Summer Is Slower. That Doesn’t Mean Your Work Has to Stall.

(By the way, I’m a long-form writer. Video/audio coming soon, if that’s more your thing.)

Or, here’s a TL;DR:

→ Summer might be slower—but that doesn’t mean your work has to stall.

→ For leaders navigating systems change, quieter seasons are the perfect time to pause the urgency cycle, tend to the duct-taped parts of your work, revisit your strategy, and plant seeds for what’s next.

→ In this post, I offer a reframing of the “summer lull,” reflection prompts for a mid-year reset, and an invitation to make the most of this season—without guilt, burnout, or sprinting.

The Reality of Summer in Systems Work

Let’s name it: summer moves differently. Calendars open up. School-year partners are out of office. People take vacations. Email responses trickle. It might finally feel like you can breathe for a bit—and take a real step back.

And if you work in or adjacent to the education sector, you’ve likely internalized this rhythm too. That’s a good thing. Humans are meant to work in seasons—women especially. But in the U.S., we rarely acknowledge this truth in our 9-to-5 / 365-day hustle culture (with a stingy starting 10 days of PTO, if we’re lucky). 

Some European countries shut down for an entire month. Not us–we keep grinding. 

In recent years, some philanthropic and social impact organizations have experimented with full-office closures in August and December. Everyone off, all at once. No worrying about what you’re missing or where you’re dropping the ball while you’re away. That’s one approach—and I’m mostly on board.

Mostly—because, well, I’m one of those people who loves the quiet week in December when everyone else is out. It’s perfect for catching up. Plus, travel’s expensive during that time anyway, so the time off can feel more limiting than freeing. But I’ll never complain about an extra week off—if it’s truly extra.

But back to summer…

Even if you’re enjoying the slowness, there’s often a voice whispering:

“Shouldn’t I be doing more right now?”

“Am I missing the moment?”

“Am I wasting time?”

“Is our work stalling over the summer?”

Slowness can feel disorienting—especially for leaders who are used to holding complexity and momentum. 

But slower seasons don’t have to mean stalling out. In fact, they can be the most potent time to reset, refocus, and reimagine–on both an individual and organizational level. 

What the Summer Slowdown Actually Makes Possible

If summer feels like everything is moving at 60%—you’re not wrong. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, for both individuals and organizations, it can be an incredibly powerful time.

Slower seasons aren’t just “off” seasons. They’re fertile ground for the kinds of work that often get pushed aside when you’re in constant go-mode: reflection, recalibration, repair. The impact of “white space” on our creativity, problem-solving, and productivity is well documented.

And for leaders navigating systems change, that behind-the-scenes work is the work. We get caught up in the day-to-day firefighting that we critique in others. (You’re not alone—this is all of us).

So, what becomes possible when the external pace slows?

🌀 You can pause the urgency cycle.

You don’t have to respond to every external pressure right now. That in itself is a gift. This is a time to listen inward, not just react outward. Let your nervous system settle. Let your thoughts catch up to your vision.

When I was working in backbone organizations, it often felt like I spent half my day just managing email–reacting to external demands. But if my role was to intentionally lead systems change? To guide a cross-sector group toward high-impact strategy? To help them zoom out too? 

Then I needed a better way to decide where my time was going.

One lens that helped me was the Pareto Principle, which suggests that 20% of your actions drive 80% of your results. A great resource that applies this beautifully–yes, even to social sector work–is 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. 

Summer is an invitation to step back and ask:

What’s in your 20%?

And what are you doing out of urgency—not strategy?

Slowing down might be the only way to find out.

And once the noise quiets down, you may finally have space to tend to what’s been duct-taped together all year…

🧰 You can tend to what’s been duct-taped.

The internal ops document you’ve been meaning to clean up. 

The onboarding process that lives in someone’s brain. 

The team calendar that hasn’t been touched since Q1. 

This is your window to make your systems stronger—and future-you will thank you.

Summer gives you the space to revisit the stuff that got duct-taped in the name of urgency. Not just to make it prettier—but to make it work better.

I often used this time to check in with our networks. I’d ask things like:

• Are we meeting at a time that actually allows the people who need to be at the table to show up? 

• How has this work influenced your approach or decisions? 

• Is the network moving in a direction that will actually lead to change? 

The answers helped me recalibrate not just logistics—but how we were working together. Summer gave me the time to pause and ask: Is the structure still supporting the strategy? 

Summer was also the perfect time to plan retreats—for both our networks and our internal teams. If we needed to relaunch, recalibrate, or regroup, and we knew the regular meeting cadence wouldn’t cut it, we’d prioritize setting aside dedicated time.

