Cara Harvey (00:04.142)

Welcome to the Purpose Driven Mom Show. Here at a Purpose Driven Mom, we believe that it’s possible to manage your home, work on your personal goals, and grow and scale an online business.

Most productivity tips out there tell you to hustle more and make you feel shame about not being motivated enough. And we’re here to dispel this myth. I’m Cara Harvey, and I am on a mission to help work-at-home moms realize that they have the power to go after their dreams, take care of themselves, and manage their home without perfectionism, guilt, or having to sacrifice their sleep. If you’re ready to shift your thinking around productivity and get some practical tips to help you manage your mom life, toss your earbuds in while you fold the laundry, and let’s do this.

Cara Harvey (00:45.954)

Throw with your mom show episode 516. Today I’m gonna give you some tips on how you can actually work on your goals this summer realistically, even with a variable schedule and everyone home. Because what I don’t want for you is to get completely thrown off on the habits, the routines, and the things that matter the most to you. Because I know that you start summer with these big plans, right? You’re like, I’m gonna have time. So I’m gonna get these things done, and I’m still gonna work at the same level and I’m still gonna get this thing done. And then it’s August, and you’re like

didn’t get anything done, right? It’s real. There’s less structure, even if your kids go to camp full time, right? So my kids have had summers where they’re at camp nine to three, just like regular school. Even if your work schedule doesn’t change, there is still just less structure. I find this a lot for us at night, although I’m laughing internally because it’s off season right now that I’m recording this for cheer. We have eval soon and then the new season starts.

Up there’s like a month break in between. My daughter has four things for tier this week, and I was like, it’s off season, but typically we have less at night in the summer as well, right? But then you have more social plans, more going on, right? Vacations, things get thrown off, and just I don’t know about you, but like it’s hot, right? And when you have more heat, there’s less motivation, you’re tired, but things just feel different. Even if your schedule for you specifically didn’t change, it changed somehow, right?

This episode today, we are gonna talk about realistic, guilt-free progress on your goals, not perfection, as we do here. Show notes are gonna be at a purpose-driven mall.com slash podcast 560. All right. Now, summer disrupts our goals again, no matter what happens in your schedule. That just break in routine does something to our brains. I’ve had a really challenging year with my daughter when it comes to school. And she’s wound tight, like very wound tight. She’s getting a lot more trouble, a lot happening, right? So

The break in the routine itself from the school schedules, from the activity schedules. For me specifically, my work schedule is changing. And again, I say this with a caveat of maybe your work schedule doesn’t change in the summer. So that’s up to you. My work schedule will change in the summer because I’m in charge of my work schedule. But my my polls that I do, they’re they’re the same. They’re nothing’s happening there, right? But just having the kids home, whether they’re home for a little bit or a lot of time, changes things. There are just more distractions because

Cara Harvey (03:07.276)

You get social invitations up the wazoo. I want to go to the beach. We start to feel jealous. I’m seeing other people doing these fun things, right? There’s events, there’s holidays, things like that. And then the energy, hmm, pretty burnt out from this year. Not in like a traditional burnout sense, but maybe just overloaded. And we could just use some slow days. So because of that, the excitement, the motivation, all those things we had, add in the heat. We don’t want to do much.

So then we say to ourselves the thing that we know we shouldn’t say, but we do anyway. I’m gonna take the summer off and I’m gonna get serious again in the fall. And I do wanna say that there is benefit in taking a lighter, a different approach, just relaxing a little in the summer. I’m gonna be taking a lighter approach to my summer, but I don’t like to get my brain in I’m taking off or I’m gonna just not be serious. Like because then my brain is looking for any excuse.

to put off my goals that do matter to me, to put off the things I want to do. So what we’re going to talk about today is how do you shift from looking at progress as always completion to progress as showing up. We’re gonna move from all or nothing thinking to flexible consistency. And we’ve done a couple episodes about this consistent thing. So I want you to go back and listen to those and think about

How you can think through your minimal viable effort. It is really challenging to still go 100 miles an hour on your goals in the summer. But here’s the thing about your schedule. I don’t know what it is. You might actually have more time to do things, or you might want to slow down. So, what I want you to reframe for your brain is that summer is a season. It’s not a complete setback. And if you’re choosing to look at slow growth or maintenance over peak performance or what we call this push season.

