Sept. 9, 2024
How PR Pros Can Leverage that Back to School Energy
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That Solo Life, Episode 265: How PR Pros Can Leverage that Back to School EnergyIn this Episode
It’s back to school season and for Solo PR Pros it’s a great time to refresh and reset. In today’s episode Karen Swim, APR and Michelle Kane dive into the topic of embracing a back-to-school mindset as solopreneurs. As the fall season approaches, they discuss the importance of self-care, professional development, and rejuvenation in order to stay sharp and serve clients effectively.
The hosts highlight the significance of taking time for personal growth, whether through workshops, online courses, or simply revisiting the basics of our profession. They emphasize the value of setting aside dedicated time for reflection and creative thinking, stressing the need for solopreneurs to prioritize mental well-being amidst the constant influx of information and responsibilities.
Karen and Michelle also touch on the idea of incorporating playtime and self-compliments into daily routines, drawing parallels between the joy of back-to-school shopping and the potential for a wardrobe refresh to boost energy and confidence. They encourage listeners to find small ways to infuse excitement and positivity into their work lives, even in the absence of traditional office interactions.
Throughout the episode, the hosts share personal anecdotes and insights, underscoring the challenges and rewards of working independently. They invite listeners to share their own back-to-school tips and experiences, fostering a sense of community and collaboration within the solopreneur space.
As the episode concludes, Michelle and Karen express their hopes for a successful end to the year, both professionally and personally. They encourage listeners to prioritize self-care and growth, reminding them that the freedom of solopreneurship allows for flexibility and choice in how they approach their work and well-being.
Listeners are invited to share their feedback and suggestions for future episodes, as the hosts look forward to continuing the conversation on navigating the solo professional journey. Tune in to "That Solo Life" for more insights, tips, and inspiration for thriving as a Solo PR Pro in today's dynamic landscape.
Episode Timeline
00:00:00 - Introduction and Back to School Theme
00:05:30 - Importance of Taking Breaks and Decompressing
00:11:12 - Refreshing Your Wardrobe for Fall
00:14:30 - Importance of Laughter and Mental Health
00:15:26 - Embracing Freedom and Choices in Solo Work
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That Solo Life, Episode 265: How PR Pros Can Leverage that Back to School Energy
Michelle Kane [00:03]-[00:23]: Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my ever-steady co-host, Karen Swim, of Solo PR Pro. Hey, Karen, it's another wonderful week in the world of the PR pros. How are you?
Karen Swim, APR [00:24]-[00:35]: Hello, Michelle. I'm doing really well, thank you. And I'm so delighted to always join you and record these episodes for our audience.
Michelle Kane [00:35]-[01:27]: Yeah, it is really one of the bright spots of our week. And we hope it is for our listeners, too, if we could just be a little self-indulgent. You know, when this episode hits, it is back to school season. And I don't care how old you are, it does really shift your mind into that mood of new shoes, new binders, just really another time of year where we can feel like it's a good time to make a fresh start, that energy is in the air of, of new things. And so we just thought we'd talk about today, you know, ways we can take ourselves a little back to school. You know, how can we stay sharp? How can we make sure that we are serving ourselves well, so that we can continue to grow our business and serve our clients well? So yeah, let's, let's get into it.
Karen Swim, APR [01:27]-[02:21]: I mean, also for back to school for those parents in the audience, it's a little bit of a breath of fresh air. And you're probably exhaling because, you know, it is difficult when the kids are off school. You have that extra responsibility of, you know, either shuffling them to activities or keeping them engaged, family vacations, which are fun things. Can we be honest, a family vacation is really not an adult vacation. It's work for parents, but you're making memories, so we see you. So yeah, back to school for you is a little bit of a relief because you gained some time back and you can focus. And you're right, Michelle, there are these moments in the year that really do make us feel like a fresh start, let's go, renewed energy. back-to-school time is one of those times of the year.
Michelle Kane [02:21]-[03:04]: Yeah, and if anything, I, you know, it's a great time to make a recommitment to your own professional development. right, whether that's actually doing more than just skimming past those emails you sign up, I'm talking to myself, and actually reading them and, you know, just staying sharp or maybe looking ahead to 2025 and, you know, really seeing, Hey, what can I fit into my schedule and my budget, whether it's a day-long workshop, something you attend, you know, virtually or in person, you know, just getting out there amongst your peers in some way, shape or form. to make sure that we're staying on top of our skills. Not that we aren't, but we can always do a little more, I think.