With a little intention—choosing dates that worked for most folks, providing childcare, making space for real reflection—we could do the kind of deep thinking and relationship-building that just isn’t possible during the rest of the year.

🌱 You can compost and plant.

Some ideas need time to break down before they grow into something new.

While I’m typically not the one to provide a gardening metaphor (my plants are fake IKEA plants, or a faux Bird of Paradise that needs zero watering), this one fits.

Summer can be a time to gently let go of ideas, programs, or habits that no longer serve your mission—or your team. The ones that felt urgent two years ago, but now? Maybe they’re ready to return to the soil. 

That composting creates the conditions for new growth.

• Maybe you’ve been sitting on a shift you’re not quite ready to make.

• Maybe a conversation opened a door you’re still deciding whether to walk through.

• Maybe something about the work doesn’t feel aligned anymore—but you haven’t had the time or space to name it.

It’s also a great time to revisit your team’s strategy document. You don’t have to force clarity. But you can create space for it to emerge.

This is the season to:

• Revisit that sticky note or voice memo you couldn’t make sense of in March–or that webinar you were so excited about in February, but didn’t have the chance to act on.

• Reflect on what your team or community is really hungry for next.

• Dream a little—without needing to have it all figured out.

Summer doesn’t require a fully baked plan. It just invites you to start planting the seeds.

🔍 You can get strategic without the noise.

Let’s be real: strategy requires space. And space is exactly what summer can give you—if you claim it.

When the calendar isn’t jammed with back-to-back meetings, and your inbox isn’t filling up with fire drills, you can finally get quiet enough to hear your own thinking again. And not just the reactive, get-through-the-week kind of thinking—but the visionary kind. The kind that reminds you why you started in this work in the first place.

This is the season to:

• Zoom out. Where is your team headed, and does your current roadmap still get you there? Is everyone aligned?

• Ask the big questions. What’s changing in your context? What needs to evolve with it? (The tools from futurism might be helpful here.)

• Revisit what got paused. That initiative that was shelved during crisis mode–does it still belong? Does it need to be redesigned? Is now the time to bring it back?

Even a half-day retreat with your team—or a solo strategy session with just a notebook and a latte (lavender latte with coconut milk, for me, thank you)—can spark the kind of clarity that reshapes your next quarter (or your next chapter).

I’ll be honest: I used to treat the summer lull as a chance to “catch up.” But over time, I realized that what I actually needed was to zoom out–not dig deeper into the weeds. Some of my biggest strategic breakthroughs came not when I pushed harder, but when I let the quiet speak. And that’s true for me in this current season, too.

And let’s not forget: for leaders doing place-based or systems change work, being strategic is the job. You’re not “stepping away” from the work when you’re reflecting, reframing, or redrafting your approach. You’re doing it.

So if the noise quiets down this summer, don’t rush to fill the silence. Let it guide you back to what matters most.

Mini Reset: Summer Reflection Prompts

Whether you carve out an afternoon for yourself or bring your team together for a half-day retreat, here are a few prompts to help you reset with intention:

• What’s quietly working right now that I haven’t fully acknowledged?

• Where am I spending time out of urgency—not strategy?

• What conversations have surfaced recently that I want to follow up on, deepen, or revisit?

• What’s changed in our context, and how are we adapting (or not)?

• Where do I feel clarity emerging—and where do I still feel foggy?

• What do I want to feel proud of by September?
  

You don’t need a full strategic overhaul to benefit from a reset. Sometimes just an hour of whiteboard time, a fresh journal prompt, or a well-timed question can shift everything.

Want help getting started? Download the Strategy Snapshot to map your big picture.

Need a Reset Buddy This Summer?

Dreaming of a retreat that actually moves things forward—not one that feels like pulling teeth?

I offer custom facilitation for half-day and full-day retreats—whether you want to recalibrate your network, realign your team, or reimagine your next chapter.

We’ll make space for the conversations that matter—and get clear on what’s next.

🗓 Now booking summer + fall retreats. Learn more.

Let’s make the most of the quiet season—and plant some seeds for what’s next.

👉🏽 Click here to start the conversation.

Slow ≠ Stalled

Just because the pace shifts doesn’t mean you’re falling behind. In fact, this may be the only window you get to step back, get perspective, and make intentional moves without the noise.

So here’s your permission slip:

You don’t have to stall this summer.

You just don’t have to sprint either.

Use the space. Tend the internal.

And trust that your most aligned work doesn’t always start with urgency.

P.S. Interested in joining a community of fellow social changemakers in learning and growing? We’re launching a book club!! Get on the waitlist here. For those on the waitlist, thank you for your patience! 

P.P.S. Enjoying the content and want to support? I’ve set up a Buy Me a Coffee page.