Her Next Chapters

86. When Summer Shakes Up Your Routine, Reset with This Simple Micro-Step Strategy

• Christina Kohl

Share episode

Summer hits, and suddenly everything is off: school’s out, routines vanish, the weather changes our habits, and even good things—like graduations, college kids moving home, or family vacations—can leave us feeling scattered and unmotivated.

If your energy is low and your to-do list feels overwhelming, this episode is for you.

I’m sharing the truth that helps me every single time I feel stuck:

Motivation doesn’t create action—action creates motivation. 

Whether your goals are personal, household, or career-related, taking even the tiniest action—a 1- to 5-minute task—can shift your energy and create real momentum. In this episode, I walk you through:

  • Why micro-actions are so powerful when you feel unmotivated
  • How small wins (even unrelated ones) can fuel bigger projects
  • Practical examples from home care, self-care, and job search tasks
  • Why writing down what you’ve already done can build confidence and forward motion

This isn't about doing everything. It's about starting with one thing. Then another. And watching motivation meet you as you go.

p.s. If you’re planning to return to work after the kids go back to school, there are simple things you can start doing now—yes, even during summer—to set yourself up for success. Book a free coaching call HERE. 

Grab the Free Strengths-First Resume Template - it's perfect for anyone in career transitions, whether with a long career gap, a career pivot, or just ready for a change.
Want to chat about your career goals? Schedule a free call HERE.
Send me an email ---> christina@hernextchapters.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn ---> www.linkedin.com/in/kohlchristina





Christina:

Hi and welcome to Her Next Chapter's podcast. I'm your host, Christina Kohl. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show, we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We'll hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place. Friend, let's get started. Hey friends, welcome back to Her Next Chapters.

Christina:

Can we just take a second to admit that summer has a way of throwing everything off? The schooling routines vanish, the weather shifts our habits and maybe you've got college kids back home, or younger kids underfoot, or a calendar that just got overtaken by vacation plans and all the family events. May was a full month in my world, so I brought Alex, my youngest, home from college, packed up the entire dorm, a whole year's worth of living, framed it all in the car and dumped it all here in his room at home and then the next day we celebrated my daughter Abby's graduation from college and the next day we took a whirlwind family vacation trip to London. It was beautiful, but it also totally knocked me out of my normal rhythm. In fact, I usually, if you follow me on LinkedIn, you see that I post three to five times a week. You guys, I didn't post even once last week. It's like the first time in over a year and a half that I've left like nothing new on my post. But here I am today recording this episode and I will get back into my rhythm.

Christina:

And if you're like me and you're feeling a little bit scattered or behind, or like your motivation packed up and didn't come back from vacation, this episode is for you. I'm sharing my go-to strategy for getting unstuck Tiny one to five minute tasks that help you shift your energy and get things moving again. And whether you're staring at a messy kitchen or feeling overwhelmed by your career, next steps these small actions really can change your momentum. All right, let's dive in. So this episode if you're listening in real time goes live on June 11th. I know, I know it's not technically summer yet. Until the 21st.

Christina:

However, for me and most of us here in Colorado, where I live, school got out a few weeks ago and there's this collective summer shift, right. So we've got new family rhythms new, you know, weekly rhythms with school being out In my case, college kids home from the universities. You know, weekly rhythms with school being out in my case, college kids home from the universities, you know, moving back in their childhood bedrooms. Everyone's home. And of course, the weather impacts our habits too. So here, where it's cold in the winter, we stay inside most of the winter, but when it's summer, we go outside and I'm working my garden, working my yard, and I'm doing more outdoor hobbies and activities, whereas if you live in, say, nevada or Arizona, you might find yourself the opposite. Right, it's too hot to enjoy the outside, so this is your season of being inside. So our habits and routines change just based on the weather and, of course, those vacations, which are exciting and fun, but they kind of disrupt our routines. And, like I said at the beginning, for me, we brought Alex home from the dorms the next day, celebrated Abby's graduation, a wonderful ceremony, went out to dinner to celebrate, and then the next day we got on an airplane and went to London. And those are all amazing things, but the result it's.

