Retreat yourself
As we move into the last months of 2023, 2024 planning, budgets, and programs will begin to loom on the horizon. We wanted to share our ideas for planning a self-retreat.
Musuem and nonprofit pros are definitely some of the busiest people we know. Many positions are often multiple positions rolled into one “forty hour” week. There is a constant feeling that not enough gets done, both from internal and external pressures. We want to encourage you to press the pause button and plan an eight-hour retreat for one to prepare yourself to wind down 2023 and to invigorate yourself for 2024 planning.
Here are some steps to take to plan your self-retreat:
Block off a day on your calendar.
Set intentions and goals for your day.
Choose your favorite part of your job and do an activity that helps to reinforce that joy.
Choose one small project you have been procrastinating on. Finish it.
Make a list of five successes and unresolved challenges from 2023.
Brainstorm what you’d like to accomplish in 2024.
Have a 2024 draft calendar on hand and start to fill in personal and work activities.
Clean or organize something in your workspace that has annoyed you.
Treat yourself to lunch from a favorite place.
Take a mindful moment in the morning and afternoon.
Block off a day on your calendar.
Mark yourself out of office if needed. If you have the privilege of working away from your office, consider doing that for the day to minimize distractions. Consider choosing to work in a place that inspires you or brings you joy.
Set intentions and goals for your day.
What do you want to accomplish in your retreat-for-one? Do you want to reconnect with the parts of your job that you love? Finish some nagging projects? Clean your desk? File some papers or your Dropbox? Find ways to be more mindful? Go into your day with a plan for how you’d like to work and what you want to accomplish.
Choose your favorite part of your job and do an activity that helps to reinforce that joy.
Ask yourself ‘what is the favorite part of my job?’ If you don’t get to do this function or task every day, make time for it on your self-retreat day. Be sure to include a block of time that allows you to truly enjoy this.
Choose one small project you have been procrastinating on. Finish it.
We all have that lingering thing we’ve been meaning to do. For your retreat-for-one we’re not telling you to take on a day long project that you’ve been procrastinating on - just one or two small things that will allow you to breathe a sigh of relief and feel accomplished.
Make a list of five successes and unresolved challenges from 2023.
As much as it’s important to reinforce the great parts of your work, honest reflection on challenges is a helpful tool. We suggest blocking time to make a list of your successes and challenges from the past year and to “sit with” each of these. Consider journaling with a bit more detail about what went well and what didn’t to see if there are patterns you want to repeat or avoid.
Brainstorm what you’d like to accomplish in 2024.
Whether you enjoy nice pens and paper or a good spreadsheet, take some time in your retreat-for-one to dig into what you want to accomplish and plan for in 2024. After you make your initial list, consider what’s a “must do,” “nice to have/do,” or realistically “can’t have/do.” Pick a few of your priorities and start adding SMART goals to these to further build out your goals. When the real “planning season” ramps up, you’ll be ready to go to your leadership with some laid out ideas and plans.
Have a 2024 draft calendar on hand and start to fill in personal and work activities.
Guilty of overbooking yourself professionally and personally? If your answer is no, please tell us your ways! We strongly suggest having a draft 2024 calendar near you for your self-retreat and for any planning meetings. Start to think about times you’ll be away from your organization (vacation! fun!), holidays, and busy seasons. Think about ways you can add the initiatives from your job into your personal schedule and busy seasons to avoid burnout.
Clean or organize something in your workspace that has annoyed you.
We all have that pile of papers from a decade ago or those messy Dropbox folders that we keep meaning to organize. Do not use your self-retreat as an office clean-out day! Just tackle a small clean-up project or two that will result in a happier workspace for you.
Treat yourself to lunch from a favorite place.
How often do you treat yourself to a stack of pancakes or a nice lunch during the work week? Our guess is rarely to never. Pick out a favorite spot and plan a nice, leisurely lunch for yourself or incorporate a little bit of social time midday and invite some favorite colleagues or friends.
Take a mindful moment in the morning and afternoon.
Do a short meditation, go for a walk, or find something that helps to ground you into your own retreat. Is this a practice that you can do on a daily basis?
We hope that you’ll take some time this fall to “retreat yourself” from the daily grind at your organization, reconnect and focus on the parts of your job that you love, clear out some physical and mental clutter, and kick off the 2024 planning season with a positive mindset.