Even if we haven’t had to go back to school for years, transitioning from summer to fall can make us feel like it’s time to pull our act together. Get organized. Start that project. Tackle things that have been sitting on the back burner. And that feeling can lead to (another) to-do list. But what if your fall reset didn’t need to involve another to-do list? Instead, consider creating a syllabus.
5 ‘Assignments’ Worth Putting on Your Fall Syllabus
A to-do list is simply a list of things that need to be accomplished. A syllabus, on the other hand, allows you to think bigger and focus on what you want to learn, explore, practice and experience. In other words, what you want your life to be like. Here are five ideas for your personal syllabus.
Assignment 1. Learn something simply because you’re interested in it.
We can become very identified by our careers. So much so that we can sometimes forget we are more than “just” lawyers. Clients value our knowledge and expertise, so it can feel uncomfortable to be in environments where we aren’t really sure what we’re doing. But there is value in temporarily stepping outside our expertise to experience something different, even if we aren’t very good at it. In fact, since many of us spend our workdays being the person who is supposed to know the answer, it can be restorative to not be that person for a change.
Being a beginner also puts us in a different mental space where we can be curious and ask questions, where we have to tolerate not knowing. Where we allow ourselves to make mistakes without treating them as evidence that we aren’t capable. The point isn’t to become good at something. It isn’t about earning a credential or adding another skill to the resumé. The point is to enjoy something totally different than the usual! (Related: “Being a Terrible Guitar Player Can Make You a Better Lawyer.”)
Put something on your fall syllabus that has no professional payoff. Take a cooking class. Learn photography. Try improv. Study astronomy. Take a dance class. Learn a new language. Finally learn to play the saxophone. Anything you have thought of trying — or getting back to but kept saying “later.” Make later now.
Assignment 2. Identify one unnecessary demand and remove it.
We tend to think self-improvement means adding something. Exercise more. Read more. Learn more. Network more. Accomplish more. But sometimes the healthiest thing we can do is subtract.
Look at your fall calendar and ask yourself: What am I doing simply because I’ve always done it? Do I really need to keep doing it?
Maybe you don’t need to respond immediately to every email. Maybe you can stop attending a meeting that is no longer necessary. Maybe you can stop hosting the family Thanksgiving. Maybe you can decline an obligation you’ve been accepting out of guilt.
This isn’t about becoming more efficient so you can squeeze more into your day. It is about creating space. Ensure your personal syllabus has at least one thing that is officially canceled.
Assignment 3. Schedule something you can look forward to.
Our calendars are very good at showing us what we have to do.
- Meeting at 9 a.m.
- Court at 11 a.m.
- Deadline at 3 p.m.
- Zoom conference at 4:30 p.m.
- The dinner we promised to attend at 7 p.m.
But how often does your calendar contain something that makes you think, “I can’t wait for that!”?
Anticipation matters. Having something to look forward to makes the future brighter. It also reminds us that our calendar isn’t just a place for all the things we have to do. It’s also a space for things we get to do.
Put something on the schedule that you genuinely want to do. It doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate. Go to a concert. Plan dinner with a friend. Visit a museum or get tickets to a show. Take a hike. Plan a weekend morning at your favorite place. Even a movie you’ve been wanting to see can give an otherwise ordinary week a little lift.
Assignment 4. Give one relationship more attention than you normally do.
Often when work gets busy, relationships receive whatever time happens to be left over. We answer the important emails and return priority calls. We meet the deadline. We finish all the steps in the project. Then we realize we haven’t spent quality time with our family in weeks, or talked with a dear, long-distance friend in months.
This fall, choose one relationship you want to nurture by choosing one person and at least one concrete thing you’ll do to nurture the relationship. Maybe it is your spouse or partner. Or a friend you’ve lost touch with over the years. It could be a colleague you would enjoy knowing beyond your professional roles. Or a family member you’ve been meaning to call.
Once you know which relationship you’d like to nurture, decide what you’ll do. Schedule a monthly dinner. Take a walk together each week at the same time. Call instead of texting. Have a conversation without looking at your phone. Ask a question you’ve never asked before.
Assignment 5. Do something that produces absolutely nothing.
If you are like me, this may be the hardest assignment on the syllabus. We can turn everything into an opportunity for improvement and productivity, thinking if it’s not productive, then what’s the point? But we don’t need to use every single minute productively. Instead, we need to experience things simply because we enjoy them.
If you can’t remember the last time you did something that had no measurable outcome and no productivity benefit, this might be exactly what belongs on your fall syllabus.
- Instead of reading a book because it teaches you something, read a novel simply because you like the story.
- Instead of tracking every movement you make — eating, sleeping and exercising — just go for a long hike in the woods.
- Instead of going to an event and taking photos to post on socials, just wander around a bookstore or museum.
- Try anything that you might normally categorize as a waste of time: work on a puzzle, garden, doodle, watch a movie or TV show.
As my dad once said to me: “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” (The quote’s been attributed to several different people, but appears to have originated in the novel “Phrynette Married” by Marthe Troly-Curtin).
How Will You Grade Yourself?
At the end of autumn, don’t ask whether you checked every box. Instead, grade yourself by asking these questions:
- What did I learn?
- What did I discover?
- What did I let go of?
- Who did I spend time with?
- What did I look forward to?
- Did I do anything simply because I enjoyed it?
- Did I make room for something that wasn’t about work or achievement?
You don’t need an A+ in productivity to succeed. Instead, follow your syllabus to enjoy the life you want to live and know that you were successful in that endeavor. Happy fall!
Three Hours to Finding Your Calm in the Chaos
BESTSELLER! THE LAWYER, THE LION & THE LAUNDRY
Join lawyer and certified health coach Jamie Jackson Spannhake in an enlightening journey. Read her bestselling book and learn how to “choose, act and think” in ways that will clarify your desires and set priorities so you can reclaim your time and enjoy your life. Includes exercises.
