Jade Boyd: [00:00:00] the more I learn about productivity and minimalism and slow living, the more I’m convinced that life will never actually slow down. You really do have to choose to slow down. It has to be an intentional choice and you have to do the work to create space to stay grounded, to be present. to focus on what matters in each chapter of your life.

And seasonal living is just a practical way to start living a slower life right now where you’re at, regardless of how busy you are, how, how much you have going on without having to do an entire life overhaul.

Welcome to the business edit podcast, a podcast about redefining productivity for the modern woman in business and finding ways to work smarter, not harder in business and life. I’m your host, Jade Boyd, an MBA business minimalist and productivity coach. I help overwhelmed business owners simplify and scale their service based businesses by doing less but better.

I help my clients [00:01:00] create business minimalist strategies and systems that allow them to pursue ambitious goals while working at a human pace. On this. podcast. We’ll explore simple ways to grow your business with a life first approach. If you’re ready to scale your business, bring order to chaos, ditch the busy work and spend more time living your life than managing your life.

You’ve come to the right place. Welcome to the business edit podcast.

Jade Boyd: Today I’m kicking off another exciting series that I am so excited to bring to the podcast this year.

Intentional living has kind of had this undertone in the podcast so far and I’m excited to kind of bring that to the surface and each season we’re gonna talk about how to live intentionally in that specific season. So the series kicks off with winter because we are kind of in the dead of winter right now, probably The most depressing time of winter where it feels like man, it’s been cold for a long time, but also we have quite a ways to go.

So recently I was actually talking to a [00:02:00] friend about winter and she was reading about the art of wintering and how humans are one of the few mammals who actually don’t change their activity levels in the winter to slow down and rest, which I thought was so interesting and, and that was what kind of got me thinking about this series and how business owners, how busy women can winter well.

And business has its own rhythms too. And for many creative service providers, winter tends to be a naturally either busier or slower season.

And winter also has its unique challenges in terms of, especially if you live in the Midwest or somewhere with real seasons, cold weather. Seasonal depression, because it’s dark all the time. School and events getting cancelled and throwing off your schedule. More sick days, because everybody is sick all winter long.

Throwing a wrench in all of your plans. A lot of outdoor activities that you might used to be doing, or that could keep you or your kids occupied [00:03:00] being harder, because of all of the weather situations. Or just straight up being eliminated from your options. Like for me, I’m not going to take my, uh, 7 month old outside to play right now.

And so to kind of intro this series, what are we even talking about when we’re talking about slow living or seasonal living? Before we get into the art of wintering and how to apply these concepts to this season, specifically, I just want to give a general overview of what we’re talking about, and then we’ll talk about how to apply it to winter as a business owner.

So still living is all about intentionally simplifying your life to focus on what really matters, right? It’s about choosing to live with purpose, creating space for those things that bring you joy and fulfillment and letting go of the access when we’re talking about applying minimalism to the art of slow living.

Letting go of the excess that actually causes you stress and distracts you from what matters. It’s really about aligning your days, how you’re spending each and every day of your life or each and every day in your business, aligning that to your values [00:04:00] and what actually really matters to you and embracing like the quality over quantity aspect.

And when you’re able to actually. Live your life slowly or implement these slow living principles to your day to day life It does allow you to just like savor the little moments and like slow down and enjoy them, right? And design a life that actually feels good and that feels sustainable day to day.

It’s not about doing less, it’s just about making space about what matters most to you.

A common objection that I hear to specifically the ideal week exercise when you’re thinking about how you spend your time on a week to week, week to week basis and what you want to make time for. A common objection I hear is that My schedule is constantly changing. It’s changing all the time. There’s no way I could stick to a schedule.

And many of those changes, in terms of the structure of your schedule, happen along with the seasons or with the school year. And that’s actually a really good thing. Your schedule should change throughout the year. It would be so boring if you were to have the same ideal [00:05:00] schedule all the time. all year long and really unrealistic because we’re growing, changing people.

So when you’re able to actually lean into seasonal living, it also helps you plan your typical schedule around what matters most to you in that specific season. And yes, season in terms of the weather, , But also season in terms of your life, season in terms of your business. So that kind of brings us into what is seasonal living.

And I feel like slow living, seasonal living, they kind of go hand in hand. And I would say that seasonal living is more about aligning your life. with the natural rhythms of your life and the natural rhythms of the season. It’s about embracing the unique, like, energy and opportunities and needs each season brings, whether that means slowing down and reflecting in the winter, which we’ll talk about.

Um, or savoring, , opportunities for connection and relationships in the summer, leaning heavily into your business and growth during the fall. And for every business owner and [00:06:00] for every woman, this is going to look different season to season.

But, the more I learn about productivity and minimalism and slow living, the more I’m convinced that life will never actually slow down. You really do have to choose to slow down. It has to be an intentional choice and you have to do the work to create space to stay grounded, to be present. to focus on what matters in each chapter of your life.

