Embracing the Four Seasons: Aligning how we live and work with the nature's seasons.

The Four Seasons

Recently, I was having lunch with a wonderful colleague who shared a revelation that stopped me in my tracks: they actively "live seasonally."

Curious to know more, I invited her to explain.

Obliging my curiosity, she went on to explain how her behaviours, routines, mindset, and ways of working were heavily influenced by the natural cycles—and how, right now, we should be embracing the quiet act of wintering.

As she spoke, it all began to make perfect, resonant sense. While I had heard of wintering before, and indeed read Katherine May's moving book, Wintering, I had never truly thought about living life in this way—in alignment with the changing seasons; embracing these cycles rather than constantly resisting them.

The Resistance We All Feel To Fully Embrace The Seasons

We live in a culture that values perpetual summer: constant high energy, relentless output, and making hay every single day. We are conditioned to run at full speed year-round, which inevitably leads to burnout.

My colleague's perspective offered a gentle, necessary reframe: Our energy is meant to ebb and flow, just like nature. 

I left our lunch utterly inspired by this idea and immediately set off searching online. How could I have missed so many books on this topic? My mind was whirring!

While our conversation focused on winter and spring, I began thinking about the implications of living and working seasonally across the whole year. Our energy changes as we move, like nature, through the seasons, and this might affect all areas of our lives—from how we decorate our homes and the food we eat, to how we socialise, exercise, and structure our workdays.

🌻 The Four Seasons of Energy and Output

Here is the professional and personal framework I have begin to develop for working in harmony with the nature's seasons:

❄️ Winter: The Season for Groundwork and Creation

This is a time to hunker down, keep warm, and retreat inward. It's the moment for sowing seeds—not physically planting them, but preparing the groundwork for them to burst through the soil later.

• Professional Focus: Planning, research, holding exploratory 1:1 meetings, deep skill-building, drafting course content, and creating foundations.

• Personal Focus: Prioritising rest, eating warming and nourishing foods, deep reading and learning, and simplifying social commitments.

  
  

🌱 Spring: The Season for Emergence and Launch

This is a time to blossom and spring into life! The careful projects planned over the winter are now ready to be launched.

• Professional Focus: Launching new services and introducing these to the world, thoughtfully planned project rollouts, and actively emerging from the home office to network.

• Personal Focus: Increasing exercise, feeling renewed vitality, and planning for outdoor activities.

  
  

☀️ Summer: The Season for Flourishing and Making Hay

This is your peak output season—the time to flourish and gather the harvest. The new projects are underway, and the winter plans, launched in spring, are now in full flow.

• Professional Focus: High-visibility work, client delivery, teaching, major events, and maximising income generation.

• Personal Focus: Taking vacations, being highly social, lighter eating, and long days spent outdoors.

  
  

🍁 Autumn: The Season for Reflection and Pruning

A crucial phase for reflection, evaluation, and letting go. This is where you pause to see what worked well and what needs to be cut back before the next cycle begins.

• Professional Focus: Reviewing client and project success, analysing metrics, considering changes for the next year, and defining clear "yeses" and "noes."

• Personal Focus: Decluttering, inward focus, journaling, and preparing the home for the winter retreat.

  
  

What Will You Plant This Winter Season?

The beauty of this framework is the permission it grants to slow down without guilt. It views rest and deep planning not as a failure to hustle, but as the most essential component of long-term success.

The quiet work of winter fuels the success of summer.

As we move into the quiet, contemplative season, I encourage you to consider these questions and actively embrace your own wintering:

• What seeds will you be planting and nurturing this winter? (What foundational skills or projects need your quiet attention?)

• What might you need to say "no" to in your schedule to truly allow yourself the space and energy to winter without pressure?

• How might your routines and activities change to honour this need for rest and reflection?

  
  

Let’s trade the pressure of perpetual summer for the sustainable rhythm of the seasons.

What do you think? Do you intentionally align your work with the seasons? Share your thoughts in the comments!