Christina:

For me, it's been hard to get back into the normal flow and rhythm and motivation feels distant. And here's the thing. So motivation we always think, well, I need to get motivated to do something. And the thing is, motivation is not the starting point. Action is. Taking even tiny steps builds up that energy and gets things moving, which is motivation. Right, so it's with it, moving. Move is in the word motivate right, it's moving. So it's not just like waiting for the inspiration and okay, when I feel motivated I'll do the thing. It's the opposite, and we need to be taking those tiny steps. And when something feels too big, it's really important just to break it down, make it even smaller than you think it needs to be. And just to break it down, make it even smaller than you think it needs to be.

Christina:

Progress is what creates motivation, and so what I have found that helps me and I started it today, which is what prompted me to record this episode I just wrote a list of all the little things I need to do, like even just watering the plants on the deck, which I finally planted, and watering the plants that are out back, and I've got some seeds I need to plant in the garden that I just haven't gotten to and you know it's june 10th, I'm playing behind on that, but you know what, I'm still gonna do it and I wrote down separate things of seeds that I need to plant, not like plant all the seeds, so I wrote them down right, like the carrots, the radishes, the lettuces, the basil, and each one of those is something you have to cross off the list, right? It's a tiny step that builds energy and gets things moving, and so I wanted to give this, um, this method to you to hopefully help you as well. If you're feeling blah, or just you could be feeling one of two things not motivated, meaning you just don't have the energy desire, you just don't even want to do anything. It's just easier to sit on the couch and scroll on facebook or maybe that's just me, um, or you know what you need to be doing, but it's just such a big, monumental task that you don't even know where to begin and it's too overwhelming and you just, you're just gonna put it off till later, right? So the power of doing micro actions these are just small, simple, little tasks that shift your energy, sparks movement and also kind of builds your confidence. So just the simplest things around the house. This is what really gets me moving is starting the machines.

Christina:

So, dishwasher, load the dirty dishes. Even if you're doing this to get your motivation kicked in gear, it doesn't matter if the dishwasher is full of dirty dishes or not. Heck, go find some things. Maybe you have a vase that you haven't washed in a while. Go ahead and load up the dishwasher with as much as you have and push start and you're going to hear that machine going. And then go change your sheets or whatever dirty clothes you have. Go put them in the washing machine and get that going. If you happen to have a robot vacuum cleaner, turn it on and send it on its route and boom, you've got three things going and you can even push yourself. Okay, what can I get done before the laundry cycle ends? Right, and that might, whether that's, you know, usually about 40 minutes or so. And then, even if you're not doing that, it's just little things, a lot of the plants I've done the counters, empty the cup, maybe pick one drawer, 30 climate. Those little tiny things are going to get the momentum and the motivation started.

Christina:

And then let's shift to talking about self-care, micro moves Again, little things that you can do. Maybe it's time to change all about your toothbrush for a new one, so that'll take you a minute, right? Or drink a full glass of water. We're supposed to have eight full glasses a day. Drink a full glass of water. That's something that you check them off the list, you don't care yourself. And then here's one Get dressed fully, even if you're staying home, and that can be different things.

Christina:

For me today, I am not dressed fully. I'm dressed, of course, and that's when you're naked. But I didn't really do my hair. I just kind of pulled it up a little bit and I didn't really like put makeup on, because I'm today's, the day that I'm at home and I'm not on camera doing this. So, um, but to do that little power of, to have the power of a micro action, would be more to like. You know, I'm going to look nice today, I'm going to do my hair and I'm going to do my makeup and maybe dress a little nicer than just my um t-shirt and shorts and those little things build up and those are momentum builders, okay.

