4 Things I’m Doing to Make Life Easier This Fall 🍂
IDK what it is about fall but this time of year makes me really come alive. Maybe it’s the weather dipping (a little) here in Florida. Maybe it’s all the things to look forward to this time of year. Either way I’m here for this season. Q4 is my time to shine. And yes, I absolutely count September as Q4. It just makes more sense to bundle it with the other ber months, ya know?
This is the time of year when I naturally want to get my life in order. I start looking ahead. I order next years planner. I think about the holidays, our routines, the things we want to experience and the person I want to be when the ball drops. Ya’ll everything about this space and what I teach is how can we turn what we say matters most into how we actually live, right? We do this week after week through practical self-care, meaningful goals, supportive routines and the flexibility to keep going when life doesn't go according to plan.
But it’s wild bc I’ve been thinking about how differently I approach this season now than I used to. A previous version of myself would spend the last few months of every year abandoning the routines that support me most. I’d end up crawling across the finish line of a year completely exhausted and then expecting January and the promise of a new year to repair everything.
But nothing changes if nothing changes, right?
I realized that I didn’t want to keep living in a cycle where life would get full, I’d lose myself inside of it, and then I’d need a giant reset to find my way back. Ya know what I mean?
I’m no longer looking to a fresh year as permission to start over. Instead…
I’m looking for sustainable rhythms and routines that can support the life I’m actually living. ALl year long.
And right now? That life is full.
We have Crave. I have the podcast. I’m working out. I’m traveling. We’re heading into Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are meals to plan, gifts to buy, memories I want to make and normal everyday responsibilities that do not disappear simply because the holidays are coming. I’m sure you feel this too. The holidays amplify normal life bc normal life doesn’t stop when the holidays show up.
Today I just want to talk about simple things that have been helping me remove friction, reduce decisions and help Future Brittany feel a little less stressed. So today’s episode is going to be quick. Nothing crazy or mind blowing. I simply want to share four things I’m doing RIGHT NOW, THIS SEASON, to make my life a little bit easier— and I’m passing them along in hopes that they will make your life a little easier, too.
1. I’M PLANNING THE SEASON BEFORE THE SEASON PLANS ME
The first thing I’m doing is sitting down with my planner and identifying the pieces of fall and the holidays that matter most to me. Not only the appointments, important work notes, travel and obligations. I’m also planning the things that make this season feel like this season.
I want to buy the pumpkins.
Swap our decor and candles out for fall.
Decide on Halloween costumes for the whole family.
I want to plan our Thanksgiving meal.
Figure out when the lights and tree to go up in early November.
Set aside time and margin to decorate the tree and the rest of the house over Thanksgiving weekend.
I want to make cookies and Chex Mix.
Think about our Christmas meal and the gifts we want to give.
Work thru our favorite Christmas movies and test out some fun new mocktails and cocktails.
I think sometimes we use our planners exclusively to organize the things we’re responsible for. We write down the appointment. The deadline. The work shift. The bill. The thing somebody needs from us. But then the season fills up with responsibilities and we wonder why there isn’t any room left for joy. I don’t want my planner to show me only where I need to be and when. I want it to remind me of how I want to live.
If something is important to me, I’m giving it somewhere to live outside of my head. For me, it’s so helpful to put the things I want to experience this season IN my planner as events and appointments we can’t miss. Then there’s no guess work. We know tonight is reserved for Christmas movies and cookie baking.
Another hack we have in our home is that my husband Charles and I keep a shared note for Christmas gifts. Ya’ll. This has made gift-giving so much easier. We start a new note at the top of every year and I’m honestly shopping all year long. If someone mentions something they want in passing or I see an idea that reminds me of them, I write it down. If I find the right gift early, I buy it and save it. And if I know what I’m getting I can also see when it’s on sale throughout the year, ya know?
That means I’m not entering December trying to remember every conversation I’ve had for the previous eleven months—and I’m not housing every gift idea in my brain by myself. We share this load in our home.
Planning ahead doesn’t remove all the work from the season, but it does keep decisions from becoming an emergency. One of the mantras we have in our home is “hurry and love can’t coexist.” If I’m hurrying to buy gifts and make the meal and get out the door for the party…there’s not usually a lot of love in my tone or actions. I’m rushed. I’m stressed. Hurry and love can’t coexist. This is the time of year I want to SLOW DOWN so I can love well and be present for the memories and moments. Planning ahead helps me do this. It also helps me make sure that the things I’m excited about don’t get pushed aside by the things that feel more urgent.
