For many, summer is a time for taking breaks and starting over.
It’s the perfect moment to recharge and renew yourself for what’s to come before the leaves begin to fall and the sky grows cold again, ushering in the final quarter of the year for businesses and the beginning of a new school year for students.
But while most people are wasting time on fruitless efforts, you want to use this time to position yourself for building a better life. You have goals and a vision and somewhere you want to go.
You need a balance in life. You just cannot be all the time on an adrenalin peak. You need to recharge.– Joanne Liu
Here are four ways to recharge and renew yourself this summer:
1. Do absolutely nothing
Your inclination is probably to plan things to do during your free time. After all, that’s probably why you’re reading this. However, the problem is, most of us are really bad at taking care of ourselves and, even when we’re taking a break, we do it in a way that doesn’t actually help us recharge.
We think that sleep each night is enough to rest our brain from the stresses of work and school. But that’s just not the case. For that, you need to sit in silence for a time and allow your mind to fully relax. Preferably regularly.
This can take the form of a meditation practice or it can simply be sitting around doing absolutely nothing, staring at the swaying trees or listening to the whistling of the wind. Either way, plan to do nothing for a few minutes each day this summer and you’ll see the benefit over time.
2. Review the first half of your year and celebrate your victories
Take some time to review where you’re at at this point of the year. Celebrate your victories and reflect on what you did a great job on.
You’ll have time later to make improvements. For now, take time to do what you don’t do often enough: appreciate yourself and the work you’re doing and give yourself a little pat on the back, even if only once before you put your head down once again.
3. Unplug
When’s the last time you really, truly unplugged?
Turn off your phone and computer for a day or two and see how it makes you feel. Better yet, go on retreat and do it for an entire week if you can manage it. Don’t check social, don’t peek at your email, and resist looking at the latest news headline. Your devices should be turned off altogether.
I can tell you from experience that it’s incredibly eye-opening and will keep you from ever looking at your screen usage the same again.
4. Surround yourself with love and support
There’s nothing more powerful than surrounding yourself with the people you care most about and who care about and support you.
Sure, these people can also frustrate you from time to time. But, perhaps, this is also a time to remember just how much these people mean to you and to express it to them so they can feel appreciated.
By surrounding yourself with love, you’re able to find your center once again, having remembered clearly what is most important and can come back to your work as a brand new person.