And seasonal living is just a practical way to start living a slower life right now where you’re at, regardless of how busy you are, how, how much you have going on without having to do an entire life overhaul.

Which used to be what I was convinced would like save me from my overwhelm. Like I just need this perfect system. I just need a weekend to get everything organized and put together. And then it’s going to feel different, but that’s, it’s just not the solution. Like life is constantly going to be overwhelming.

That’s just the nature of [00:07:00] being human being in an imperfect world. Life is overwhelming running a business. It is, there’s a lot going on, but you can choose to do things differently by pausing and making space for the things that matter to you in this season. And again, I just want you to take a second and think about like, what is the season of life that you’re in right now?

What are the unique needs and opportunities you have in this season of life that you won’t get? Once you move on to the next season and also we’re talking about wintering So what is the unique season that your life and business? Are in those rhythms that happen during winter for you that you cannot take advantage of once we move into spring

So to help you kind of work through these questions, I did put together an intentional Living guide and you can head on to the show notes to grab the link to that and download it And I asked you some really intentional questions to kind of tease out like what season am I actually in in my business and in?

My life and what are those unique opportunities that I have right now [00:08:00] and also includes a bunch of different things To help you slow down in winters specifically. So, in this episode we’re going to talk about why wintering is important, some of the things that you might be thinking about this season, but then if you go to the guide, it’ll pull out a few of like my favorite activities for slowing down and some links to things that I’ve found to be really helpful and enjoyable myself.

And a heads up, if you have a product or a service that is aligned with spring, summer, or fall, that you would like to be included in one of the upcoming guides for seasonal living, send me an email. My email is in the show notes, and I would love to potentially try out your product or service and be able to recommend that in a future season.

So, give me a shout if you feel like your product or service or your business is aligned to intentional living in a certain season.

Okay, so we have a pretty solid foundation on what slow living is, what seasonal living is, why it matters. And now I want to talk about wintering because again, talking to my friend about winter and how humans just kind of like mess [00:09:00] it up and don’t slow down and take advantage of it. It really got me thinking about how I could winter differently and take advantage of this season and so digging into this I think it’s really interesting That there are some cultures that do winter differently.

I read probably a couple years ago now the little boots The Little Book of Hygge, spelled H Y G G E, um, which is like Scandinavian art of cozy living specifically in Denmark and Norway. And the World Happiness Report , frequently reports some of the coldest and darkest countries in that Scandinavia region as the happiest countries in the world.

And I just, I just don’t think that that is true. A coincidence. And this art of like hygge is again, the art of cozy living. It’s a concept centered around like coziness, warmth, slowing down to enjoy simple things, , like warm candles, warm drinks, good food, good [00:10:00] company, close friends, time spent with the people that you love.

And it’s culturally just something That is common, and I just don’t feel like Americans live like that. We live isolated, we live busy, we often don’t make time to slow down or enjoy good food

or operate our lives around what matters most to us. And it’s funny that Scandinavian cultures have a different word for this like similar art and principle. Like I said in Denmark or Norway, it’s hygge in Norway, Sweden, Finland, they call it something else, but it all kind of is the same art of Slowing down and it’s like a year long thing for them.

But specifically during the winter I feel like that is the art that we are trying to practice.

And again, we typically associate winter with like cold, dark I’m sad. I’m bored. It’s depressing. My skin’s dry Not super happy, [00:11:00] but we could choose to associate it with different things like rest, creativity,

restoration, relaxation, coziness.

And so what if the season for you was a season to enjoy and a season to savor and a season to even look forward to rather than just a season to get through?

And that’s kind of where we’re going to spend the rest of this episode. What does it actually look like to turn any season into a season that you do enjoy and look forward to rather than a season that you just get to? Like in other words, how do you live into the season that you’re in right now?

So let’s dive in. So before you address like the natural season.

that everybody is in, climate wise, weather wise. You have to address the season that you are in. So I, I just firmly believe that productivity is seasonal, and you can live in denial that you’re in a season with babies, or a season of singleness, or a season of chronic illness, or a [00:12:00] season of empty nesting, where you can really lean into it and enjoy it for what it is and make the most of it.

So something that I’ve come across like again and again, as I’ve been reading recently, is So, um, I’m going to talk a little bit about what I’m going to be talking about in this So, um, I’m going to be talking about just this idea of living life in the present. And so often we are either dwelling on the past and obsessing over what happened or like replaying situations in our mind, like I am guilty of, or we’re obsessing over the future.

And future is one of my top five strengths on the, the StrengthsFinder assessment. And so I’m also guilty of this, like constantly living in the future and what’s going to happen and what we want to accomplish and what we want to experience instead of just enjoying where we’re at. It is a shame because again, I keep coming across this principle that life is only lived in the present.

