INCOMING

The big question

How do the seasons impact the way you work? Are you inspired by the summer sun, or do you find it easier to focus when hunkering down in the winter?

Join the conversation

@biz_cornwall /businesscornwall businesscornwall.co.uk

SUZIE SMITH

Digital marketer

Luckily for me the summer and holidays in general, are always quieter. I only have to concentrate on my clients as my teaching commitments for the CIM and Falmouth Uni take a break. This gives me time to spend with my young children, while still looking after my clients. This flexibility is entirely why I started my own business a decade ago. Plus, who wouldn’t want to spend the summer on the beach in Cornwall?

FRANKIE THOMAS

Frankie Thomas Creative

I tend to work best during the spring and summer months when Cornwall is at its busiest. I feel inspired due to the conversations with new people and the encounters that only summer in Cornwall provides. I tend to feel a surge of motivation when my schedule is busy with events, meetings and adventures around the coast. Having an evening at the beach planned is also a really good motivator to get through the day! I’ve found it really difficult to stay focused during the winter due to the lack of excitement and change.

RACHEL JONES

FitNFun Kids

Well, I am certainly a creature of comfort and the seasons do impact how I work!

Winter to me is warmth, cosiness, candles, coffee and wood burners. In this environment I am most effective during the darker months. However, once summer is here, I find I am

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more productive being up and out and about, in the sunshine, working longer hours in bright airy/outside environments.

In our sector seasons can affect capacity, so we find we are much busier between January and August and quieter between September and December, which really is more to do with children transitioning to school rather than for any other reason.

Personally, I find I have more energy in the Summer months and this is probably when I am more inspired to challenge myself and become more creative.

CHRIS O’BRIEN

COBIT

I tend not to be impacted by the seasons as I have a good diverse range of clients, although in a normal world with hospitality clients the lead up to Easter can be busy as everyone prepares to open.

The summer sun does distract, usually by shining on the screen in the IT bunker. I do long to work outside during the decent weather as the feel of the breeze can help the mind enormously, but the sheer impracticalities of using a laptop outside usually just send me back to the bunker!

However, sitting by a cool riverside with laptop, mobile data link, good local coffee do make the day pass a whole lot nicer.

CARLA LAMB

Truro School

I feel incredibly fortunate to work within a school environment which is greatly influenced by term dates rather than the seasons themselves. During term time, the collective energy of all the children and their dedicated teachers creates a fastpaced environment with an abundance of opportunities to motivate and inspire. During the school holidays, the empty corridors and quiet playing fields allow time for reflection and a shift in focus to strategic planning and longer-term project goals. I find this constantly changing pace keeps my mind focused and permits me time to appreciate the best of all the seasons.

JAMES SCOTT

NCI Technologies

During the long winter months, I tend to be less productive and find commuting to and from work in the dark demotivating. In the past year I have found this hasn’t been the case. The introduction of remote working and being able to create a comfortable home office environment by a window has boosted my creativity and productivity. Having access to more natural daylight has dramatically increased my mood and wellbeing.

LUCY STUDLEY

Cornwall Connect

The shoulder seasons are always busiest for me, as my hospitality and food and drink clients are gearing up during the spring, or making the most of the early autumn with events etc. From a PR point of view, once July and August arrives it does become difficult to make much headway with national contacts and the knock-on effect is that you almost need to get Christmas sorted before the summer starts.

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