I'll come to the subject line in a moment. 

To set the scene first:

In 2023, Lauren and I took a six week trip to Mexico.

A few weeks before we jetted out to the land of tacos, tequila and tamales, a thought crossed my email-riddled mind:

How on God’s merry earth will I write my daily emails while I’m on the road for six weeks?

The more I sat with this, the clearer it became that writing daily emails while catching overnight buses and hopping around far-flung pueblos with dodgy Wifi wasn't going to fly.

90% of the time, my daily emails are freshly written.

But I decided there were too many unknowns on that Mexico trip to be writing each day, in the moment, as and when was needed.

Besides, the trip was time for me and Lauren. Taking my writing on the road for 6 weeks would’ve raised a Lauren-shaped eyebrow at the very least – and more likely would’ve prompted a “not on my nelly Tom” (or something not quite as polite).

So what did I do?

I doubled down.

In the weeks before that trip, I wrote TWO emails each day. Then I sent one as usual and held the other in reserve.

The night before we flew to Mexico, I was hunched over the kitchen table in Casa Grundy, re-reading, editing and painstakingly loading 28 emails into my email software, one for nearly every weekday when I’d be gone.

That was a late night, but I got the job done.

For the 6 weeks in Mexico, I still faithfully replied to readers who were replying to my emails. 

But apart from that, I put up my writing feet and enjoyed swanning about ancient ruins and sipping margaritas.

This marathon writing stint came to mind when I was pondering a very similar question yesterday:

(albeit with naptimes instead of nachos and baby bottles instead of burritos)

Is it time to climb the stairs at Fort Grundy, retreat into my writing den, bolt the door and bash out another 28 emails before the stork makes its special delivery?

Perhaps it is.

But, then again, things look a bit different to that Mexico trip from 18 months ago.

I don’t feel the need to navigate a situation now which hasn’t happened yet.

Instead, I'm happy to let the question float around without trying to answer it.

This is a nicer, calmer place to be. 

I’m not trying to plan or predict as I might’ve done in the past. I’m also not trying to pre-solve problems that don’t exist or force answers that don’t need answering.

I’ve no doubt parents reading this will be thinking “it’s going to be carnage Tom. You don’t know the half of it”.

That’s true. This is my first baby-related rodeo. 

And while I have no doubts there will be twists & turns in the next few weeks (and the next 18+ years too), what matters is how I respond when I’m in it.

That’s the point I’m trying to make.

This is also why I’m pausing my 1 on 1 coaching. 

Being present and ready to adapt doesn’t work all that well if I’ve got Zoom calls scheduled that day.

If you’d like to join the waiting list for when my coaching revs back up:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com