Get in Your Best-Work Groove: October 2024 Tips
Get in Your Best-Work Groove: October 2024 Tips
Hint: it won't be by going flat out on your every single remaining 2024 goal
As we are about to head into October, we enter what at PF we like to call "Groove Month." There are generally two reasons we call it this:
By now we’ve gotten in the groove after September and transitioning from summer slows to autumn activity.
It’s generally the last full working month of the year, before holidays and travel and family things begin to displace work/business projects.
How do we wrap our minds around this great sense of possibility and expectation without burning ourselves out in the process?
Here we’ll offer some insights on how to manage exactly that balance — to set ourselves up for success in October, and for the dominos to fall how we want in the final quarter of the year:
Keep an eye on the quarter as you’re planning the month. October’s capacity might be fully half of the capacity you have in Q4. So as we peer towards October, plan the month Q4 and think about what the final last quarter of 2024 has in store. Adopting a bird’s eye view (with a measure of detachment and realism) will help position you to finish the year feeling satisfied. If you can’t complete a project you had high hopes to finish this year, consider what part you can accomplish now, and what you might postpone to pick up in January.
Q4 can be intimidating to get our heads around (asking for a friend…) — especially given the pressure we tend to put on finishing the year well. That’s why we offer special designated support for quarterly planning.
While these Quarterly Planning Sessions previously were available only as part of a Pro subscription ($500 value) — now you can purchase just one session at a time!
If you’ve been curious about what happens during a Quarterly Planning Session, this is your chance to experience it. We hope to see you for the next session Wednesday, October 2. ✨
Leverage your “Groove Month” — in a healthy way. Consider your own energy and seasonal rhythms in October. Is it “groove month” or a period of higher energy for you? Or is it a time to relax and enjoy the changing of the seasons, the pumpkin spice everything, and the holidays that litter this quarter like fallen leaves? Moreover: will you be at your best, and do more of your best work, if you work to finish off your 2024 goals this October, or if you take a moment to plan and recharge, so you can be ready to focus and groove come January? There’s no right way — it’s just the way that works best for you, and for the projects that are most important to you right now.
Consider the season for your work or business. What’s most important there? Is it a prime sales season (as it is for much of the retail world)? Then focus on your growth efforts. Or is it a slow season for sales (everyone’s money is focused elsewhere), so now’s a good time to clean up and close out 2024, and do some strategic planning for 2025. Consider what you can scaffold now to set yourself up for a successful rest of the year, whatever that might look like.
Avoid that Autumn Urgency Spiral. With October signaling the start of Q4, you might feel a temptation to “cram” as much as possible into the month. But squeezing an entire quarter’s worth of work into four weeks is a fast track to burnout. Look at your plans and assess which tasks and projects are mission-critical and which ones can be pushed into 2025. Prioritize what's going to move the needle for your company, career, or personal best-work project without sacrificing your mental and physical well-being. Feels like we keep saying this, but as per last month: there’s no good reason to fall for the autumn urgency spiral.
Be Intentional About Your Groove
Groove Month is about working smarter, not harder. Or as the US military says: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” That’s the essence of what a groove should be.
Consider October an opportunity to make real progress, but also to be realistic about what’s achievable before the holiday season. The goal is to finish the year with a victory lap, not a proverbial faceplant into the eggnog.
Future You will thank you for the smart decisions, the clear focus, and, most importantly, the space and energy to enjoy the end of the year. Let’s close things out on a high note, balancing work and family responsibilities, holidays, recovery, and progress on our best-work projects.
Once you’ve faced up to the reality that, yes, it’s really about to be Q4, download your free October weekly planners to work on getting into your own version of a groove month (whatever that means for you personally).
Premium subscribers can access the full suite of dated planners below (now including 2025's planners!). 👇
Keep an Eye Out for…
During September’s Monthly Community Coaching Call (MC3) we discussed managing our capacity with intention, defining what levels of success we want to play to, how to scale back for balance, and empower decision-making within your team. Pro and paid subscribers can watch the replay.
Eager to start visualizing your 2025 and sketching out plans to bring your best projects to life next year? If you’re an early bird planner and want to get ahead of the curve (or just ahead of the holiday shopping…🛍️) it’s the perfect time to invest in the Digital Momentum Planners (plus, the rest of 2024 included). Premium Subscribers get immediate access to the 2025 planners as a part of their paid subscription.
Tuesday this week marked the five-year anniversary of Start Finishing! We commemorated the occasion with a podcast episode featuring Charlie and Maghan. If you missed it, it went deep — exploring how doing your best work can transform you as an individual and create ripple effects for leaders and their entire teams.
Coaching Support in September
Our next Monthly Community Coaching Call (MC3) will be Wednesday, October 16, 2024 11:00 a.m. PDT (for Paid Subscribers). Join us for a 60-minute call that’s a mix of teaching, hot- support-seat coaching, and Q&A. For our paid and pro subscribers.
While we hope you find our free resources helpful and catalytic for your journey — if you become a paid subscriber, you are helping support our (all of us on team PF) ability to devote our time, energy, and attention to this enterprise. The work we do here wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Premium PF subscribers get immediate access to the full year of the 2025 Digital Momentum Planners (plus the rest of 2024), which include not only the monthly, weekly, and daily views but yearly and quarterly planner pages.
Premium subscribers, your download links and additional content are below. If you don't see them, please make sure you’re logged in to your paid account.