Karen Swim, APR [03:04]-[04:27]: I agree with you and I, you know, I think no matter how long you're in practice, it never hurts to even revisit the basics again and just, you know, remind yourself, refresh yourself. It's, you know, sometimes I even revisit grammar because it's, we've been doing this for so long that it's ingrained in you. And then you're confronted with something and you don't really know how to explain it anymore. Why this is actually factually correct or grammatically correct, because your brain is just not you know, hasn't had to think about that.
So sometimes even just, you know, reading Strunk and White again or taking, you know, taking a community college course on something. I love newsletters too. And, you know, as you said, I filter all of my newsletters into an inbox and just to free my space, but there are periods in the week where I go and I will read a few. And, you know, it's great, some of them offer so much meat in terms of learning something that's outside of my comfort zone. But, you know, let's be intentional about that going into the fall because we're in the year end. So really think about, you know, what classes do I want to take this semester? Right, right. and follow through on it.
Michelle Kane [04:27]-[05:16]: Let me meet with myself, my advisor, and discuss that. And that's, you know, something we've spoken about a lot here is really booking for ourselves that focus time, that executive time, that not only is it okay, I know sometimes you can get a little nervous thinking, no, I have always be billing, but no, we have to replenish ourselves and give ourselves time to just you know do a little Daydreaming about our business and our work and you know, I don't care if you even do it as little as twice a month Get them on your calendar and commit this time to yourself So so that you can make sure you're replenished Yeah, I love you know, we have heard over and over and over again from
Karen Swim, APR [05:16]-[06:43]: some of the world's most successful people and successful leaders that a great deal of their time is really spent thinking. And I, you know, I think that we have to keep that in mind, that the bigger part of our job is reserving that time where we really can think. That's where you get to be creative. That's where you can see, you know, new pathways and become innovative. But if you don't allow yourself time to think, then you're just doing. and that doesn't really serve our clients in the best way. And so I love setting aside study time, even if that's, you know, just quiet time to just sit and think, you know, for me, sometimes journaling is really important and sometimes that's drawing and, you know, mapping out things or just writing thoughts. It really does help me to get into that mood of brainstorming. Or maybe for you, it's sitting quietly listening to music. Or maybe it's reading a book that inspires you and gets you thinking. But definitely, I feel like you need quiet time for that daily. You really do. I mean, I get it. For some people, it's building up that habit. So maybe you start small and then just build on that habit, but daily time blocked out to yourself is really important to keep you sharp.
Michelle Kane [06:43]-[07:01]: Yeah, definitely. And it does matter. I can't remember who the quote was, but I saw it this morning. Someone posted, you know, everyone should spend 20 minutes a day in nature, an hour if you're busy. And it was just, it was that little push of like, oh yeah, okay.
Karen Swim, APR [07:03]-[07:14]: There is nothing like fresh air that clears the head, right? And, you know, at school, you know, for children, they give them, they still give them outdoor time, right? I, you know.
Michelle Kane [07:14]-[07:15]: Yes, recess.
Karen Swim, APR [07:15]-[07:18]: It's called recess. Is it still called recess? Sorry.
Michelle Kane [07:18]-[07:22]: As far as I know. Well, hey, you know, I don't know. As far as I know it is.
Karen Swim, APR [07:22]-[08:39]: I do not have children in school, so forgive us if we have the wrong terminology or we're all wrong. However, for us, we need that play time too. When your kids come home from school, you make sure that they get to decompress from their day too of taking in all the information. I mean, think about as a public relations pro, we take in so much information in the first couple of hours of our day. We're news scanning, we're reading emails, we're checking slacks, we're just bombarded with information. We have to check in on the world before we do our jobs. And then we have to check in on our clients and our industries. And there's just tons of information. So give yourself that time to decompress either, you know, with little breaks throughout the day or at the end of the day, make sure that you step away and do something that's replenishing. And I, I love that we encourage children to play. We should play too. I, you know, as adults, we just, We're spending too much time adulting. Y'all, can we play? Can we just play sometimes? Do something for sheer joy, fun. It does not have to make sense to anyone but you. I don't care what it is. Build yourself in some playtime.
