During the summer, productivity-related things hit a lull. Schedule’s often dissipate while responsibilities may remain the same. This can cause confusion in our heads leaving us thinking things like, “Am I supposed to be relaxing and having a great time, or am I supposed to be accomplishing all the things?”
Even in the lackadaisical pattern that many of us fall into during the summer, there is still much to be found and taken advantage of there. During this time, creativity can spike. Physically, motivation may be low, but mentally, ambition is high— it’s important to harness that energy.
One thing you can do is examine your habits. Which habits are pushing you forward, and which are pulling you back? Are there any that do neither?
When the dust settles, our habits stand out, making it easy for us to notice, analyze, and alter if needed. For that reason, we can be grateful for the stillness of summer.
Another thing you can do is load your mind with inspiration that will show itself during the busier seasons of your life. During any kind of downtime, content consumption is your best friend. Read that book you think is cool. Start listening to that podcast you heard about. Watch those movies with the rockin’ women that you’ve been seeing everywhere. Consume quality content and you will see the rewards when you’re back in your busy routine.
Here are actionable ways to productively harness that summer energy:
1. Journal.
Take note of all the things you find yourself doing for a day— even the ones you’re not proud of admitting. Do this once or twice a week, then after a month or so, go back and analyze. What patterns do you notice? Are you habitually doing things that aren’t so great for you, without even noticing you were doing them? Are you doing really great things that you maybe haven’t emphasized enough?
This analysis is an incredible way to fine-tune your day-to-day life, but it does take some time— good thing we have extra time for reflection during the summer!
2. Keep a list of ideas, ambitions, and dreams.
Since creativity can heighten during the summer due to the lack of difficult tasks and responsibilities, start to plant the seeds of what you want to see in your life a few months later. Think about things you want to do, places you want to go, things you want to create, and goals you want to accomplish. Simply bringing these things into your awareness begins your path toward them.
3. Practice an “Ideal Day”
Since there is more freedom from obligations during the summer, there is extra time to practice what you want your daily routine to look like when things pick back up. Take a few days to go through different routines and see which one is the most conducive to your success. Pick and choose the things you do and try them all out at different times of the day.
Does exercise energize you to start the day or relieve stress in the evening after a long day? Do you find your work motivation at peak performance after that morning coffee, or in the quiet and relaxing time before bed? Seeing what works best for you will pay off more than you realize when you don’t have time to experiment.
Life gives us seasons, and how we choose to maximize each of them is up to us. Summer is a great time to take moments to yourself, recharge your batteries, and look forward to what’s ahead while realizing that you get to create it for yourself. Time, thoughts, and intentions that you put in right now will show up in the next season, and you’ll be grateful that you did the best you could with what you had.