#589 How to use the next 88 days at work wisely

**Helen** (0:00)
Hi, I'm Helen.

**Sarah** (0:01)
And I'm Sarah.

**Helen** (0:02)
And this is the Squiggly Careers Podcast, a weekly show where we borrow some brilliance from things we've been reading, watching, listening to, living, we'll come on to that in a minute, in order to create some insights that can support you with your Squiggly Career. And every one of our episodes always comes with a one-page pod sheet. So this summarizes the ideas and the actions we talk about to make it really easy for you to turn the listening into useful things for your career. You can always find that on our website, which is just amazingif.com. And whilst you're there, if you subscribe to the Squiggly Careers newsletter, you'll get all of this sent to your inbox every Tuesday, which we hope just makes this easier for you.
So this week, we're going to be borrowing brilliance from...

**Sarah** (0:48)
I wasn't ready for the drumroll. Okay, the drumroll. We're going to borrow brilliance from September, so a month.
It's fair to say we're not recording this in September because logistically, that just doesn't work.

**Helen** (1:01)
It's the first of September when this episode is coming out, so we do have to record slightly in advance.

**Sarah** (1:05)
So we are imagining you and I are going to put ourselves in September mindset. Generally, how do you feel about September? Because I do think it's a certain vibe.

**Helen** (1:15)
I'm a little excited because my kids are back at school. I feel like I've survived the summer.

**Sarah** (1:19)
Okay.

**Helen** (1:21)
But also, genuinely, that is part of it for me. I'm like, that was quite, summer is always a bit of a juggle. So I think September, selfishly, I can get a bit back to me and working in the way that works for me, not the way that works for my family, which is what is a lot of summer for me. So I'm always quite excited. I feel like I'm back on track. I am very conscious that when September comes, it feels like the end of year is in sight. So I get definitely a bit more like, oh, here is a package of time for me to focus on to achieve the things that I want to do.
Also, it's my favorite time of year. Me too. Just seasonally.

**Sarah** (2:01)
Yeah.

**Helen** (2:03)
I like the seasons as you go out of September and into the autumn phase. I'm just, it's my happy time. What about you?

**Sarah** (2:10)
Yeah, I'm the same. I do actually like the summer. I like the variety and the sort of unusualness that comes with July and August. Our work often feels a bit different. I do go on holiday, which I do enjoy. I feel like you have a break. I work in quite a different way. I work in more, in different places, in different ways.
But I do like the new pencil case effect, as I like to think of it. How exciting is it?

**Helen** (2:37)
What is your new pencil case equivalent in September? Because I don't actually buy a pencil case now.

**Sarah** (2:43)
No.

**Helen** (2:44)
I've attempted. I was like, I still feel that feeling.

**Sarah** (2:47)
I used to love doing that before starting school. I used to love it too.

**Helen** (2:49)
Did you have a tin or a zippy?

**Sarah** (2:52)
No, like a soft one, not tin.

**Helen** (2:55)
I like it. But now my kids have the same.
I feel like now there's just too much choice with pencil case. That's me being like, back in my day.

**Sarah** (3:05)
I feel like it's not an exciting thing. He has quite a functional see-through.

**Helen** (3:08)
Because of school requirements?

**Sarah** (3:09)
Yeah, just school. There's no way he would be interested in a new pencil case. My children are spoiled.

**Helen** (3:14)
They have far too many pencil cases. They've lost that September feeling because they have too many all the time.
Okay. What would you get though? What would give you the September pencil case feeling?

**Sarah** (3:25)
I think, I mean, this is really sad, but you know, inbox being clear is really sad. Every so often, I know you probably shouldn't do this in the first place, but you know when you save stuff on your laptop, like the icons on your homepage screen, I then create a folder and I move everything into there. So I have a clean screen saver.
Everything that's flagged in my inbox that needs to get sorted and then I think I would be good to go. Probably like clear notes off my phone, kind of like anything.