1. Say ‘yes’ to working
Working over the summer as a college student, or any kind of student or youngin’ for that matter, is taboo. It’s finally our time to be free of any workload and responsibility. But if I have one tip to give, it’s to work, so say yes to working. Your bank account will thank you later and maintaining a decent routine throughout the summer months will keep you in line. Back to fun at the end of August, so grind it out now so you have finances to fall back on.
2. Eat the ice cream with your BFF
Yes I follow a healthy lifestyle. Yes I take pride in the workouts I do and the food I nourish myself with, but if anytime of the year is associated with my favorite food, it’s summer. So you know what, I ate the ice cream when I wanted to. Whether it was driving down the road for a vanilla soft serve in a cone with extra rainbow sprinkles (don’t skip out on the cone and bring extra sprinkles and bowl with you, trust me I can speak from experience) or going back and forth between Ben and Jerry’s pints with the same spoon, the ice cream made me happy and sharing it with good company made me even happier.
3. This is your time to slow down
As much as I recommend working your booty off during the summer, I also think when you’re faced with a second to yourself or a day free of responsibility, to take it and not think twice. I struggle a lot with this one because to me, being busy means I’m being productive and getting things done. But I have to remind myself that during the school year I am running rampid, stretching myself so thin that of course I’ll feel unaccomplished as summer is my “calm” before the storm. I think back to the times I just wished I had a moment to breathe and press pause. Doing so allows me to have a greater appreciation for any down time I have during the summer, since I know chaos is right around the corner.
4. Do you
Literally that’s it. I almost feel like this doesn’t even require an explanation because the act of “doing you” is so personal and uniquely individual. But I’ll touch upon my version of “doing me.” Doing me means that I wake up early and get to the gym and drink my lemon water and take my ACV shot and drink my black decaf coffee. If you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty into routine, so doing little things everyday that become part of my routine sets me up to thrive. I love routine and order and consistency. I attribute much of the person I am to those things right there. But to you, routine may cause you to feel out of whack, so like I said, do you. Don’t just do what I do or what your favorite Instagram influencer is telling you to do, do what works for you, do what makes your thrive, and do it unapologetically.
5. Seek inspo and get motivated
There’s no time like the present right? Well in the summer the vibes tend to be high, the music tends to get louder, and in my opinion your motivation should follow suit. The last thing you want is for these three to four months to fly by just for you to realize that you didn’t start the gym membership you planned on getting or forgot to read the book that you saved for the summer months. If you read that and feel like you let your summer take over you rather than you taking over the summer, then you know what, learn from that mistake and start now. If there’s something you’ve been planning on doing or seeing or reading or learning, then now is the time to get to it. No matter what it is, something is driving you to do that thing on your mind or to try something new out, so don’t let that itch go unscratched. Scratch away and find the motivation within yourself to go after what’s been on your mind, and not half-assed but with full force and passion.
Summer is such an incredible time and there’s always something new to be discovered, those are the top things that summer 2019 has encouraged me to note and reflect on.
xx,
Kay