We can’t go back and live in the past and we can’t like skip ahead and live in the future. The only time we get to enjoy is where we’re at right now. But so many of us are just really bad at living in the present because we are constantly caught up of like what’s coming up or what [00:13:00] just happened and how am I going to process that and deal with it.

Right.

And I think all of us to some extent are. Are guilty of putting off enjoying our lives for some future date when everything You know is magically figured out and organized and enjoyable But that date never actually comes the more work we get through the more work that we create for ourselves to do and it’s like This endless cycle.

So if you’re waiting for some day When the circumstances are perfect to make time for, like, that hobby or to slow down or to spend more time with your friends or to enjoy your kids more even, it’s never gonna come. Like, there’s always gonna be something standing in your way, right? The only choice that we have is to enjoy where we’re at right now, regardless of the obstacles and challenges that are going to naturally be present for all of us, regardless of the season that you’re in.

And I think that there’s a lot of overused messaging about, you know, build a life that you love, which I, again, am so guilty of too. But building a life you love actually just means deciding to love where you’re at right now, [00:14:00] because your life is never going to be perfect. I think that we can look to enough celebrities, , with problems to see that no matter what you have or what you achieve, or even looking to our own circumstances of like looking back on all that you’ve accomplished in your business and in your life that you thought was going to make you happier.

Like you thought, like, once I get married, it’s going to be different. Or once I have kids or once I achieve the six figure year, or once I have continue continually booking clients and I’m not like stressed about finances, like then things are going to be different, but things are never different, right?

Like, We just have to learn how to enjoy what we’ve accomplished and love where we’re at right now.

One way that this comes up frequently and has definitely come up for me of like, looking forward to vacations, right? And thinking it’s going to be so relaxing and I’m going to be like a different person on vacation. I’m going to be so chill. Caleb and I. A couple years ago went to Punta Cana to stay at a resort and that was totally my mindset of like, I’m just going to be such a chill person laying on the beach.

And it was [00:15:00] absolutely not like that. I was like stressed going to an all inclusive resort because there is like so many options and decisions to make and you know, foreign country and they’re so chill, which drives me insane. Like getting into their airport and there’s no signs or structure. People are completely.

Lost on where to go or what to do there was like this self operating baggage check But nobody was operating it people were just like getting in line and putting their luggage through And it was kind of like group conformity. It was very strange, but it just all stressed me out. And so Looking forward to when your life has certain circumstances.

I feel like vacation is like the epitome of that And oftentimes we’ll realize that we don’t actually change when we’re on vacation Like if you’re not practicing enjoying where you’re at in your everyday life, it’s hard for you to enjoy where you’re going It’s a skill that you kind of have to build up

So all that to say like yes, you can work towards building a life that you love more But if you don’t teach [00:16:00] yourself and train yourself how to enjoy where you’re at now You’re really not going to enjoy where you’re going either

So, the question for seasonal living really becomes how can you start enjoying your life more where you’re at today in your current season, regardless of the obstacles and challenges that you might be facing, and how can you make space for the things that matter to you that make you happy this week, today, this month, this season, right?

So let’s talk about this three step process for kind of processing through this and what this could look like in winter. So first just brainstorm ideas. I like keeping this like seasonal bucket list of activities because sometimes it’s like, okay, let’s do something fun. Well, like what, what do we do for fun?

And this is something that Caleb and I have recently struggled with having a baby of like, okay, if we want to go do something fun, like what do we even do besides go out to eat? It’s hard to think about things when you’re. So I like to keep a list of activities as I’m thinking about them for each season [00:17:00] because I feel like it’s even easier to think about things that I want to enjoy in summer right now rather than things that I can enjoy in winter.

And so keep a list of things as you’re thinking about them or take five minutes, set a timer and sit down and kind of like brainstorm what are all the unique things that could be really, really fun to do in this season. Can do that in a notes app or in your planner or wherever you capture your ideas and keep lists of things, but keep them in one place that you can reference each season.

And again, you can download the wintering guide that I created, , that’ll give you ideas for specific things that you could do in winter. And the plan is to do a series so that you’ll have this each and every season, and it will also have a space for you to dump your ideas for your seasonal bucket list.

And if you’re subscribed to my email list, you will also get the guide in time to plan for each Upcoming season this year and really the more ideas you can you can come up with the better so that you have options to choose From and you can be flexible if one thing doesn’t work out You have other ideas to jump to to make sure that you are making time for some of these things and no idea is off Limits like let [00:18:00] yourself be creative.

Let yourself dream a little bit and That’s it.

Make it a bucket list of sorts for your season.

the second step is to narrow down your ideas and select a reasonable amount of things that you want to incorporate or enjoy during this season. So I recently read, , a book called Tranquility by Tuesday by Laura Vanderkamp, and I’m Slowly working my way through her other books. She’s phenomenal I really love Her book so far.

