May not be what you think it is.

There are many major transitions that people go through in life: leaving for college, getting married, having children, loved ones dying, getting divorced, moving, retirement. I’ve mentioned the most typical ones, there may be others for some of you.

There are also many micro transitions that people go through every single day, that you may not even be aware of, and they are affecting you in ways you may not see. For example, leaving home for work each day is a transition, leaving home for school is also a transition, shifting between tasks is another transition.

It can cause frustration, lack of performance, even anxiety, depending on the way that person’s brain works. I’ve seen situations where even adults get upset and cranky about being unable to move from one thing to the next.

It wasn’t until I experienced them and gained awareness around them that I really understood what was happening and how to work with them, rather than against them.

I saw it in other people first, I couldn’t figure out why people would get frustrated or short, having to move from a project to a meeting or vice versa.

I saw it again in children, when they were home for the summer, or even Christmas break and going back to school was a transition that many of them did not make well. At the time it can be hard or near impossible to figure out.

Ever try to get your child out the door when they are in the middle of a project or a game?

Ever try to take your child back to school happily, without tears, after they’ve been home with you for weeks?

What about for you, do you ever notice a pull or discomfort when you have to leave a project or writing assignment in midstream, because you have a meeting, the phone rings or someone knocks on your door?

What about a college student, especially a freshman, whose been away at school for a term, now back for Christmas? They have to readjust to being at home again, and their change in freedom. There’s a transition for all of you.

Same is true for people going through or on the heels of retirement, marriage, a new job. When the pandemic hit and the world went into lockdown, this was probably the biggest transition that we all experienced, without much warning or time to prepare.

Now here we are, on the reverse, shifting back to work, or staying home to work and some are in a hybrid or mix of both. People are now resisting this change, partly because they don’t know how to shift back to full-time work at the office.

All of these are transitions. They are also great opportunities for learning and for growth, if you can see it that way.

They are also fabulous opportunities to enhance and expand your thinking, and your relationships! It can be amazing.

Or it can be a battlefield for arguments, frustrations and growing apart instead. It’s all in the way you approach them and many of you are not even aware they exist, let alone how to deal with them, well.

The end of the year is approaching and a New Year is about to be with us. It is the perfect time to discuss transitions in order to help ease them for everyone. With all of the busyness that comes with this time of year, these following tips can be a life saver. So read on.

“Not in his goals, but in his transitions is man great” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here are a few ways to help you Ease The Transition…

For your Kids…

- Let them know you are still there. Seems obvious, right — though it may not be to them. They may need a gentle reminder that you’re still there, that you’ll still be picking them up after school, or some other aspect of their routine that will continue.

- Give them some extra time in the morning, they may move slowly, or they may need just a little more time with you. This can be a big one, you’re trying to get out the door, and they are wanting to stay home or they’re just not in the hurry that you are. Giving them and you a little more time can make the start to your day much more pleasant.

- Hold off on carpools. Just for a few weeks. It gives them time to talk about their own adjustments, school sports, music, friends, lunch. And it gives you opportunities to connect with other adults and this is critical, on many levels. It’s a simple way to ease the transition and a fabulous opportunity for them to open up.

- Let them know what to expect, as much as you can. When looking at the major transitions mentioned above, these can be exciting for everyone, they can also produce anxiety for some. If you share what to expect along the way, it can ease the transition into the new environment, experience, more than you may realize.

For you…

-Make time for yourself. Seems obvious. This time of year, is one of the hardest times to do it with so much going on, making it even more important. You might need to set up boundaries around some of this time, in order to make sure it doesn’t get dropped for something else, which is very often the case.

-Take a lunch break and eat it. Rather than working right through or eating at your desk. Take a dedicated break for it.

-Get outside, in nature. Giving yourself the chance to get outside to take a walk, to get in the sun, is so good for you, and your mental health. Even if it is for a quick walk, the benefits are there. It can be a time to calm down, to clear your head or to just think. It is the best time to just be in silence and to hear your inner voice nudging you towards your next goal!

-Leave work at the office. You’ve probably heard this one before, a time or two and it is easier said than done. Especially when your office is at home. Use your commute to ‘mentally prepare’ or shift to being home, as a time to relax and calm your mind of all the things you left at the office.

If you work from home, you can still do this tip. Taking a few minutes to clean your desk, putting things away. It’s really a way to make sure that all of your work is out of sight, and any visual reminders of what you have going on with work are put away. It helps you to mentally turn off from or tune out from work, so that you can be more present in where or with whom you are now.

For Your Colleagues or Clients…

Schedule time in between meetings or appointments. Giving this time allows your colleagues and your clients time to shift focus, it also gives them time to complete the previous one. For example, I suggest for my clients to give themselves 15 minutes or so, after our call to make notes, write down any ideas that come through or just a time to shift into the next thing. I do this for myself too.

When you move from one thing to the next, in rapid succession, there is no chance to write any notes of the first one. And doing this at lunch or at the end of the day, people just won’t easily or accurately remember everything that was said, let alone the brilliant ideas they had. And they did have them.

People just don’t realize the value and importance of the opportunity to mentally prepare between activities, assignments and projects.

Consider what it is that you want. In the major transitions in your life, some expected and many unexpected, one of the best things you can do is to ask yourself, what is it that I want in this situation. The other one is, who do I want to be in this moment of the experience?

It can take people by surprise when I suggest this to my clients, and often they are not sure of what that is, so we go to work there. Once determined, at least from where they currently are, it can change to whole transition, from the old to the new so much for the better. With more joy, more excitement, more success and greater relationships too.

Grow your confidence muscle. Having confidence will allow you to move through these transitions, letting go of the old and walking into the new, with grace and ease. Confidence as a muscle that grows as you use and express it, is a valuable approach to use, and to recognize that everything will be okay or even better.

In the smaller moments where you shift from one thing to the next, all day long, as do all of those around you and at home with you, do your best to be mindful of how you approach those shifts and they will be smoother and so much more enjoyable.

Easing the transition, from one thing to the next, can make your days smoother, so won’t you give it a try today? Where would you like to start?

Thank you so much for reading this article. If you’d like to work with us, on this topic and many others, please reach out to us at info@worklesscreatemore.com.

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Maureen Considine is Founder and CEO of Finding Your Way Coaching. A Master Coach with expertise in Income Acceleration, Business Development, Sales and Mindset, she is the Wealth Health Creation Strategist for entrepreneurs, executives, and other high performers. Maureen has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing. She has helped hundreds of clients grow their businesses and reach their true potential using her unique, intuitive, and holistic approach. Maureen has a B.A. in Psychology, with training in mindset and the Psychology of Sales.