As the official close of summer draws near, I’ve found myself reflecting a busy, productive and also relaxing summer.
While I enjoyed several trips, the summer was also a time of production.
I had the opportunity to:
- engaging with conference attendees and learn from them
- work on strategic work in our department
- apply strategy to a professional organization
While busy, it was also a good balance of strategic and relaxing time. Here are a few reflections from the summer.
Three Reflections from Summer
One – Spending intentional time learning something new will always pay dividends. For me, that project this summer was Chat GPT. I was able to use the summer time to build my expertise with the tool, deploy a few use cases that help me to work smarter, and find ways to encourage others to use it. I doubt every summer will present the opportunity to explore something so game-changing, but I’m thankful to have been able to carve out the time this summer.
Two – Remembering the strategic plan. Because the university has been in the midst of strategic planning, I was able to use the summer to address a couple of critical strategic plan pieces. Having these top of mind allowed me to focus the conference attendance on these sessions and have meaningful networking with people around these topics. Additionally, I was able to carve a few hours each month to work intentionally on these projects, so we keep them moving when the semester gets busier.
Three – Resting a bit. Taking some time away from the office and encouraging the team to do the same. This is sometimes tough for marketing and communications folks to do during this time of the year because of the enrollment needs that are critical to our work. However, spending time away helped me recharge. I found a renewed sense of patience with things that might have frustrated me, better judgement for how to handle some tough situations, and found creative inspiration from my subconscious.
Moving Forward
I’m hoping to keep some of my summer habits of creative breaks and moments to rest throughout the fall semester. I know it won’t be quite the same, but I’m looking back at this summer and smiling at the season. It, for me, was a very sweet season of life.
And Carrie On 