I love calendaring!
And it’s not just a one time thing. How I use mine and interact with it is always changing. I was recently reading a newsletter from Kiah Worling (tech genius!) and she had the following suggestion:
Create time to rest and recharge, strategise and plan by having “refresh weeks” blocked out in your calendar – weeks with zero appointments.
As I always convey to my clients, our calendars are support tools. They will be your best friend if you let it. Too often, due to traditional work conditioning, we think of our calendar as being outwardly focused. For other people.
But our calendar is somewhere that we can ensure we create a life that we want to live. That inspires us and keeps us grounded. Showing ourselves selfcare through creating space in our calendars to recharge and reconnect with big life visions is essential for ongoing motivation.
On top of a holiday
Kiah’s “Refresh Weeks” suggestion made so much sense to me the moment I read it that I couldn’t believe I wasn’t doing it already! What she does is have a recurring appointment, every 8 weeks titled “Refresh Week”. It completely blocks out the working hours for those weeks. It’s where she has no appointments and can use the space however she needs to.
I like the distinction she made too between these “Refresh Weeks” and a holiday. They both serve different purposes.
I’ve popped “Refresh Weeks” into my calendar now too. Unlike Kiah’s no appointments boundary for me it’s a time where I don’t take NEW appointments. I’ve so far had a couple of these weeks come around and it’s wonderful! It really is nice to have time for me and research projects or what not.
So the question is, how else can your calendar be supporting you?