That’s okay. Now I teach this concept of four seasons because I think it’s important. And yes, you could look at the year divide by four, right? Every three months a quarter, but I look at it as what is my seasonality and what’s my capacity. So season one is the push season, which is what I’ve honestly been in January through May is push. We’ve been going, it’s been a lot with work, it’s been a lot with kids’ activities, it’s going, going, going, going. That’s what a lot of our lives look like for a good chunk of the year.

Cara Harvey (05:32.642)

And there’s nothing wrong with it, but I think it’s important to acknowledge. Now, the other seasons that I like to sprinkle in, because if I don’t, I will burn out, is plan. Season of plan is where you’re taking a pause, you’re crafting out some goals, you’re giving yourself time to think and not just be reactive. Season of rest, which is what I am so excited to enjoy this summer, is where you slow down and allow yourself to exist at a different level. And then the season of fun, where you’re not just

Doing to check something off a box, but you’re enjoying it. Some seasons can be the whole month, the whole quarter, a week, a day. But what I think is really important for yourself when it comes to your goals is to ask yourself, what is my summer season gonna be? Now, when I was a teacher, my summer season was actually when I pushed with my goals. So while it was a push season for my professional life and I was working, working, working, I had the summers quote off. I worked most summer school as a special education teacher, so I worked ESY a lot. But

Because I didn’t have my regular classes, I was able to push in my personal goals. Now that my life looks different and my schedules look different and my kids are a different age, I tend to push on all my goals and those kind of things during the year and then in the summer relax. Now one of the things I did for myself this year was I had so much push for work and my kids’ activities from January through May that I put a lot of my personal goals on a maintenance plan.

Because I knew that if I put too much on my plate, I was gonna burn out and I was gonna be exhausted. So I’m actually excited this summer to push in my personal goals while maybe I’m backing up or going a bit light in my professional goals and my kids’ activity goals. I’m actually gonna go in a little bit harder with some of my personal goals because I’m giving myself time to do that. So you think through what is the season you’re personally entering for the summer? And it could change, right?

My kids end school June 12th, right? So we still have two weeks of June. My kids aren’t having any camp. We’re just like, they’re just existing, right? Let’s take a second so I can pause and formally invite you to my brand new program, On Purpose You. On Purpose U is meant to be a membership that you’re going to be able to dive into to create your own pathway around what you need in your life. We’ve got three distinct schools. The school of clarity, which is all about finding yourself again, understanding your season, and knowing what matters.

Cara Harvey (07:56.172)

The School of Alignment, which is about systems, routines, rhythms, and planning that fits your season. And the School of Momentum, which is about tiny steps, consistency, building trust and belief in yourself, staying in motion, and leadership. Inside this program, you’re gonna get our core 101 schools already uploaded and ready for you. And every single month, I’m going to put in new majors, minors, and electives for each school. As a former teacher, I thought it was really fun to kind of have this university played so that you can be a student of you again.

you can remind yourself what you want in your life, what’s been holding you back, and what is going to help propel you into the future. Go to a purposedrivermom.com slash on purpose you now and see what we got going on inside the membership and come join us.

Cara Harvey (08:47.746)

We’re just gonna go home, we’re gonna go to the beach, we’re gonna relax. Those two weeks for me are my rest weeks, like rest fun. As we get into July, I might add in more push for my personal goals and I might change it up. So go ahead and don’t feel like, the whole summer has to look one way. Audit it week by week and decide what is the week I’m having. One of the things that I’m doing now is I’m batch recording my episodes for the summer, something I do every single year, because I then can take podcast recording off my plate for the summer.

Because my kids are home more and I don’t have as much quiet time to record. Now they we actually got a dog yesterday. I have no idea what the noise is about to look like. I’m recording with a dog home and I haven’t heard him out there, I think we’re good. But also my husband is home, so he’s, you know, not like seeking me. But I’m trying to get as much off my plate as I can so that I can enjoy the summer. That is important to note. Once July hits, my kids have a couple weeks of camp in July.

Because they’re gonna be at camp, that’s my push season for work where I’m gonna get a lot of work done. So again, don’t feel like you have to have every week be the same. But on those weeks where we have a flexible schedule, we have nothing, those two weeks in June where there’s like a couple trips planned, but we’re really not doing anything, I might rest and then I might really push for a personal goal. That’s something I have the option to do. All right. So thinking through each week, I want you to set summer versions of your goals.

