The Summer Spiral No One Talks About (And How I Got Out Of It)
The summer season is finally here, with long weekends, slow mornings, and endless lake days. Now, it's my absolute favourite. But it didn't used to be. It actually used to be the season I dreaded the most.
I hate to admit it, but there was a version of me that couldn't go on a long weekend trip without secretly checking Slack to see who or what needed me. And when my team started submitting their PTO requests, I would be lying if I said it didn't send me into a spiral.
If you're still in that phase where your team has started putting in their summer PTO and you're secretly wondering how the f*ck everything is still supposed to get done…this is for you.
A Few Weeks Ago, Everything Clicked
Britt took off for her birthday (as she should 🎉). I wrapped up a few loose ends in the morning, then spent the rest of the day celebrating her without thinking twice about work.
I never take days like that for granted, because they remind me of a time when stepping away for even half a day would have sent me into a panic.
Here's what I know after 10 years of building this.
How I Escaped the Impending Spiral of PTO Requests
It took years for me to stop panicking every time a request came in, which, looking back, seems really silly, because once I started relying on this simple process, everything changed.
Step 1: We wrote down every task my team members do day-to-day. Every single one.
Step 2: We broke it all down. It turns out, it was a lot of routine follow-up emails, calendar bookings, small administrative tasks, and onboarding steps.
Step 3: We realized 99% of these could be automated, so we did exactly that.
The Hardest Part? Trusting It.
The process itself wasn't the hard part. Trusting it was. Not micromanaging, not double-checking that an automation is doing what it's supposed to do.
And it ran. It ran well.
That's how my team and I enjoy summer the way it's meant to be: present, and knowing things are being taken care of behind the scenes. The reason I can do that so easily now? Systems. Processes. People — the three things I've invested in that keep this business running no matter who's out of office.
Ready to Stop Doing Everything Yourself This Summer?
If you're already feeling the impending doom of having to cover everything while your team is on much-needed PTO, click here and let's chat about how we can support you.