wattsnextpx - We'll Sort It Out After Summer

You said it in June.

Something came up that needed dealing with. You looked at the calendar, looked at the summer ahead, and made a very reasonable decision.

"We'll sort it out after summer."

It's August 13th.

After summer is coming. Fast.

The Things Still Sitting on Your Desk

You know the ones. They didn't go anywhere while you were at the beach. They just sat there, quietly getting slightly worse, waiting for you to come back.

The performance conversation you've been having with yourself but not with them. The person you knew in May wasn't working out but you didn't want to ruin anyone's summer. The hire you said you'd make in Q3 - Q3 starts in about two weeks. The restructure you sketched out on a napkin in July and then put in your beach bag. The bonus conversation you promised in December that still hasn't happened. The one-to-ones you cancelled all summer because things were quiet and now they've had four months of silence and no feedback.

None of it got easier while you were away.

The Summer Pause Was Real. The Problems Didn't Pause With It.

There's nothing wrong with taking summer to breathe. You should. Your team should. Everyone needs it.

But there's a version of "after summer" that's actually just avoidance with better weather. And if you're honest with yourself, you know which one yours was.

The tricky thing about parking something until after summer is that after summer, everyone comes back at once. Your team. Your clients. Your competitors. The market. Everything picks back up at the same time and suddenly you're in it before you've dealt with the thing you said you'd deal with.

What To Do With The Next Few Weeks

I'm not here to take away the rest of your summer. Enjoy every last minute of it.

But I'd recommend spending a day or two - before the chaos kicks back in - really thinking about what you want to get done once you're back. Not a vague list. A real one. The specific conversations you've been avoiding, the decisions you've been sitting on, the investments you've been meaning to make. The things that have been living in your head rent free since June.

Because here's what I'm seeing: business is going to move fast in the fall. Everyone comes back energized and ambitious and Q4 ready. You want to be on the front foot when that happens, not still dealing with the thing you said you'd sort out after summer.

That's what I'm doing right now.

The list is written. The conversations are scheduled. After summer starts in about three weeks and I plan to be ready for it.

Are you?

P.S. If you read that list above and recognized more than two things, that's not a coincidence. Those are the things almost every founder I know is carrying right now. You're not behind. You just need to start.