Scale those down intentionally or ramp them up intentionally. So you might say, all right, I’m writing a book and instead of writing every single day, I’m just gonna write two times a week. Or maybe you have more time for exercise because you’re not as rushed. So I work out in the morning before I take my kids to school. I work out between like 6:30 and 715. My morning in the school year, it’s like two the minute because I get up at six, I do my little morning routine for a half hour, I work out, my kids get ready.

I’m showering. I’m done with my shower by 820. We’re out the door at 8:30. Like it is very tight. Well, in the summer, I might be able to get a longer workout in because we don’t have to be at camp or school until later. So I want you to look through the goals that you’ve set yourself for yourself for the year and I want you to write summer versions of them. And again, maybe you make June, July, August, maybe you do week by week based on what the reality is. So this is where you’re either gonna scale up or you’re gonna scale back. And that’s okay. But I want you to look at each goal.

Cara Harvey (11:07.966)

separately so that you’re not making blatant, you know, this is what every goal is going to look like every week. For example, that exercise one, I can scale that one up. There’s some goals I’m gonna have to scale down, which might be some of those that are, you know, attached to my quiet time or things I do solo when my kids aren’t home, like my reflection, meditation, like etc. Because those are my kids are home. So those are going to scale back. So make summer versions of them. Don’t bring them to zero. All right. Just even if you have them at one, right? Don’t bring it to zero.

Even just say once a week I’m gonna do this thing instead of an hour, 15 minutes. Let it be small. And then I want you to anchor them into your day and into the consistent because you’re not gonna have a lot that stays the same every day in the summer, but you will have a couple things, right? I typically have my morning coffee about the same time. I typically eat dinner about the same time. So look through your schedule and say, what are the things I know I have? I’m gonna brush my teeth at this time, I’m gonna shower at this time, right? What are the things I know I have that are probably gonna stay about the same time?

And then anchor those things in. All right, after while I have my morning coffee, I’m gonna do 10 minutes of journaling. That’s gonna be my anchor. After dinner, I’m gonna do my 10 minutes of walk. That’s gonna be my anchor. This way, not only are you scaling your goal appropriately, but you’re telling it where it’s going to fit. I also want to encourage you to use thematic time blocks, which you know, I will sing it till I’m blue in my face. It is the secret sauce of everything I teach because it will work, but keep them loose, right?

Thematic time blocks, you can listen to tons of episodes I have on this, but really the the point of thematic time blocks is not saying this is the only thing I’m doing. It’s saying these are where my goals are gonna live. Don’t feel like you need to over schedule yourself, but instead give yourself intention. I have for myself two home blocks a week. So I know that’s where I’m doing extra home tasks, extra things for decluttering or deep cleaning. I don’t have to worry about it all the time. I know where it’s going, I know where my errands block is. I did a whole episode on how to schedule out your summer, so you can go back and listen to that. But

This is really important, especially for the kids. Like this is when we’re doing our activities. This is when I’m running my errands. This is when I’m getting my work done. Cause what can easily happen for us moms who do have the flexibility in our schedule, like you work from home, you have your own business, things like that, is that we then put off our work bowls or we put off the things we want to work on because we want to hang out with our kids, which is not a bad thing. We want to do things with them, but you still have to work. You still gotta get things done.

Cara Harvey (13:26.668)

My other suggestion when it comes to finding time to fit in your goals realistically this summer is making sure to plan around the events that you have and don’t compete with them. You know right now, most likely, vacations, parties, when it’s going to be busy. All right. So deciding in advance this is a light week, not a failure week, right? Is going to help you. The other thing that I’m going to recommend is you always create yourself what we call a re-entry day for your goals coming out of vacations, holidays, et cetera.

So if you know that you’re traveling for the week and you’re coming back the next day, don’t say I have to start everything over again. Don’t say I’m not gonna do anything. Say already pre-plan. What’s my re-entry? What are my small steps? Finally, I wanna make sure you keep your goals visible all summer. You can see if you’re watching here on YouTube, I’ve got vision boards and things in front of my face. I’ve got sticky notes here, I’ve got troll bar, like I keep my goals top of mine. Why?

