Whether you’re going back to your childhood home or you’re just living away from the normal hustle and bustle of school for a few months, things change and depending on what you choose to do, you can too. Summer is a wonderful opportunity for you to do all of the things you said you wish you had the time for during the school year. It’s the perfect occasion for you to focus on you, your happiness, and ways that you can grow.
1.) Sayonara to negative relationships:
First and foremost, now that you’re away from all of ‘your people’ (which sucks, I know), you can rid yourself of toxic relationships. We all have them, you know that one “friend” who you do a lot for, while they put no effort into the relationship, but still loves to act like your BFF for attention, or the friend who you grew apart from because they were kind of a bad influence… Yeah, you know, that one.
It can definitely be really difficult to distance yourself from someone when you’re forced to see them every other day in Calc class or on your hall, but now that you don’t HAVE to talk to them, don’t! If they don’t have your best interest at heart now is the perfect time to “cut them off”, sort to speak and when you go back to school in the fall you can be nice and cordial to them without feeling the need to be buddy-buddy with them again.
2.) We can’t all have an organized life, but we can have an organized room:
With plenty of time on your hands you can now de-clutter your life. It could be as simple as labeling three boxes, “trash”, “donate/ give away”, and “sell”. Just start going through your room or apartment and pick through your clothes, school stuff, trinkets, and your junk drawers. As you toss things in boxes you can easily organize your belongings as well. Having a more organized environment and living space leads you to also having a clear and more organized mind. For some this can also be an easy way to relax and unwind, plus who doesn’t like to make a little extra cash for selling a few dresses they don’t wear any more or an IPod that you long forgot about. In the end it’s a win-win that should be on everyone’s to-do list.
3.) More H2O and less C2 H5 OH (aka party juice):
Here is one that is a lot easier said than done. Everyone knows that there is an unhealthy amount of sugar and chemicals in sodas, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of America’s most widely consumed drinks. Now that you don’t have to drink a coke at 2 a.m. to help you finish a paper or wake you up for that 8 a.m., there is no excuse to not break this habit! Studies show that it takes on average 21 days to break a habit, so next time you have the urge to pop open a can of Mountain Dew reach for your water bottle instead, your body is sure to thank you for it. To help make this transition easier you can try fun things like fruit-infused water, which is delicious and healthy.
To take this one step further, if you plan on kicking your body back in to shape this summer, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to drink less alcohol *gasp*, I know, how dare I say that, but it’s true. Your body has a lot harder time losing fat and building muscle if it has alcohol in its system even if its only once or twice a week. So maybe next time you plan on drinking some wine at dinner shoot for one glass instead of the whole bottle.
4.) Wait, I thought french fries were vegetables though?!
Unless you are working 12 hours a day, there is no reason why you can’t pick up a new hobby and try out a few uber healthy/ yummy meal ideas that you maybe saw on Yummly or Pinterest to expand your cooking knowledge. The easiest way to eat healthy is to cook healthy, you might be thinking, “DUH, Missy”, but you would be surprised at how difficult that is for some people who eat out a lot or who have a habit of buying unhealthy, high in fat and sodium, or instant foods such as the college dorm room staples: Ramen, Mac & Cheese, hot pockets, etc.
5.) If not for your health, do it for the beach-bod.
With that being said, the only other thing to a healthier you this summer is getting yourself into a regular workout regime. Whether it’s in the morning, mid-day, or at night, find time to sweat it out. Sometimes life is too busy to make it to the gym, which is totally understandable, but if you have some tennis shoes and a sports bra you can turn anywhere into a gym. If you don’t know where to start, just look up at home workouts; my favorite thing to do when I’m in a time-crunch HIIT or Tabata workouts that I either make up or find online. Give it a try and have fun with it knowing that a healthy you, leads to a happy you.6.) When was the last time you learned something for fun?Unless you have a job or internship you may be struggling with boredom that comes with the lack of papers to write and parties to attend, and admit it, you’ve probably already watched half of the shows on Netflix, so why not spend that time to learn something new! There are countless things that you can work on to beat the summer slump and improve yourself as a whole! You can take a summer class in something that you actually enjoy, like maybe photography, you can try out the cool app called DuoLingo and start learning a new language, or maybe invest a couple dollars and take guitar lessons, or maybe even yoga (I’d definitely recommend it)!7.) Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. —Richard SteeleSince you can’t bring Netflix on an airplane or to the beach why not buy a few new books or spend some time at a library! It is amazing how a book can entertain the mind for hours on end and you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your couch to do so. Here are a few really cool self-improvement, inspiring, and thought-provoking reads that are worth picking up this summer:
-Blink and Outliers, both by Malcolm Gladwell
-The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg
-The Joy of Less, by Francine Jay
-Drive, by Daniel H. Pink
-Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
-Thinking, Fast & Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
-Eat, Pray, Love, By Elizabeth Gilbert
-The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor
-5 Elements of Effective Thinking, by Michael Starbird
-#Girlboss, by Sophia Amoruso
Maybe you do some of these things already, or maybe not, go ahead and try out some of the other summer tips as well! I promise you, it's a great way to beat summer boredom, and when the summer is over you will feel like you accomplished something besides finishing all 288 episodes of Grey's Anatomy. I hope you're all having a fun and eventful summer, stay adventurous!