Try July

July is a notoriously bad month for accountants.  We wait in anticipation for that fresh diary page and all the possibilities that the new financial year will bring, and then bang – it’s Ground Hog Day.  All the plans for managing the work load, delegating and being on top of your game are thrown out the window and the chaos ascends.  We used to find the first few weeks of July a little cruisy while people gather their information, but with increased technology information is arriving much quicker and there is no hiatus.  It all starts again on 1 July and it really does not stop until Christmas.

A few people have asked me if I am doing “Dry July”.  I think it is because I have been on a bit of a health and fitness campaign of late.  While I think Dry July is a great idea, I don’t think it is a good idea for me because July is not my month to achieve goals.  I think “Try July” is a more appropriate course of action for me.  I have been living by this mantra all month, and as it is the last week of July, I thought I would write about how I am coping at this stressful time of year.

Try July is all about being a little kinder to myself.  I need to not beat myself up about not meeting my targets and goals.  I need to acknowledge that I am doing the best I can.  Yet, this is so much harder said than done.  Stress messes with your brain.  Stress makes you think irrationally.  Stress makes you think you are failing and the vicious circle of negative internal talk keeps running through your mind, exponentially compounding.  Techniques are needed to break this circle, and sometimes just getting by should be good enough in the short term.

My coping strategy is to focus on routine and planning.  Routine means making sure I don’t miss my 3 training sessions a week, but not punishing myself for not attending any extra training sessions.  Routine means going to bed at normal times and waking at normal times, and not feeling guilty if I am so tired that I go to bed at 8pm on Sunday night.  Routine means making the best food choices at each meal, but not beating myself up for being a little lax in those choices, and sometimes taking a few shortcuts.  Rewards are small but taking a little time out read a book, or watch a favourite TV show are OK.  Missing writing my blog for a week is OK.  Not being up to date on social media is OK.  If I have missed wishing you a happy birthday or responding to a message, please do not take it personally – I am just doing my best right now. 

Planning is the second element to getting through this busy time.  Without a plan I do not function effectively and I take short cuts.  No plans are set in stone, but at least I have something to refer to when my head is so full I cannot think straight.  I am now running with two dairies.  One is to list all the things I need to do, the other is put those into a plan for the day.  I am limiting what I need to do each day and actively considering what I can delegate.  I am being realistic in my expectations, and I am largely achieving what I set out to do even if it is a little outside of the timeframes I set for myself.

Trust is a big thing for me.  In order to delegate, I need to trust others, and trust is something I have identified as a problem for me.  My team are doing a great job and proving to me that I can trust them to help me. Every day I welcome those little surprises when someone has taken care of something for me and released that little bit of tension.  It is the small acts of others that can make a big impact on the way we work as a team. 

I possibly sound like I am whinging, but I am not.  I am grateful that I have a successful business and that we have an abundance of wonderful clients.  I am grateful that I have a team of staff who are dedicated to the business. We all have stressful times in our lives and it just happens to be my difficult time of year.  I think it is important that we recognise that we are having a hard time and go a little easy on ourselves.  Remember to be proud of our achievements and not focus on the elements that are not perfect right now.

I took Sunday off and did very little.  It was fabulous.  I prepared meals for the week to eliminate the bad food choices I am likely to make.  I allowed myself to sleep in, to go for a walk, to watch The Good Wife, to relax.  I may not be the life of the party at the moment but that is OK.  I am taking each day one step at a time and before we know it July will be over.   The weather will start to warm up, the extreme workload will ease a little and we will be heading towards Christmas and a possible holiday.  Bring on that summer motivation.  There are a whole new set of goals and possibilities ahead, and perhaps a glass of wine to go with it.   In the meantime I will just keep on trying.