Her podcast is also really really great.

And in this book, Laura recommends having one big adventure and one small adventure each and every week. And this was part of a study that she did of like, how do we manipulate time and slow down time? Because microwave minutes are different. From vacation minutes, right? Like the time passes differently, even though technically it’s the same amount of time.

We can slow down and savor things by making time for things that we truly enjoy and can be present for. And so she recommended in her study that her participants make So, um, I [00:19:00] think it’s really important that you plan one big adventure, which she calls like a half day activity. So, if you’re going to the beach or to the pool, that would take about a half a day, versus one small adventure.

It might be like going to a new restaurant on your lunch break or taking a 10 minute walk over your lunch break and going somewhere that you don’t usually go. That might feel like a lot. I think that that is definitely a challenge and something to work up to. It’s something that I’m challenging myself to work up to because it does incorporate regular rhythm so that isn’t just like, you know, a few days out of the season that you’re enjoying, but it really is a Living into your season each and every week, but for you depending on where you’re at It’s okay to start small and maybe you just choose like a few big adventures for the season that you’re in and Choose from your bucket list Like I want to make sure we go to the pool this season or I want to make sure that We check out the library because we’ve never been to our local library yet.

You know, whatever that might be Making sure that you’re planning a reasonable amount and that you’re not expecting yourself to go too [00:20:00] hard or, again, have that whole life overhaul this week because it can be really challenging to slow down and make space for these things and it’s okay to start small.

So, first up, brainstorm ideas, think big, brain dump all your ideas into seasonal bucket lists. Second, narrow down your ideas and select a reasonable amount for this season and a reasonable amount for next year. to start with based on where you’re at right now in life. And then the third, truly put them in your calendar.

And this is where quarterly planning comes in handy and why I like it so much because many of these things will take some planning to get right and to time right and to make sure that you’re blocking time on your calendar for it because I don’t know about you, but my weekends fill up really, really quickly.

So if we don’t block time to do our own things that we enjoy for ourselves and for our own families, it can be really easy to spend every weekend on somebody else’s agenda.

You could also block time in your calendar if you need alone time to do whatever it is that you want to enjoy doing. , recently a friend taught me how to [00:21:00] crochet and I’ve slowly been trying projects. I crocheted an entire scarf and took it apart though because I’m kind of a perfectionist. But for me that might look like setting a certain night aside every week, like, Every Tuesday night after my daughter goes to bed, spending a few minutes crocheting and like not being on my phone, not reading, which is kind of my go to, but I realized reading is kind of my own special version of escapism right now and is not always the most relaxing thing when I surfaced to real life.

So crocheting is more of like a mindful activity and something that is very cozy for winter. And so. If you’re doing something like that, making sure you’re blocking time on your calendar where you can have alone time and being intentional with how you’re spending your alone time if you want to spend it more intentionally.

So the process really is not complicated. Just to recap, step one, brainstorm ideas. Step two, narrow down your ideas and decide what a reasonable amount is going to be for this season and step three, put them in your calendar. Put them in your planner. Block time [00:22:00] for them. Decide when you’re going to do them because what gets put in your calendar gets done.

And that truly is the process that you’ll go through every season. So if you start your seasonal bucket list now, you’re going to enter spring, summer, fall. next winter having even more ideas and again head on over to the show notes if you want kind of like a summary and recap of this episode as well as more in depth ideas on how to put this into practice intentionally and ideas for how to lean into winter especially.

Download the Seasonal Intentional Living Guide for Winter in the show notes, and it will kind of walk you through how to identify what season of your life and business is in right now so that you can identify those opportunities that you want to savor and do some reflection on what actually matters most to you in this season, as well as many ideas that are personally tested by me on how to enjoy the season that you’re in.

And then again, if you have a business that leans towards services that are a little bit seasonal, definitely reach out to me and I would love to feature you in an upcoming issue of this [00:23:00] intentional living guide for spring. I mean, I’m thinking about things like spring cleaning, flowers, gardening, outdoor activities, travel, road trips, etc.

So if you have a business that leans into that type of thing, I would love to hear from you. So, thanks so much for tuning in today and I will see you next week.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the business edit podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, I’d be so grateful if you take a screenshot and share it on Instagram, tagging me at jadeboyd. co. I’m on a mission to empower a new generation of women to become the type. Of wives, moms, and business owners that they’ve always wanted to be because empowered women change their families and communities for the better, and this is how we’ll change the world.

Sharing your takeaways from this episode on Instagram will help more women in business discover helpful episodes and level up in life and business each week. Don’t forget to check out the show notes for the tools and resources mentioned in today’s episode because good ideas don’t grow businesses.[00:24:00]

Action does. I’ll see you next time on The Business Edit podcast.