Back to School – Seven Virtues for Purpose, Performance, and Productivity

The Back-to-School Mood

Rose petals sprinkled over my neglected Zen Garden, sunflower fields turned brown, and you have started to turn on the lights in the morning again. When you get home from work, you don’t want to sit outside anymore, as it is dark, but you might vaguely remember this feeling you had as a kid when you were playing hide and seek at this time of the year, and it was just a notch better because it got dark at dinner time. 

This August was a bit like the “Summer of ‘69”. Finally, out again in the world, listening to “Rock’n’Roll Music” or “Jailhouse Rock.”  Still, my dear, fall is here. We can still have a glass of “Summer Wine,” but the days are as short as the “Itzy Bitzy Teeny Weeny Honolulu Strand Bikini.” 

Apples are ripe for harvest, and the smell of onion pie and early wine hangs in the air. 

How do you remember the early fall, back when we were in high school? 

I remember a particular moment going down the stairs from our horrible gray concrete school building of the 70s, thinking, “This is great! I love being back at school!” I swung my newly acquired pepita jacket across my shoulders and closed my leather school bag with a sense of accomplishment (When are pepita jackets getting fashionable again? I mean, everything else looks like back in the day…why not that and those black and white patent leather shoes?)

Do you miss those times when you felt like the world was “in order” and we had all the opportunities ahead of us? 

When you felt like a “Rockstar”? 

Sipping champagne in a limo, with your Bono hat on, driving through “New York” with a bass drum pounding, similar to the headache you had the following day…

Is this the feeling you want to have again?

A life without limits, without regrets, and certainly without the need to have a “boss” to tell you what to do, as you know best how to do your job, how to build your contribution to the world, and how to achieve your goals in work and life?

This week, I would like to dive deeper into these seven deadly rituals for focus and productivity

1 – Start Your Week with Monday Wishes (now on the RockMeApp)

Starting your Week with Monday Wishes is a powerful way to begin. Use your journal or RockMeApp to write down your wishes for the week without any limitations. Brain-dump everything you wish for the week. The list should include fun stuff like “a bunch of flowers,” too.

2 – Craft Your Morning Routine

We should all have a morning ritual, and you can design yours around your needs, lifestyle, family, and pets. For example, what order do you ideally follow in the morning to ensure a happy and productive day ahead? Pro tip: Avoid checking your mobile phone during this time of day.

3 – Finish with Friday Reflection

If your workweek closes on Friday, use the last hour of your day to clean up your desk, sort paper or emails, write a task list for the week ahead, and then go through our four reflection questions on the RockMeApp. This is a helpful virtue and separates the workweek from the weekend. Remember, small baby steps count too.

4 – Plan a Digital Detox Day 

Taking a real break from social media and hilarious videos on Instagram is easy if you have a plan for where you can hide your phone for 24 hours. You might be a parent and need to be reachable for your children. My uncle’s strategy is to have a basic mobile phone for essential clients and family members. Alternatively, you can apply willpower (just kidding) and turn on the “Radio GaGa” and listen to unexpected songs, hear the news without images, and enjoy that wonderful feeling.

5 – Weekly Practices (RockMeApp)

Weekly practices are a vital element of our programs. They help maintain your sanity and make you a happier person to be around (as opposed to your inner Mr. Hyde, who is also a corporate zombie.) If you are struggling to define what practices are helpful or haven’t even started, I encourage you to set weekly goals that you can achieve from anywhere. Examples could be daily walking targets and relaxation exercises, or cleaning your space of clutter. 

6 – Consider Productivity Hacks 

If you feel you have maxed out your productivity already, please test this: If you can implement one of these seven productivity hacks (1- Have-Done Diary, 2 – Pomodoro Method, 3 – Eisenhower Matrix, 4 – Pareto-Principle, 5 – Peace Island, 6 – Repetition Checklists, 7 – Outsourcing Housework) and you notice any changes you might still have potential to improve, and there’s always space to learn and get better at tools. Also, to let you in on a secret, I spent a lot of time on mundane tasks such as looking for the correct passwords or ensuring I had the right document version.

I often needed to follow up on team tasks and could only sometimes rely on them. We now use password managers, master spreadsheets, and SLACK for team communication. This has increased our productivity. Also, my stress level is lower as now everything is well organized and accessible from anywhere, including all team members.

7 – Revisit Your Weekly Planner

When you started working with the weekly planner (we usually hand this out at the end of all programs), you noticed increased productivity immediately. With more practice, you could make optimizations or change your meal or exercise plan for the fall. Keep the general structure and only optimize what needs improvement.

Template_238_Your Ideal Week Planner

Next Steps

How about you practice one virtue for eight weeks and tell me what happens? I would love to hear from you. If you wish to work on your purpose, performance, and productivity further, work with me 1:1. 

We will rock you!” so that no stone will be left unturned. That’s why we developed the Global Rockstars Program. Email me, DM, or WhatsApp for an exploration call via angela@globalpeopletransitions.com or +41791922877. The following program starts on 1 September 2025. Seats are currently being sold and are limited.

Your Coach

“Angie.”

Further Reading 

Weinberger, A. (2023): The Global Rockstar Album – 21 Verses to Find Your Tact as an Inclusive Leader, Global People Transitions Ltd., Zurich, Switzerland. https://www.angieweinberger.ch/the-global-rockstar-album/