Because if it’s not in my face, I’m not gonna focus on it, right? What we track, we measure if we can and we can improve on gentle nudges, right? It’s not pressure, it’s I see what I said I was gonna do. I see what’s in front of me. Okay. So take the goals you have for the week or the summer and put them somewhere where you’re gonna see them and you’re gonna feel better. I also wanna remind you that it’s the summer. So balance out the fun and the discipline for yourself.

There’s a lot of fun stuff we want to do and it’s not bad, but it can derail us. So I will often use things like I’m gonna go read my book or I’m gonna go do this thing with the kids as like a reward for myself to just motivate myself, like, hey, go do this thing, and then you can go read your chapter of your book outside, especially if we have a pool. My kids are gonna swim in all summer. I’m so actually excited to see what’s gonna happen with the dog in the pool. Like, will he go in the pool? I I really don’t know what we’re gonna be doing with this pool and the dog, but I’m gonna wanna sit outside by the pool.

I also need to get work done. So I give myself like this little game where I gamify it of like, all right, you’re gonna go get this one task done, then you can go read a chapter or two, then you’re gonna get another task. You know, reject the extreme of like this is all work only day or all fun day, and just say, All right, I’m intentionally gonna enjoy my day with whatever we have planned and try to make it a little bit of everything.

Cara Harvey (15:41.154)

Being present when you are relaxing, being present when you are with the family, being present when you are working on your goals is going to allow you to enjoy the moments you’re doing it and lean into the moments that you are working on the goals. Okay. You you are allowed to rest the summer. You don’t have to go in hard on all of your goals. But if you’re intentional about when you’re working on your goals, you’ll feel less guilty during the rest time because you’re like, I know I already did this, right? So ask yourself, what would a balanced summer feel like for me?

For me it is that I get my micro three, which is what we call it, done for each time block when it comes to work in particular. I have to work, right? I I love what I get to do here at IPDM, but it is a job. If I didn’t have it, then I would do other things with my time. But this is what I choose to do and what I’m so lucky to get to do. But that pool and that kids and the hike, it all calls to me as well. So for me, I have to gamify getting things done, or I could easily not get anything done. Okay.

You decide what you want the week to look like, but make sure you’re not forgetting to put time in for your goals, even if it’s that minimal viable. And hey, some weeks it’s gonna be more than that. I don’t want you to wait for the perfect days this summer because it’s not gonna happen or you’re gonna plan it. The weather’s gonna be different, right? And I also want to encourage you as you’re you’re putting goals in your plate to give yourself a decompression time between when school ends and when you’re like pushing a little bit when it comes to goals. For you and for your kids, everybody needs that downtime.

Try not to overcommit too much because early on, we always put like a ton of stuff on our plate. We’re gonna get all the stuff done. And then by July, you’re like, what are we doing? Right. Don’t put too much on your plate in the beginning. Don’t compare what you’re doing this summer to what other people are doing. They’re working on their goals and their own journey and you’re on yours. So what I’d like you to do is as we’re really into summer, is think of that one goal that you made for yourself for the year, the one that you still want to accomplish, the one that’s still very important to you.

And I want you to decide what is this specific goal going to look like this summer. Am I going to give it a little more time, a little bit less time? Keep it the same. Create your anchors and make your plan for this one goal. You can do it. You can enjoy your summer. You can have a good time. You can get your work done and you can work on your personal goals. Show notes are going to be at a purposedrivermom.com slash path as five sixteen. DM me over at Instagram at a purpose driver mom. I’d love to know what goals you’re working on this summer. If you need any support or help.

Cara Harvey (18:06.786)

Come over to one of my programs, purpose driven mom.com slash club, purpose driven mom.com slash on purpose you, and ask yourself, what is one small goal I’m gonna commit to this week? Because I can do it. Have a great one. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Purpose Driven Mom Show. If this episode served you in any way, we would really appreciate it if you headed over to wherever you listen to podcasts, hit that five star, and leave a review and a rating. That’s how more moms can find us and we can grow our community.

If you had a tip or an aha, make sure you come over and tag me at a purpose drivermama Instagram and share it with your friends. The best way for us to get this message out there of less hustle and less shame and more intentionality is for you to share it with people you know need to hear it. Thanks for listening. We appreciate you and I can’t wait to connect with you more outside of the podcast.