Michelle Kane [08:39]-[09:51]: So I challenge you, go to the dollar store and buy a bottle of bubbles and just blow some bubbles. If that's what it takes, let's do it. I have to tell you, I have been the queen of buying tickets to things and selling them on StubHub this summer. That has been my hobby, reluctantly, just because it's like, well, this was a good idea in January. And sadly, it's not working out. But I will say, last weekend, I made it to a show, caught up with a friend I haven't literally not seen since the last time we went to that show a year ago. Oh, and I could have talked myself out of it. We were both tired. But even those few hours together, I felt lighter the next day. So it is important. And especially for us as solos, because like you say, we take in so much information. And I think of musicians who say that casually listening to music for them is difficult. I think for us, casually going through our world is difficult. Because we tend to, whether we like it or not, we can really get into that habit of critiquing information. Like, oh, oh, you couched it that way. Ooh, I would, you know, it's like, sometimes you just got to let it go.
Karen Swim, APR [09:51]-[11:05]: It's, that is a professional hazard. I know that we all share and no one gets it. We can't just see something and not go, ooh, missing a comma, ooh, typo, or, you know, misinformation. So it's one reason why I have an off-work strategy for social media. Otherwise, I'm going to spend all my time fact-checking people. And that's exhausting. My mind does need a break from it. And it's election season, so there's a lot of it out there. People say the wildest things. And it's like, if you would just do the tiniest bit of research for yourself, just the tiniest bit of looking at different sources Or how about going to the horse's mouth? In many cases, you know, people hear something that they think that a company said or somebody else said, and when you go directly to that source, you find out, that's not quite true. And I, when I see that stuff, I'm like, yeah, that's not true. And it's just, you know, it's exhausting. So I agree with you, Michelle, we do have to learn to take those breaks and break away.
Michelle Kane [11:05]-[11:12]: And it's hard. It's hard. It's hard because it's, you know, it's, it's hard to tell yourself, it is not my job to fix all of this.
Karen Swim, APR [11:12]-[13:30]: Yeah. You know, one other back to school activity, you know, I am not a shopper, but for those who enjoy the occasional shop, I, um, I caught like five minutes of a new segment last week and the porter was like, I don't have kids. I go back to school shopping. And I thought, what a lovely idea to treat yourself to a refresh of your wardrobe during the fall, which I like, you know, we know that for all of us male or female. A simple tweak to your look can infuse you with new energy, whether it's a haircut, or you got a beard and you shave, or you don't have one and you grow one, or you wear a color that you don't normally wear, or you wear a style of dress that you don't normally wear. And by dress, I mean type of clothing.
So maybe you're not usually like a blazer person, male or female, and you throw one on or you add, you know, a staple to your closet, or maybe you buy, you know, one item that is, you know, kind of new and trending or change the type of shoes. Some little tweaks can really refresh. So think about that.
You know, I am a work wardrobe kind of person where I have a uniform and I kind of stick to it. But it is fun to shake it up and think okay what's my uniform for the season, you know, let's think about what colors I want to wear and you know add something that's going to perk me up because it's the little things in life that keep us excited and. I don't know about all of you, men and women. There was something special about those days that you went into an actual office with other people and somebody would say, nice haircut, or, oh my god, I love your shoes. That little compliment boosted your day.
So we don't have anyone except for cats, dogs, maybe if you are, you know, yes, spouses who may or may not notice kids who may or might not, but there's not people in your actual office giving you a compliment. So sometimes we have to create space to compliment ourselves and maybe do something like, you know, spruce it up for yourself. So fall's a good time to do that.
Michelle Kane [13:30]-[14:29]: No, I agree. I agree. It's fun to do that kind of thing too. And you're right. I mean, there's been a few occasions where even just at the post office, someone would say, Oh, I like X. And you're like, Oh, and do you realize how much you miss that? It's funny. When I worked in an office, part of the things, one of the things I used to dread was the, how is your weekend? And I'm like, Oh, great. I had to have a good weekend now. All right. I'm like, can we just get to it? But there are elements of that that I do. And you know what I'll say? Here's one thing, because Actually, I've been pretty fortunate. Most of the offices I had worked in, we laughed a lot. We got a lot done and we took it seriously, but we laughed a lot. And I've noticed, you know, working solo, I don't laugh. I mean, that might be why I scroll on Instagram and look for stupid things that make me laugh. So do what you need to do, but don't forget how important that is to you and your day and just your mental health.
Karen Swim, APR [14:30]-[14:54]: I agree. Some of the things that, you know, we thought, like in corporate America, I took the extra chair out of my office so that when people would pop in, they wouldn't stay, that they would just stand up and tell me what they needed. But, you know, as a solo, sometimes you're like, to have somebody pop in and just sit and chat for a few minutes.