So what are the parts of the next few months that matter most to you? Not what does Sally on Instagram is doing. Not what have you always done because everybody expects it. What do you want to make room for this season?
Maybe it’s one dinner with your friends.
Maybe it’s taking your kids to the pumpkin patch.
Maybe it’s a quiet Thanksgiving morning.
Your favorite Christmas movie and matching jammies.
Whatever it is — put it somewhere.
If it matters to you, give it somewhere to live outside of your head.
2. I’M REMOVING DECISIONS I DON’T NEED TO KEEP MAKING
Okay. The next thing I’m doing to make my life easier right now is removing some of the decisions I don’t need to make over and over again. Let me explain:
My workouts are a perfect example.
When I open my workout app, the workout is already there. I don’t have to decide which muscle group I should train, which exercises I want to do or how to structure the week. I don’t have to scroll through a million classes looking for the perfect one until I’ve used half of my workout time deciding what workout to do.
I open the app. I press play. Someone tells me what to do. I sweat and we are done.
And during a season when workouts could very easily be pushed to the back burner, having that structure makes it much easier for me to continue. For me, it’s an app. For you, it could be a class you attend and that appointment with yourself and the trainer leading the way is exactly what you need this time of year to take away the decision fatigue behind it.
But this isn’t only about exercise.
I do this with food, too. I keep reliable meal components in the house at all times. I know how to build a breakfast with enough protein so I don’t have to turn Sunday into a four-hour meal-prep production. I can keep salad ingredients available and assemble lunch throughout the week. We always have pizza on Friday, so I keep a frozen Banza pizza on hand at all times. I always have supplies for tuna bento boxes. In fact, the other day things got a little off schedule with our meal plan and my husband was trying to figure out what to bring me for lunch over to the coffee shop and I was like “Babe. Tuna bento. We’ve got all the stuff.” This is the perfect time of year to have your go to healthy staples readily available for you to grab so you aren’t grabbing for the foods that don’t help you feel your best, ya know?
I have to tell myself this esp this time of year bc I’m always looking for a new recipe, or a new idea bc I get bored easily with foods. But. If something is working, I can repeat it. Not every meal needs to be new. Not every morning needs a brand-new routine. Not every workout needs to surprise me.
That’s why routines are so valuable. Your brain ALREADY knows what happens next. This takes away decision fatigue in a season when there are so. many. decisions.
So where are you making the same decision over and over again?
What are we eating for breakfast?
When am I going to work out?
What do I need to pack?
What are we doing Friday night?
When am I ordering groceries?
Could you create a default?
A default meal. A workout structure. A recurring grocery order. A standard workday lunch. A short menu of morning options.
The goal isn’t to make your life boring. Again, it’s to take away just a bit of decision fatigue in a season when there are so. many. decisions.
3. I’M MEAL PLANNING FOR THE WEEK I’M ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE
I have meal planned for years. This is not a new habit for me and it’s something I’ve shared and taught on the podcast before. I almost didn’t want to include this as one of the things bc I feel like it’s something I ALWAYS do to make like easier. But what I’m being especially intentional about right now is planning for the week I’m actually going to have—not the week Fantasy Brittany thinks she’s going to have. You know what I’m talking about? You plan this ideal week and then realize that your life is anything but ideal at the moment?
Like when I’m meal planning I believe things about myself that aren’t true. Like I can be on my feet at Crave all day, come home exhausted, and feel absolutely delighted to begin a complicated recipe at 6:30 at night. This ideal version of me never forgets to thaw anything. She uses every vegetable before it goes bad. She has endless energy and is deeply passionate about washing all the dishes after the meal is over.
Ya’ll. I don’t know her. 😅 I am not her. And why do we do that to ourselves? Plan our weeks like we are some sort of machine and not an actual human?
These days, when I sit down to plan our meals, I’m looking at the actual week. Before I even plan out the meals I map out the week.
Which days am I at Crave?
Which days am I opening?
Are we traveling?
Do we have plans at night?
Which day am I likely to be the most tired?
Which meal needs to be ready quickly?
Where do I need something I can assemble instead of cook?
What days am I delegating over to Charlie to decide and cook and clean?
