Summer Business Planning: Keep Your Goals on Track (Without Missing the Fun)

Linsey Shelton
Jun 20, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Jun 9

Mom playing in the ocean with her two girls.

Because momentum doesn’t mean hustle → it means direction.

Summer sneaks up, doesn’t it? One minute you’re knee-deep in Q2 goals, and the next, the school year ends, camps get canceled, and your kids are asking for popsicles ... at 9:00 a.m.

If you’re a solopreneur juggling a growing business and a growing family, summer can feel like one long game of tug-of-war between ambition and presence. But here’s the truth: you don’t have to pause your business to enjoy your summer, or miss out on summer to grow your business.

When you approach summer business planning with intention, it is possible to take Fridays off, eat dinner outside, go all in on your Q3 goals, and not feel like you're dropping balls left and right.

Here’s how to balance business momentum and family adventures—without burning out or giving up.

☀️ Step 1: Start with the Summer Conversation

Before you shift your schedule or start cutting client work, start with a conversation with yourself, and with your people. What does everyone want this summer to feel like? What needs protecting?

Look at the calendar together.

Mark travel, camps, holidays, and block off the sacred stuff (yes, even the lazy days). Then get honest about trade-offs: "If I’m leading a workshop in June, how do we all support that and still get the summer we want?"

Then: make a summer bucket list.

Not a “we must do 47 magical things” list, but a real one. Try this:

Each family member picks one must-do
Add 2–3 shared adventures (ice cream run, hiking day, backyard movie night)
Leave room for spontaneous joy

When everyone’s on board with the vision, it’s easier to align schedules and expectations.

📚 Helpful resource: How to Have a Productive Family Meeting (YouTube)

⚡ Step 2: Choose What You’ll Pause, Trim, or Automate

Let’s be real: you will have less time and energy this summer. That’s not failure—it’s physics. So let’s plan for it.

Start with a bird’s-eye view of your business:

What’s going well?
What’s draining you?
What needs to happen in the next 90 days?

Then, choose your trade-offs:

Pause: Weekly content, networking groups, or regular trainings
Trim: Reduce meetings or deliverables; go asynchronous when you can
Automate: Batch content, use scheduling tools, or set up an autoresponder to create space

Here's what an ideal summer week might look like:

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Morning	CEO time	Client work	Content block	Client work	Weekly Planning
Midday	Lunch + Fam Time	Meetings	Lunch + Fam Time	Meetings	Adventure time
Afternoon	Schedule Marketing	Focus Work	OFF	Focus Work	OFF

This isn’t about fitting everything in—it’s about knowing what season you’re in, and choosing what to focus on next. That’s exactly what we’ll do together at the Quarterly Business Check-In Workshop on June 24.

Quarterly Business Check In, Goal Set, & Action Plan

June 24, 2025, 3:00 – 4:30 PM EDT|Online Event

🗓️ Step 3: Anchor Each Week with a Mini Plan (AKA Summer Business Planning)

Let’s talk chaos-proofing.

Each week, things will shift—weather, moods, childcare, surprise projects. You don’t need a rigid schedule. You need a weekly reset that helps you stay anchored.

At the start of each week, ask:

What’s already locked in?
What’s one goal that would make this week feel meaningful?
Where’s the white space—and how do I protect some of it?

This is about building in freedom and focus, so you can say yes to popsicle runs and slip-n-slide moments without panicking about your inbox.

📌 Want a step-by-step plan for this?

Check out: 4 Steps to Crush This Week – it’s how I create free time and get things done.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Step 4: Don’t Do Summer Alone

Let’s be real. Trying to grow a business and run summer like a full-time camp counselor is a one-way ticket to burnout. You need support. That doesn’t make you less capable. It makes you strategic.

Support might look like:

Carpool swaps or shared childcare with other parents (i.e. I'll take the kids on Monday afternoons, can you take them on Wednesday afternoons?)
A college student back in town who needs extra cash
Grandparents, aunties, or a sleepaway camp that lights your kid up and gives you space
Honest conversations with your co-parent about dividing time, tasks, and expectations

Whatever your setup, don’t put the entire weight of summer care on yourself. It takes a village. Building one is part of the plan.

✨ What This Looks Like in Real Life

Let’s zoom out for a sec.

You’ve had the Summer Conversation, set your must-dos, and adjusted your business load with intention. Each week starts with a mini plan that gives you structure—without strangling the joy out of summer.

You’re not reacting. You’re choosing.

You’re not surviving summer. You’re shaping it.