Making time for play

I've been heads down and now I'm ready for a summer break. I'm sharing my summer list this week.

Welcome to Reframed, where high-achieving professionals come to rethink their careers. Because doing things the “right” way only works if it’s actually right for you.

I'm Ashley Rudolph—a former tech executive turned coach for leaders and next-gen execs in the creative, tech, and lifestyle industries.

This summer, I’m experimenting with condensed essay formats. I want the option to keep it light in the spirit of embracing vacation mode. Enjoy!

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When you’re passionate about your work, time has a habit of standing still. After a while you look up after hyper-focusing and realize you’ve just been working nonstop. This is my story. I have a tendency to obsess over things I’m good at. Right now it’s work. In the past it’s also been work (lol), dance, travel (and trip planning), and training my dog.

That little thing called hyper fixation? I am intimately familiar with her I fear.

After taking the month of December off, the past six months have been → work, write, rinse, repeat.

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NEW TREND ALERT 😂 →

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Touching grass is exactly what I should be doing, right this very second.

I arrived at this point after an intense first half of the year. Intense in a good way—great even.

Business is bigger, better, and moving faster than ever.

Someone asked me recently what my biggest business related problem is right now. The answer is, I have none. The decisions I made around my brand, my voice, my time? They worked. The hours I’ve poured in have translated into outcomes.

There’s no ambiguity.

I coached, I strategized, I logged hundreds of hours of conversations with companies, clients, and collaborators. This thing is a well-oiled machine now.

I say this not to brag but to draw a parallel between what many high achievers feel when work is going well. Things can be good (great even), but you can still be left feeling like something’s off. And sometimes the solution doesn’t have to be answering an existential question (WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!). Sometimes the solution can be something as simple as injecting a bit of fun into your life.

If this resonates you might be right where I am, feeling like all work and no play has made me a dull human. The constant whirring of momentum can start to feel like monotony.

That’s why breaks exist. That’s why summer exists.

It’s officially time for leisure, ease, relaxation, and a dash of fun.

You probably know and love this perfect summer photo of Naomi, Tyra, and Beverly, right?

Summer is my favorite season. Here’s my non-exhaustive list of simple summer pleasures:

• Dinners. There’s an art to a summertime dinner. Home cooked meals, indoor or outdoor dining, solo dinners, dinners with friends, upscale or casual, dinner parties. You name it. I LOVE the right dinner time vibe in the summer.

• Museums. No time limit, no expectations. The MoMa, the Whitney, the courtyard at The Frick (I just went on Saturday, it’s gorgeous), the Met (Lorna Simpson + Super Fine), the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Historical (I hate that they dropped “Society” but life goes on!), and of course, the Museum of Natural History.

• Sunset sails. I have this annual ritual with my friend Jeremy where we book a sunset sail on the Hudson. If that’s your jam, I won’t gatekeep :) You can book here. Bring friends, a bottle of wine (or three), and whatever snacks you want. It’s perfect.

  

• Beach days, phone on Do Not Disturb. Me, a book, something cold to drink. No rushing back.

• Anti-brain rot routine. Hear me out. I know this is about fun and you’re probably like wtf turn your brain off. Think about this category as a visit to the spa for my brain. And there’s two things that I want to do more of to give my mind a little TLC this summer:

  • Dust off my reading list: Here’s a few that I’m excited to get through → The Anxious Generation (I just started it last week and I have SO many thoughts), Matriarch, The Gap and the Gain, and The Five Star Weekend (revisiting this one since Regina Hall was cast in the film adaptation!!). Do y’all have any other (fun) recommendations?

  • Walk: Solo walks, walks with friends, walking meetings, hikes, whatever. I do my best thinking when I walk and last summer, I walked 100k steps a week!

• Spontaneous travel. Of course I’m going to see Beyonce again (Atlanta, here we come!). But there’s something relaxing about weekend trips with no real plan. Maybe somewhere upstate. Maybe Montauk. Maybe elsewhere. I just want to book something last minute and disappear for a few days—no agenda, no itinerary. Just vibes.

  • Vacation hacks: You have Juneteenth (make it a 4 day weekend), July 4th (3 day weekend), and Labor Day (3-4 day weekend).

I love the heat, I love how the sun stays out past 8pm, I love the way people lay out on the lawn in Central Park.

I love aimless hot weather walks on city streets, I love ice cream, I love walking up and down the west side. I love outdoor dining.

My birthday is also in the summer, maybe that’s why it’s my favorite season. Hello fellow Leos :)

I spent the weekend looking through my camera roll for inspo, to come up with a personal mood board of sorts based on summers past. Here’s some snapshots of some of my favorite summer memories + one throwback.

Pictured above, summertime adventures in the South of France, DC, NYC, Upstate NY, and summer camp in Virginia (ha!).

What are your summer plans?! I want to hear them :)

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