And if you caught my 100 days left episode the other week, one of my goals to end the year is to work towards 120 g of protein every day. So this means I am making sure I have easy foods available throughout the day so I’m not reaching three o’clock fueled by coffee, vibes and one string cheese.
Convenience is a huge part of the plan this time of year.
Grocery delivery.
Prepared ingredients.
Shoot. Sometimes it’s Uber Eats after a demanding day.
I think we can treat convenience like it’s evidence that we failed to plan, but sometimes convenience is the plan. Convenience doesn’t automatically mean unhealthy.
Remember that a supportive meal plan isn’t the one that looks the most impressive when you write it down on Sunday. It’s the one you can still follow when Wednesday arrives and Wednesday behaves exactly like a Wednesday.
Plan for the woman who is actually going to live the week—not the fantasy version of her who has unlimited time and energy.
4. I’M USING Q4 TO CONTINUE my momentum—NOT WAITING FOR JANUARY TO RESTART
And the last thing I’m doing is using these final months of the year to continue caring for myself instead of deciding that everything will restart in January.
That is part of why I snag next years planner way in advance. I can begin looking ahead now. I can write down important dates, think about what’s coming and start the new year already connected to my life rather than feeling like I need January 1 to save me from the final three months of 2026.
I don’t believe we always need a giant reset. More often, I think we need rhythms that can survive a full season. And survive does not mean they look exactly the same every week.
Some weeks I may complete every workout I had planned.
Other weeks my body may need more recovery.
Some weeks I’ll cook everything I planned.
Other weeks I’ll order dinner because that is the choice that allows me to rest.
Some days I’ll have a full, productive workday.
Other days I may do one focused 30-minute work block and then power down because my capacity is simply lower.
I’m also learning not to automatically caffeinate my way through every moment of exhaustion as if being tired is a character flaw I need to defeat.
Sometimes the Best Self Choice is doing the workout.
Sometimes the Best Self Choice is taking the nap.
The goal isn’t to prove how disciplined we can be through the end of the year. The goal is to stay in relationship with the things that support our best selves.
I think this is where we can get into trouble during the final part of the year. Our schedules change. There are more events, more food, more travel and more people needing things from us. And because we can’t maintain our routines exactly as we did during a quieter season, we decide we have fallen completely off track.
So we let everything go.
We’ll work out in January.
We’ll meal plan in January.
We’ll look at the budget in January.
We’ll rest after Christmas.
We’ll take care of ourselves when the holidays are over.
But what if our routines were allowed to shift without disappearing altogether? What if consistency didn’t require us to do everything perfectly? What if it meant keeping a few supportive rhythms close enough that we could return to them—even during a full week?
Sustainable doesn’t mean your routines never change. It means they can BEND and FLEX with your life without completely falling apart.
I don’t want to spend the last three months of every year abandoning myself and then spend the first three months of the next one trying to find myself again. I want to enjoy the holidays and continue caring for the person who will enter the new year. And I want that for you too.
MAKE ONE THING EASIER
So those are four things making my life easier right now.
I’m planning the season before the season plans me. I’m removing decisions I don’t need to keep making. I’m meal planning for the week I’m actually going to have. And I’m using Q4 to continue my momentum—not waiting for January to restart.
None of these things are revolutionary. And I think that’s kind of the point.
Self-care isn’t always the giant reset, the perfect routine or the exciting new plan. Sometimes it’s noticing where your life keeps feeling unnecessarily hard and making one small adjustment.
So where is the friction in your life right now? What decisions are you tired of making? Where could you streamline them to take away fatigue? What important thing needs somewhere to live outside of your head? Where are you planning for a version of yourself who doesn’t actually exist? What routine could be allowed to shift instead of breaking away completely?
You don’t have to reorganize your entire life today nor is this the season where we actually have capacity for that. I’m just asking you to make one part of it easier for yourself.
Set a default.
Write down the date.
Share the note.
Order the groceries.
Choose the workout.
Leave the open space open.
Do one small thing today that Future You will be so grateful you already handled.
W don’t need to reach the end of the year exhausted, disconnected from ourselves and desperate for January to give us a brand-new life. We can enjoy the season we’re in while continuing to care for the life we’re building. I love you so much. I’m forever and always rooting for you. And I will see you right here next week on The Self Care Sisterhood Podcast. 🤍
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