Planning with the Moon: How Natural Cycles Transformed My Leadership Style
A Corporate Leader's Guide to Moon Phase Planning and Stress Management
I’ve been dabbling with merging my calendar with the moon’s cycles and nature’s rhythms since 2020, but last year was no joke and as my work stress levels skyrocketed, I decided to merge my woo with my corporate life to see what would happen.
Corporate leadership in 2024 was no joke. The constant pressure, the endless meetings, the weight of big decisions that were needed before I was ready to move - it was all becoming overwhelming. Like many executives, I found myself caught in that hamster wheel of team disharmony, keeping my team productive and working toward a common goal, yet needing to push us - as all eyes from the board down were on us to deliver, always pushing against time, and energy limits. Something had to give.
Last December, instead of just making another set of New Year's resolutions or downloading yet another productivity app, I decided to try something radically different. I chose to align my entire planning system with lunar cycles. Yes, you read that right - this stressed-out executive started planning board meetings, goal setting, and team meetings, travel and even performance reviews according to the moon and the seasons.
Why? Because I needed more than just better time management - I needed to reconnect with natural rhythms. To find a way of working that didn't feel like I was constantly swimming upstream.
First I Got Practical
I didn't abandon my regular planning tools. Instead, I learned to work with nature's own project management system - the rhythmic cycles of waxing and waning, of rest and action, that we see reflected in the moon. But I took it a step further. Using Human Design, I gained deeper insights into my own energy centers - understanding when I was naturally primed for different types of interactions (i.e. which centers were filled for me when - if you want to know more about this, send me a message or leave a comment below)
Here's what that looked like in practice:
1. Monthly Planning and Process Rituals
At each new and full moon, I'd pull out my tarot cards (we can call them perspective cards, if that is more palatable) and set intentions based on which house the moon was activating in my natal chart. This gave me a framework for focusing my energy - like tapping into nature's own timing for when to plant seeds and when to harvest.
I created a moon productivity guide that informed what types of tasks to do to complete work and home projects.
Doing these rituals really helped me to get centered.
Review: Balsamic Moon: I used the day of the dark moon to review the previous month (I have a monthly review process that I follow).
Plan: Once the month was reviewed I was ready to create a new calendar for the upcoming cycle. I did this on the day of the new moon. This is the day I created the spread on my bullet journal. I had my “Theme” of the month dictated by where the new moon was happening (also where the sun happened to be going through because that is also a highlight of my personal life and a time to look at issues surrounding that placement). I set my intentions according to whatever was relevant to me, added important dates for that month to keep top of mind, and picked out a card to signify the month. I wrote about this, here.
Building Momentum during the waxing crescent and first quarter moon (usually these both fall on week 2 of the lunar cycle month)
Adjust/Release/Pivot under the Full Moon: the full moon happens during the third week of the month and it gives you an opportunity to see what’s working and what’s not. The full moon illuminates the darkness so perhaps new information is revealed about your current project, situation, decision, presentation and so a pivot may be called for, or you may need to cut something out, make some tweaks to achieve what you set out to complete this month - to get you closer to your goal. I created a YouTube Video if you want to see how I do an oracle card planning ritual around the full moon.
The Last Quarter moon, and waning crescents are there to slow us down and check our work, what last minute things need doing? What is best left for later?
And then cycle begins again.
Here is an example of one of my favorite months of 2024: April
I’ve got my theme and headline for the month on the top left corner.
A reminder of my Annual Goals, Quarterly Goals and Monthly Goals along the top of the spread.
The Weekly Objectives, with most important tasks informed by the “energy” provided with the natural cycles.
2. I Optimized my Days for Power
I discovered a secret weapon in my professional life - tracking my "power days" when the moon moves through Cancer, Libra, Scorpio, and Aries. Like a sailor consulting tide tables, I began scheduling my high-stakes presentations and executive meetings to align with these cosmic sweet spots. Life doesn't pause to check if it's your power day, of course, and the corporate world throws its fair share of curveballs. But this simple calendar hack became my professional superpower, boosting both my confidence and mental wellbeing in ways I never expected. Sometimes the smallest tweaks create the biggest ripples.
