I don’t know about you, but the summer for me is a time to unwind and decompress a bit after a very busy winter. Even though I’m no longer in school, I still very much live by the school year calendar. I live for a fresh start in September! 🙂 The feeling of getting organized in the fall and falling back into habits is such a great feeling. Which always comes after a much deserved summer break. But how do you stay productive in the summer?
It’s not like we can totally forget about all of our responsibilities in the summer months! You still have to work, and in my case, I still have businesses and creative endeavours I need to continue building and growing. I’m not going to just put everything on pause, productivity and maximizing your time is key!
There are a few key tips to keep in mind when building out your summer schedule. You want to find a balance between taking more down time and enjoying moments with friends and family, but you also don’t want to feel like all of your work is being pushed to the back burning. Keep reading to find out our tips on making the most of the balance.
Here are some tips to still enjoy your summer, yet stay productive:
Concentrate on fewer things, pick your most important goals and tasks and focus on those.
What are you biggest commitments? Where do you typically have to spend your most time in order to stay on top of your work? What matters most to you? Determine those questions first. Everything that doesn’t come top of mind, those can take a bit of a back seat. For me, my full time job obviously has to come first. From there, it’s keeping up with my weekly YouTube schedule, UGC applications and our blog. I let my candle business take a bit of a back seat in the summer, because I know sales won’t be as good at this time of year, and I plan to put my focus into them again come September. It’s all about determining your priorities.
Change up your regular routine
We don’t need to live by the same routine, 12 months a year. Your morning routine in November may look different than it does in August and that’s ok! Allow your schedule to adjust based on your current needs. For me, I know in the winter I need to be up everyday between 5-6am to be able to get all my business work done before my job starts at 10am. In the summer, I let myself sleep in some days because I may be on vacation or I’ll get some movement in first thing, rather than sitting on my computer as soon as I wake up. Giving yourself the option to adjust actually makes things a bit less monotonous.
Get outside
If you live in a climate that gets cold through the winter, why wouldn’t you want to get outside as much as you can in the summer?! We live for being outdoors between June-September. Nothing beats the sun on your skin and fresh air relaxing your whole body. Change up where you work from, perhaps you can go work on a local coffee shop patio or meet a friend for a work date outside. If you work while travelling, maybe you explore a new town and see what spots it has to offer. I personally love going to my local coffee shop when we’re at our cottage in the summer. It just keeps things more interesting! This is the beauty of remote work.
Update your space
Give your space a summer makeover! Changing our surroundings helps us feel more motivated and refreshed. If you’re working in the same space all year, you’re likely to get bored or feel uninspired. If we switch up where we work or add some unique touches to our space depending on the season, this will make us more excited to spend our time working in that particular place.
For example, maybe you add some plants to your office, or give your patio a summer makeover. You could even go as far as switching up your wall decor depending on the season. Little changes can make a big difference on our moods!
Know when your fun activities are planned and work around them.
Planning can be key for mapping out your summer. Have an idea of when you want to work, and when you want to take time for some vacation. As most of you probably know, the older we get, the more our summers seem to fill up so fast. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I know what I’m doing almost every weekend of the summer, in like May LOL! I just looked at my calendar this morning and I’m basically fully booked until September. So in my mind, I know when I have time to work and when my vacations are. I try to keep the weekdays open and more flexible so I do have time to get things done, as I really don’t want to be stuck working on the weekends when there are so many fun plans to look forward to. Knowing my leisure schedule allows me to make the space in my week to get everything wrapped up before I unplug on the weekends. And for the week’s that my family has vacation booked, I try to plan around those dates and just prepare everything that needs to get done, before I unplug for my time away.
Working hard and going after what you want is amazing, it’s truly such a rewarding experience to have your dreams turn into reality. But we have to remember, taking breaks ARE necessary. Nobody wants to burn out. So this summer, let yourself have a break. Map out your goals, make your to-do lists and also schedule time for fun. If you’re looking for some fun summer inspiration, check out our summer bucket list blog! Lots of goodies in there.
Wishing everyone an AMAZING summer! Much love,
Cornelia & Meg.