Michelle Kane [14:54]-[16:14]: Yeah, right? I know. So there are those niceties, but I guess along with that is usually then my mind goes to, well, Michelle, no one's chaining you to your chair for the 7.5 hours that you used to have to be chained to your chair for. You could get your stuff done and then call it a day, which do I? No! Because I'm paranoid about, oh, what if someone eats something at 4:40? Yeah. So, you know, we do have that freedom. We don't always exercise it. No, we don't. We don't. But. there's that aspect of it too but it's okay because that's the beauty of working the way that we do. We have these choices and and in that is everything so we hope as as if you have children heading back to school or if you see the school buses whizzing by and it just you know evokes a certain time in your life or just hopefully invokes a new fresh era of the year um let's let's end this year year well and not just well for your bottom line, but for yourself. So if you enjoyed this episode, please do share it around. We would love that. If you have some back to school tips, please tell us at soloprpro.com. We want to share them in a future episode. So please, please, please hit us up. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.
Michelle Kane [00:03]-[00:23]: Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my ever-steady co-host, Karen Swim, of Solo PR Pro. Hey, Karen, it's another wonderful week in the world of the PR pros. How are you?
Karen Swim, APR [00:24]-[00:35]: Hello, Michelle. I'm doing really well, thank you. And I'm so delighted to always join you and record these episodes for our audience.
Michelle Kane [00:35]-[01:27]: Yeah, it is really one of the bright spots of our week. And we hope it is for our listeners, too, if we could just be a little self-indulgent. You know, when this episode hits, it is back to school season. And I don't care how old you are, it does really shift your mind into that mood of new shoes, new binders, just really another time of year where we can feel like it's a good time to make a fresh start, that energy is in the air of, of new things. And so we just thought we'd talk about today, you know, ways we can take ourselves a little back to school. You know, how can we stay sharp? How can we make sure that we are serving ourselves well, so that we can continue to grow our business and serve our clients well? So yeah, let's, let's get into it.
Karen Swim, APR [01:27]-[02:21]: I mean, also for back to school for those parents in the audience, it's a little bit of a breath of fresh air. And you're probably exhaling because, you know, it is difficult when the kids are off school. You have that extra responsibility of, you know, either shuffling them to activities or keeping them engaged, family vacations, which are fun things. Can we be honest, a family vacation is really not an adult vacation. It's work for parents, but you're making memories, so we see you. So yeah, back to school for you is a little bit of a relief because you gained some time back and you can focus. And you're right, Michelle, there are these moments in the year that really do make us feel like a fresh start, let's go, renewed energy. back-to-school time is one of those times of the year.
Michelle Kane [02:21]-[03:04]: Yeah, and if anything, I, you know, it's a great time to make a recommitment to your own professional development. right, whether that's actually doing more than just skimming past those emails you sign up, I'm talking to myself, and actually reading them and, you know, just staying sharp or maybe looking ahead to 2025 and, you know, really seeing, Hey, what can I fit into my schedule and my budget, whether it's a day-long workshop, something you attend, you know, virtually or in person, you know, just getting out there amongst your peers in some way, shape or form. to make sure that we're staying on top of our skills. Not that we aren't, but we can always do a little more, I think.
Karen Swim, APR [03:04]-[04:27]: I agree with you and I, you know, I think no matter how long you're in practice, it never hurts to even revisit the basics again and just, you know, remind yourself, refresh yourself. It's, you know, sometimes I even revisit grammar because it's, we've been doing this for so long that it's ingrained in you. And then you're confronted with something and you don't really know how to explain it anymore. Why this is actually factually correct or grammatically correct, because your brain is just not you know, hasn't had to think about that.
So sometimes even just, you know, reading Strunk and White again or taking, you know, taking a community college course on something. I love newsletters too. And, you know, as you said, I filter all of my newsletters into an inbox and just to free my space, but there are periods in the week where I go and I will read a few. And, you know, it's great, some of them offer so much meat in terms of learning something that's outside of my comfort zone. But, you know, let's be intentional about that going into the fall because we're in the year end. So really think about, you know, what classes do I want to take this semester? Right, right. and follow through on it.
