Make the Best of the Rest of Your Summer- with 3 simple Steps. {A Friend Post!}

3 Steps to Getting the Most out of (what’s left of) summer!

Hey Friends! In my busy season of book writing and podcasting I am not able to write blog posts as much as I would like. It is my joy to get to occasionally share contributions from some of my online (and in-real-life!) friends with you.  

Today, my fellow island-living friend, Cathy Lee, homeschool mom to 6, shares a post that I think you’ll love!

Here is some of Cathy Lee’s wisdom on how we can MAKE THE BEST, OF THE REST, of summer…

How does this happen every year?  We anxiously count down the days until summer break.  We plan, we play, and then we blink, we see school supplies back in the stores and it’s almost over!  Well… the good news is that for most of us… it’s not over quite yet!  There’s still time to make the remaining days of summer what we want and need.  I have a few tips to help you!

Back in June, I wrote an IG post titled, “How to Make the Most of Your Summer” and it’s still relevant now.  It’s just a few simple thoughts to work through that will help you be more intentional with any season.  Getting into a regular routine of reflection, evaluating and planning is so important.  Life waits for no one and when we don’t pause long enough to get intentional, days turn into months, and months into years!  I’m sure we all know that feeling too well!

Here are my 3 tips!

1. First, start with reflecting and do a brain dump! Pause, reflect, dream, and write it all down!  Journaled, scribbled, typed…it doesn’t matter.  It can take as little as 5 minutes or as long as you need.  Get it all down on paper, whatever is stirring in your heart.  When we can see it, we can sift through it and see what rises to the top.  You may even surprise yourself and start to see some themes!  Anything goes and anytime we write something down, we’re more likely to make it happen!

2. Second, evaluate!  Get honest with yourself and consider what really refuels you. Don’t get caught up with what everyone is else doing or what you think you “should” be doing.  Too often we just do what we’re expected to do or what we’ve always done.  But every season is different and there’s a good chance we are different too.  What may have been life giving before, may not be the same now.  Get honest and be authentic to who are in this season, this summer.  Consider the things that are harder to get to in the busyness of the school year, and areas of family life that you might want to invest a little extra in.
   
   Don’t forget this may be your best chance to refuel your own soul before things get crazy busy again this fall! Ask yourself if  you need more rest, more adventure, or a little of each? Are you craving time alone, time with your family, or maybe getting reconnected with friends?  Do you want to travel or stay put?  Want to get outside more?  Take quiet walks?  Whatever it is, consider how you might do more of that while summer is still around…

3. Lastly, plan, by setting limits & boundaries.  FOMO?  YOLO?  The great news is, when you get intentional, there’s less struggle with feeling like you’re missing out because you know you are making time for the MOST important things.

Once you’ve thought through steps 1-3, get organized!  Below you’ll find a free printable.  I actually just made it for myself and it really helped me organize my time this summer.  It has 4 sections:  Play, Learn, Do and Prepare.  It’s important to be able to pour into each of those areas.  We all need to play and summer is the perfect time to learn something new!  For example, we started off our summer this year with a bang!  We took our family on an amazing RV trip though Denver and Utah.  (It may be too late to plan something that big this summer, but perhaps you want to start next summer’s dream list!❤️ )

I also learned something new and took my 1^st surfing lesson this summer!  I’ll need many, many more, but it felt so good to make the time to try something new!  I tackled a couple of small projects at home and right now, I’m in the thick of prep for another year of homeschooing!

So whether you have 1 week or 4 weeks left, you still have time for things that will fill your cup and will allow to head into the fall refreshed!  God bless you in this season!

{GET YOUR SUMMER PRINTABLE HERE}

You can follow Cathy Lee over on Instagram @pinestopalms.co  She loves sharing about her journey of creating a beautiful and simple home and making the most of her short, crazy season of raising her gang of 6!

Hope you enjoyed this Friend Post!  I’m looking forward to sharing more in the weeks to come!