It’s the BIG day! We are leaving at 8am for a four day, three night stay in Washington, DC to celebrate my son graduating from Greensboro College Middle College. It’s the first trip, other than going to the beach, that my three children and I will enjoy together – just the four of us. I asked Harrison several months earlier, where he wanted to celebrate, he chose DC and shared that he wanted his sisters to go to. We were packed, hotel was paid for, car was filled with gas and my oldest daughter, Melinda had completed hours of research to help navigate the sightseeing. What I didn’t expect was an email moments before departure that would shift the entire trip.
This email was to notify me that the 32 page newsletter that is mailed monthly to the residents of Sedgefield was ready for me to proof…and I only had 48 hours to submit revisions. One of the reasons it was a big deal was because this was the first issue I created without my business partner. She helped me with the first seven issues and decided last month to pursue other business opportunities. This was her strength, because she owned a marketing and advertising firm – she had processed all of the previous issues by uploading the content including photos, articles, layout preferences, titles, captions, etc. Typically, my focus has been in advertising sales, ad creation, article collection, & customer service.
I had all the content loaded by the deadline of June 10th, and the challenge is that you never know when the email will arrive that your proof is ready…anywhere from 7-14 business days. I was leaving for a very important trip and now tasked to do work, which I didn’t plan on doing. So, if you are going on a vacation this summer, and unplugging completely from technology is not an option, these are some tips that helped me focus and kept me from stressing out too much:
1-checked emails, worked on deadlines 7-10am while the kids were still sleeping
2-turned off the text notification so I wouldn’t be tempted to check messages while touring
3-mom pool time was a no phone zone (except for listening to Pandora)
4-committed to only use phone for pictures, Uber, and research while the kids and I were sight seeing
5-told myself, “Do what you can and leave the rest”
6-continually reminded myself how special this time was-enjoy it!
7-a little prayer, a workout & wine helped too!
Happy Summer and Make it a GREAT Day!