Michelle Kane [04:27]-[05:16]: Let me meet with myself, my advisor, and discuss that. And that's, you know, something we've spoken about a lot here is really booking for ourselves that focus time, that executive time, that not only is it okay, I know sometimes you can get a little nervous thinking, no, I have always be billing, but no, we have to replenish ourselves and give ourselves time to just you know do a little Daydreaming about our business and our work and you know, I don't care if you even do it as little as twice a month Get them on your calendar and commit this time to yourself So so that you can make sure you're replenished Yeah, I love you know, we have heard over and over and over again from
Karen Swim, APR [05:16]-[06:43]: some of the world's most successful people and successful leaders that a great deal of their time is really spent thinking. And I, you know, I think that we have to keep that in mind, that the bigger part of our job is reserving that time where we really can think. That's where you get to be creative. That's where you can see, you know, new pathways and become innovative. But if you don't allow yourself time to think, then you're just doing. and that doesn't really serve our clients in the best way. And so I love setting aside study time, even if that's, you know, just quiet time to just sit and think, you know, for me, sometimes journaling is really important and sometimes that's drawing and, you know, mapping out things or just writing thoughts. It really does help me to get into that mood of brainstorming. Or maybe for you, it's sitting quietly listening to music. Or maybe it's reading a book that inspires you and gets you thinking. But definitely, I feel like you need quiet time for that daily. You really do. I mean, I get it. For some people, it's building up that habit. So maybe you start small and then just build on that habit, but daily time blocked out to yourself is really important to keep you sharp.
Michelle Kane [06:43]-[07:01]: Yeah, definitely. And it does matter. I can't remember who the quote was, but I saw it this morning. Someone posted, you know, everyone should spend 20 minutes a day in nature, an hour if you're busy. And it was just, it was that little push of like, oh yeah, okay.
Karen Swim, APR [07:03]-[07:14]: There is nothing like fresh air that clears the head, right? And, you know, at school, you know, for children, they give them, they still give them outdoor time, right? I, you know.
Michelle Kane [07:14]-[07:15]: Yes, recess.
Karen Swim, APR [07:15]-[07:18]: It's called recess. Is it still called recess? Sorry.
Michelle Kane [07:18]-[07:22]: As far as I know. Well, hey, you know, I don't know. As far as I know it is.
Karen Swim, APR [07:22]-[08:39]: I do not have children in school, so forgive us if we have the wrong terminology or we're all wrong. However, for us, we need that play time too. When your kids come home from school, you make sure that they get to decompress from their day too of taking in all the information. I mean, think about as a public relations pro, we take in so much information in the first couple of hours of our day. We're news scanning, we're reading emails, we're checking slacks, we're just bombarded with information. We have to check in on the world before we do our jobs. And then we have to check in on our clients and our industries. And there's just tons of information. So give yourself that time to decompress either, you know, with little breaks throughout the day or at the end of the day, make sure that you step away and do something that's replenishing. And I, I love that we encourage children to play. We should play too. I, you know, as adults, we just, We're spending too much time adulting. Y'all, can we play? Can we just play sometimes? Do something for sheer joy, fun. It does not have to make sense to anyone but you. I don't care what it is. Build yourself in some playtime.
Michelle Kane [08:39]-[09:51]: So I challenge you, go to the dollar store and buy a bottle of bubbles and just blow some bubbles. If that's what it takes, let's do it. I have to tell you, I have been the queen of buying tickets to things and selling them on StubHub this summer. That has been my hobby, reluctantly, just because it's like, well, this was a good idea in January. And sadly, it's not working out. But I will say, last weekend, I made it to a show, caught up with a friend I haven't literally not seen since the last time we went to that show a year ago. Oh, and I could have talked myself out of it. We were both tired. But even those few hours together, I felt lighter the next day. So it is important. And especially for us as solos, because like you say, we take in so much information. And I think of musicians who say that casually listening to music for them is difficult. I think for us, casually going through our world is difficult. Because we tend to, whether we like it or not, we can really get into that habit of critiquing information. Like, oh, oh, you couched it that way. Ooh, I would, you know, it's like, sometimes you just got to let it go.
