20 To-Dos for Each Mode: Hibernate, Sustain, and Grow

Knowing which mode your practice is in is half the work. The other half is knowing what to actually do once you're there.

This is a companion to our series on the three modes of a divorce practice. Below are 20 to-dos for each mode. It isn't a checklist to complete. It's a menu. Pick the handful that fit your practice, your profession, and your season, and leave the rest.

One note before you start: if a list of 60 to-dos makes your shoulders tense, that may be useful information about which mode you need.

Hibernate mode: 20 to-dos

Most of these happen before you hibernate, not during. The goal is to set things up so the essentials run without you.

1. Pick your dates. Choose a start and end date and put them on your calendar, the same way you would a client appointment.
2. Decide what keeps running. Write down what continues, what pauses, and what's the minimum it takes to keep the lights on.
3. Write an autoresponder. Say when you'll be back, what happens to new inquiries in the meantime, and where people can go if they need help sooner.
4. Arrange coverage for current clients. Follow your profession's requirements, and let clients know ahead of time who to contact and when.
5. Line up referral colleagues. Ask two or three trusted professionals whether you can send inquiries their way while you're out.
6. Adjust your booking calendar. Make sure new appointments can't be booked before your return date.
7. Add an availability note to your website. One line on your contact page is enough.
8. Pause or annotate your intake forms. Either close them or add a note about response times, so no one is left wondering.
9. Decide what content goes out, if any. Schedule a few posts in advance, or let your channels go quiet. Both are fine.
10. Pause paid ads. If you won't be around to monitor them or respond to the leads they bring in, turn them off.
11. Check renewal dates. Licenses, insurance, continuing education deadlines, domain names, memberships. Make sure nothing lapses while you're away.
12. Set money to run on its own. Schedule bill payments and send invoices before you go.
13. Let referral partners know. A short note telling them you're stepping back, and when, keeps the relationship intact.
14. Postpone invitations. Decline or reschedule networking events, speaking, and podcast recordings that fall in your hibernation window.
15. Clear your inbox before you leave. Returning to a manageable inbox is half the reason hibernation feels restful.
16. Start a "when I'm back" list. Ideas will still show up. Give them a place to land that isn't a new project.
17. Set one check-in window, or none. If you must look at email, choose one short, defined time per week and stick to it.
18. Move work apps off your home screen. Small friction goes a long way.
19. Protect your first day back. Block it for catching up, with no client appointments.
20. Actually rest. Hibernation filled with a different kind of work isn't hibernation. And if you're depleted, please lean on your own professionals and support system too.

Sustain mode: 20 to-dos

Sustain is where most of the year happens. These are the habits that keep a practice steady without wearing you down.

1. Set a response window you can keep. Decide how quickly you'll answer inquiries, and make it realistic.
2. Choose a content pace you can maintain. Once a week, consistently, beats daily for three weeks and then nothing.
3. Repurpose what you already know. The questions clients ask you every week make excellent posts.
4. Send thank-you notes. When someone refers a client to you, thank them. A short email is plenty.
5. Check in with no ask attached. Reach out to a colleague you haven't spoken to in a while, just to say hello.
6. Review your directory listings quarterly. Update your bio, headshot, specialties, and contact details.
7. Check your website basics. Make sure your hours, fees, services, and contact information are current.
8. Test your own links and forms. Book an appointment on your own calendar. Submit your own contact form. Make sure it all works.
9. Keep continuing education on track. Chip away at it through the year rather than cramming before a deadline.
10. Track where clients come from. Even a simple spreadsheet will show you which relationships and channels are doing the work.
11. Gather testimonials where appropriate. Follow your profession's rules on reviews and client confidentiality.
12. Maintain your referral list. Keep a current list of trusted professionals in adjacent fields, so you can point clients to the right people.
13. Do a monthly money check. Invoices out, payments in, expenses reviewed.
14. Document one process. Write down how you handle intake, onboarding, or closing out a client. Future you, or a future hire, will be grateful.
15. Refresh your templates. Welcome emails, intake questionnaires, and resource lists tend to drift out of date quietly.
16. Send your newsletter on schedule. It can be short. Consistency matters more than length.
17. Attend one event a month you actually enjoy. Networking you dread is networking you'll eventually stop doing.
18. Engage with colleagues' content. Comment, share, and celebrate other professionals' work. It keeps relationships warm with very little effort.
19. Keep an idea file for Grow mode. Write ideas down instead of starting them. They'll be there when you have the capacity.
20. Schedule your next hibernation. Put a rest period on the calendar before you need one.

Grow mode: 20 to-dos

Grow mode works best as a defined stretch with a beginning and an end. Choose a few of these, not all twenty.

1. Pick one growth goal. One clear goal per growth stretch tends to get further than five at once.
2. Set a start and end date. Growth without an end date has a way of becoming permanent overwork.
3. Decide what pauses. Identify what you'll set aside from Sustain mode to make room for the new thing.
4. Budget time and money upfront. Estimate both, then add some margin.
5. Develop a new offering. A workshop, group program, or course can reach people your one-on-one work can't.
6. Pitch yourself as a podcast guest. Choose shows whose listeners are the people you serve.
7. Apply to speak. Conferences, professional associations, libraries, and community groups all need speakers.
8. Write a guest article or column. Publications and blogs in adjacent fields are often looking for expert contributors.
9. Build a new referral partnership. Look to professionals who see your clients before or after you do.
10. Host a free educational event. A webinar or community talk introduces you to new people and gives them something useful.
11. Refresh your website. New copy, new photos, and a clearer explanation of what you do and who you do it for.
12. Start or relaunch a newsletter. If yours has gone quiet, a relaunch is a good reason to say hello again.
13. Create a free resource. A guide or checklist gives people a reason to join your email list.
14. Add a service or practice area. Check licensing, insurance, and ethics requirements before you announce anything.
15. Get help. A virtual assistant, bookkeeper, or contractor can take tasks off your plate so you can focus on building.
16. Invest in training. A certification or specialty training can open a new niche.
17. Join a new professional community or directory. Look for ones that put you in front of the clients and colleagues you want to reach.
18. Start the book. Or the book proposal. Or the outline for the proposal.
19. Build systems before you need them. Booking, onboarding, and client management tools are easier to set up before growth arrives than during it.
20. Schedule a review at the end. Look at what worked, what moves into Sustain mode, what gets dropped, and when you'll rest next.

Where to start

Choose the mode you're in right now, and pick three to-dos from that list. That's it.

If you can't tell which mode you're in, start with the first post in this series, The Three Modes of Your Practice. And if you're reading this list wishing someone would just let you rest, consider this your permission to start with the Hibernate section.