To find your power days, identify the days that the moon is in your sun sign, your moon sign, your ascendant’s sign - and if your ascendant rules another sign, then also that sign. Here is an example: I am a Cancer Sun, Libra Moon, Scorpio Ascendant. That means I have power days when the moon is in cancer, moon is in libra, moon is in scorpio. But Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Mars also rules the sign of Aries, so I experimented with moon in Aries days and found that I responded well to them. Also my 6th house of daily work is ruled by Aries so I just figured it wouldn’t hurt to observe these days and that experiment did pay off.
3. I experimented with Days of the Week and Transits
What surprised me most was discovering how naturally celestial timing could enhance business planning. Beyond just tracking lunar cycles, I learned to leverage Mercury retrogrades for deep strategic review sessions, and major planetary transits for launching new initiatives. Those anxiety-inducing board presentations? I began scheduling them during favorable transits, while using Mercury retrograde periods for thorough preparation and revision rather than high-stakes presentations.
Let me give you a concrete example: For our critical mid-year review, I noticed Jupiter would be making a harmonious aspect to our company's founding date. Instead of treating it like any other corporate meeting, I used this timing to our advantage, layering it with a new moon for added momentum. The result? What could have been another stress-inducing strategy session transformed into a powerful reset point for the entire team. We didn't just review numbers - we created space for genuine reflection and renewed motivation.
The beauty of this approach lies in its practical application. Major corporate events like board meetings are typically planned months in advance. Knowing these dates, I could work backwards, using astrological timing to optimize our preparation phases, delegate tasks during favorable periods, and ensure our team was aligned with these natural rhythms rather than fighting against them. Literally, everything counts!
Room for Improvement
But here's where I need to get vulnerable with you: Having a moon-aligned planning system didn't automatically make everything perfect. In fact, some of my biggest "failures" came from not integrating all the levels of natural timing:
- Lunar Cycles and External Seasonal Cycles (which I tracked diligently)
- Bodily Rhythms (which I often ignored)
- Emotional Seasons (which hit harder than expected with empty nesting, moving from California)
What makes this timing especially powerful is that I'm currently in a progressed moon period in Cancer - my sun sign. For those not familiar with astrological progressions, think of it like your emotional evolution over time. And with the progressed moon in Cancer (the sign of home, nurturing, feeling all the feels, and internal wisdom), while ALSO being a Cancer sun myself? The universe isn't just whispering - it's basically sending a cosmic memo in all caps: SLOW DOWN, SET BOUNDARIES, AND NURTURE YOURSELF.
What I’m Doing Different in 2025
For 2025, this means restructuring my approach to honor what I call the "Full Spectrum of Natural Timing":
1. Continuing what worked:
Daily meditation practice
Release rituals with the full moon
Power day optimization for key meetings
Monthly intention setting with the new moon
Using planet retrogrades and other transits more intentionally
2. Balancing the Missing Element:
Err on the side of over-communicating,
Building in "flow time" whenever shifting activities,
Travel to places that have nothing to do with work, for fun!
Creating space for emotional processing, walks alone, writing
Slowing down before decisions, while keeping the team abreast of this
3. Get Physical Alignment:
Bring the green smoothie back!
Regularly scheduled times of stillness,
Doing a 75 Hard in Q1 to reboot workouts,
Using water for healing (ocean swims, baths, hydration)
The skeptic in me still sometimes asks if it's all just confirmation bias. But the results speak for themselves. More importantly, the stress reduction speaks for itself. When you're in a high-pressure role, finding sustainable ways to navigate that pressure isn't just nice to have - it's essential for survival.
For those curious about trying this approach:
1. Start small - maybe just track the new and full moons for a month
2. Notice your natural energy patterns, and how they change with the seasons
3. Consider exploring your Human Design and/or Gene Keys and/or astrological chart
4. Use traditional planning tools, but align them with natural cycles, and with perspective gives, like oracle cards
5. Pay attention to what happens when you work with, rather than against, natural timing
Remember: This isn't about becoming some mystical professional who only makes decisions based on the moon. It's about finding a more natural, sustainable way to navigate the corporate world while staying connected to yourself.
And isn't that what we're all really looking for?