Christina:

And then kind of the next level, career momentum. Of course, we talked about careers here in this podcast, whether you're a career returner or you're just seeking something new in your career, just little tiny steps. Edit one line in your resume and then you can check that off your list, right, just one line. Or maybe you need to remove your graduation years from LinkedIn because you graduated in the 90s and that makes you look a lot older than you want to be looking as you put yourself out there. That's a whole nother episode we can do about age proofing your job search, but just only in any of your graduation years from linkedin and your resume. That you know. Maybe that's too long things you can check off the list. And then here's another one send a reconnect message to someone who could become an appointment reference for you, and that's just sending a quick message, whether it's a text email or a direct message on LinkedIn, and that could take you one to two minutes just reaching out and then you're done. You don't have to do anything else, you just wait for them to get back to you.

Christina:

You could also, if you're a little more ambitious, this could be a five to ten minute thing Ask chat GPT to draft a new about section for you. So you kind of like give it the raw whatever is on the top of your mind and let it polish that for you. And remember you don't have to tackle your entire resume or your job search plan all at once. Just pick one micro task at a time. And what typically happens for me as I do these micro tasks, whichever topic it is, if it's cleaning my house, taking care of myself, taking care of my family, paying the bills, my career momentum, if I'm planning a podcast, whatever it is if I just do these little micro tasks, then it's easier to take the next step and the next step and the next thing. You know, all of those little tiny micro tasks build up and you've kind of accomplished a lot. And guess what? You've found your motivation right. You're motivating, you are in action and you've moved and the move is motivate and so the action needs to come first.

Christina:

Again, these could be one to two minute things. And then the other thing if you maybe you've already done a few things today and you kind of like, but you're out, you're stalled, right, three things you've done already today, give yourself credit for it, and I've loaded those. I write a to do list and I'm leaving. Write something down on the list and I've loaded those. I write a to-do list and I'll even write something down on the list that I've already done, so I can just like and cross it off and there's something powerful in that for me. So you know, if you can relate to that and I don't think I'm the only one, maybe it's just me and I'm crazy but write down the three things or more that you've already done so you can appreciate that you are moving forward. And then here's another one just a quick set of three minute timer and tidy one surface. Like I'll do this I'll try to beat the clock if I'm microwaving something that takes two minutes. I'll try to empty the dishwasher, or at least part of the dishwasher, before the microwave goes off. And it's amazing how much more I get done and how faster I get it done when I've got a timer that I'm working with.

Christina:

I want to make a really important distinction here that maybe doing housework or things around the yard feels like that's great, christina, but I have real stuff I need to get done and I'm just feeling stuck. So for me, even when I've got those really big projects I need to be working on, sometimes completely switching gears and just doing little, tiny, mini things that have nothing to do with the big project. So that is emptying the dishwasher, maybe folding clothes, or maybe I have a habit of folding clothes, putting them in the basket, taking the basket upstairs and then it sits for a few days. So maybe it's just you know what I'm going to put the clothes away, they're in the basket. And what I want to point out is that these little action steps, these one to three minute, five minute tasks, even if they're completely unrelated to the real work you need to be doing, or the big projects, those little things that you can cross off your list, start the momentum, starts, creating the motivation to do more. Because when you're seeing yourself accomplish these little things, these little tiny, annoying things that just need to get done, when those are getting done, then you've already got some momentum and energy going and you can take that motivation and then apply it to the bigger project that you're working on. So I really think it's important to make that distinction. It's not just being busy and getting all of your housework done, it's what are the small action items you can cross off your list. Get some motivation, get some action steps, get some momentum going and then apply that momentum to the big project. Okay, so that's the goal. And then, finally, I just remember you don't have to feel ready to begin, just begin. One tiny task is enough to get the energy flowing.

Christina:

Every day starts with a blank page, right? This podcast is called Her Next Chapters for a reason, because we get to write the next chapter. We are the author of our own story, and every new day is a new blank page for you to start, right? So I hope that's helpful. And if you're navigating a transition, whether it's a career or life transition, I'd love to talk. Book a free session. You'll see the link in the show notes to do that.

Christina:

And if you love this episode, share it with a friend who might also be feeling stuck here at the beginning of summer mode. All right, friends, that's it for this week's episode. I'll talk to you next time. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and, if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening Until next time. Remember your story is uniquely your own, and your next chapters are ready to begin.