Karen Swim, APR [09:51]-[11:05]: It's, that is a professional hazard. I know that we all share and no one gets it. We can't just see something and not go, ooh, missing a comma, ooh, typo, or, you know, misinformation. So it's one reason why I have an off-work strategy for social media. Otherwise, I'm going to spend all my time fact-checking people. And that's exhausting. My mind does need a break from it. And it's election season, so there's a lot of it out there. People say the wildest things. And it's like, if you would just do the tiniest bit of research for yourself, just the tiniest bit of looking at different sources Or how about going to the horse's mouth? In many cases, you know, people hear something that they think that a company said or somebody else said, and when you go directly to that source, you find out, that's not quite true. And I, when I see that stuff, I'm like, yeah, that's not true. And it's just, you know, it's exhausting. So I agree with you, Michelle, we do have to learn to take those breaks and break away.
Michelle Kane [11:05]-[11:12]: And it's hard. It's hard. It's hard because it's, you know, it's, it's hard to tell yourself, it is not my job to fix all of this.
Karen Swim, APR [11:12]-[13:30]: Yeah. You know, one other back to school activity, you know, I am not a shopper, but for those who enjoy the occasional shop, I, um, I caught like five minutes of a new segment last week and the porter was like, I don't have kids. I go back to school shopping. And I thought, what a lovely idea to treat yourself to a refresh of your wardrobe during the fall, which I like, you know, we know that for all of us male or female. A simple tweak to your look can infuse you with new energy, whether it's a haircut, or you got a beard and you shave, or you don't have one and you grow one, or you wear a color that you don't normally wear, or you wear a style of dress that you don't normally wear. And by dress, I mean type of clothing.
So maybe you're not usually like a blazer person, male or female, and you throw one on or you add, you know, a staple to your closet, or maybe you buy, you know, one item that is, you know, kind of new and trending or change the type of shoes. Some little tweaks can really refresh. So think about that.
You know, I am a work wardrobe kind of person where I have a uniform and I kind of stick to it. But it is fun to shake it up and think okay what's my uniform for the season, you know, let's think about what colors I want to wear and you know add something that's going to perk me up because it's the little things in life that keep us excited and. I don't know about all of you, men and women. There was something special about those days that you went into an actual office with other people and somebody would say, nice haircut, or, oh my god, I love your shoes. That little compliment boosted your day.
So we don't have anyone except for cats, dogs, maybe if you are, you know, yes, spouses who may or may not notice kids who may or might not, but there's not people in your actual office giving you a compliment. So sometimes we have to create space to compliment ourselves and maybe do something like, you know, spruce it up for yourself. So fall's a good time to do that.
Michelle Kane [13:30]-[14:29]: No, I agree. I agree. It's fun to do that kind of thing too. And you're right. I mean, there's been a few occasions where even just at the post office, someone would say, Oh, I like X. And you're like, Oh, and do you realize how much you miss that? It's funny. When I worked in an office, part of the things, one of the things I used to dread was the, how is your weekend? And I'm like, Oh, great. I had to have a good weekend now. All right. I'm like, can we just get to it? But there are elements of that that I do. And you know what I'll say? Here's one thing, because Actually, I've been pretty fortunate. Most of the offices I had worked in, we laughed a lot. We got a lot done and we took it seriously, but we laughed a lot. And I've noticed, you know, working solo, I don't laugh. I mean, that might be why I scroll on Instagram and look for stupid things that make me laugh. So do what you need to do, but don't forget how important that is to you and your day and just your mental health.
Karen Swim, APR [14:30]-[14:54]: I agree. Some of the things that, you know, we thought, like in corporate America, I took the extra chair out of my office so that when people would pop in, they wouldn't stay, that they would just stand up and tell me what they needed. But, you know, as a solo, sometimes you're like, to have somebody pop in and just sit and chat for a few minutes.
Michelle Kane [14:54]-[16:14]: Yeah, right? I know. So there are those niceties, but I guess along with that is usually then my mind goes to, well, Michelle, no one's chaining you to your chair for the 7.5 hours that you used to have to be chained to your chair for. You could get your stuff done and then call it a day, which do I? No! Because I'm paranoid about, oh, what if someone eats something at 4:40? Yeah. So, you know, we do have that freedom. We don't always exercise it. No, we don't. We don't. But. there's that aspect of it too but it's okay because that's the beauty of working the way that we do. We have these choices and and in that is everything so we hope as as if you have children heading back to school or if you see the school buses whizzing by and it just you know evokes a certain time in your life or just hopefully invokes a new fresh era of the year um let's let's end this year year well and not just well for your bottom line, but for yourself. So if you enjoyed this episode, please do share it around. We would love that. If you have some back to school tips, please tell us at soloprpro.com. We want to share them in a future episode. So please, please, please hit us up. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.