do less, I’ve realised, means I finish much more.
I keep it simple. I’ll lay out 16 post-it notes, in rows of four. Then I’ll write in what’s happening that week, and what I hope to achieve. If it won’t fit onto a Post-It note, it’s unlikely to fit into my week. And it gives me a useful visual guide to the next few months.
I’ve blocked out a week for our house move, for instance, when I won’t try to do other work. And that lovely time between Christmas and New Year is always for reading, planning, day-dreaming and long walks.
We have a couple of short trips planned, and there are weeks where I need to travel to a workshop or social event. But with my morning writing hour and at least two afternoons a week blocked out to write, I should still be able to get the book into shape.
There are some smaller tasks I might be able to do too: some changes to my website and email automations that will make life easier, and some new products/services I’m planning to launch. There’s a course I’d like to take, if I can. But almost everything else on my list can wait till I do my next 12-week plan at the start of January.
Does this feel too much?
There are times, for all of us, when our routines fall apart, or stop working for us. When the work has dried up, and we can’t see a way forward. When we feel grey and uninspired. And when life feels overwhelming.
If this is how you’re feeling right now, don’t do a grand plan. Just start small. Be gentle. You don’t have to catch up, because you’re not behind. You are when you are. Which is the only place you can be.
Accept this, then resolve to just pick up your tools, your materials, your instrument and play around for a while. Start with just 15 minutes a day, or 30. Mess around, make something. Give yourself full permission to be bad.
Get in touch with one old client or contact, and tell them you’re available for work. Go do something that inspires you: go for a walk, to an exhibition, read or listen to some good music. Write a long list of all your overwhelming tasks, then choose just one small manageable one. And do it.
Start with baby steps. Do them regularly, and gradually build to bigger strides. You’ll soon be in motion again.
Want to finish the year strong?
My ten-week group course on growing your creative business starts on October 6 at 7.30pm UK time. It might be what you need to set yourself up for success.
We meet every Tuesday on Zoom, and each week we discuss a different aspect of making a living from your creative work, in a small group of up to 12 professionals from different creative fields.
We discuss creative process and all the blocks that get in your way; talking about your work with confidence; managing your time, focus and energy; doing the admin, the planning and handling your finances; marketing and selling your work, and building new income streams; and looking after the most important asset your creative business has (which is you, of course!).
If you’re just starting out, it will help you build on strong foundations. If you’re more established, it will give your career or business a health-check and hopefully introduce you to some new ideas.
No matter what stage you’re at, it’s always inspiring to hang out with other brilliant creatives, to hear what’s challenging them and get their perspective on what’s challenging you. We all learn from each other!
Ready to grow your business?
If you want to attract more work, sell more of what you make, or if you just want to handle your existing work with more ease and grace, this course is for you.
Your investment is £645. For this you’ll get coaching from me, support from other creatives – and an ebook, bringing together all of the material we cover over the ten weeks, so you can keep acting on what you learn.
Book by September 16 and you’ll also get a free one-to-one coaching session with me, to help you with any blocks or . (This alone is normally £290.)
I don’t want anyone to feel they’re not getting value from the course. So if you join and find it’s not for you, I offer a no-quibble money back guarantee provided you leave before week 4. To book your place or find out more, just click below.
What do you think?