🍂 September! That back-to-school feeling…

🍂 September! That back-to-school feeling…

I’ve always loved the ‘reset’ back-to-school energy of September.

When I was younger, I remember that I would get really excited to get back into writing with new pens, and a new pencil case, in a new classroom.

We don’t get that excitement any more - any new classrooms are us living vicariously through our kids 😁 - but we do get the chance to reset.

To check in. And to ask: Am I living and working in a way that is aligned with who I want to be?

At the beginning of the year, I shared some of the practices I was experimenting with to help me feel stronger, more resilient and grounded – and focused and energised in my work.

Here is my key takeaway now, above all others:

Urgent work does not require us to live in a state of urgency. We get to choose how we work on these huge, important topics.

I’d say here are the top three practices I’ve now fully integrated since we last spoke about this that have really helped me this year. Sharing here in case they help you too. ❤️

✨ Capture the joy, capture the gratitude

I’m intentionally capturing the joy in our work much more: the brilliant conversations, the people we connect with, the moments when something clicks, the privilege of working on questions that matter, and the laughter along the way.

I am still practising gratitude every evening. The difference is that I no longer write them down (I’m tired by the time I go to bed!). But I say them in my head. You’re in there too! The people I get to work with, the extraordinary community we are.

🎯 Decide the purpose of the day

This has really helped me. Not every day needs to produce the same kind of output. I now frame for every day, in advance, what the top priority is for that day - depending on what’s in the diary and my priorities. This helps as before, if I’d had meetings all day, i’d feel I hadn’t somehow been productive, as I hadn’t worked on written outputs. I no longer feel that. 😄

🧘‍♀️ Catch yourself

This has been the most important one for me. I catch myself… rushing. Rushing into a call. Rushing in a conversation. Rushing to grab tea and back.

And I say to myself: let’s reset. I breathe deeply, I walk slower, and I talk slower. Life is not meant to be rushed through.

So that’s my September reset. ✨

I can’t wait to hear about your September reset, any good practices that have helped how you work lately.

I know we’ll chat about those in our next Be Human Rights Confident Collective as well.

In the meantime, I also can’t wait to chat with you about all of these recent developments happening in the BHR world!

So see you in Strasbourg!

Anna