The summer heat makes me feel like a cat; I am ready to melt in the sun and take a long nap. I feel free from school and have no tied down responsibilities. However, I do feel a need to feed my passion and really plan ahead what I need to do so I won't worry about it later. It can be difficult to be productive, but by maintaining a schedule and keeping a list of goals in mind, I can find the time to accomplish what I want done. Then, before I know it, summer is over. To maintain being productive, I follow my own list and try to keep it up.

Getting chores done: In a family of six people, the house is hardly spotless. Essentially, it's a jungle at my house and I am the Tarzan that knows how to work my way around the place. Every summer, I pick several areas of the house to focus on, and then I try to maintain that area in an orderly fashion. These chores take up a lot of time, sometimes several days to a week. Eventually, I will focus on another area and follow the same process.

Exercising: This is one of the hardest things to do in the summer, I don't get up early enough to beat the heat and by the evening, I am with friends having a glass of wine and have no obligation to work up a good sweat. To avoid this monstrosity of laziness, I out a timer on my phone. Whether it's the late evening when the sun is down or I had a good nights rest to wake up in the morning, I force myself to get up and get in a good run. It's not comfortable, I know, but the payoff is that I feel more accomplished that I got outside and did something.

Being Creative: Yep, even in this category, I get pretty lazy. I do have bursts of creativity in painting in drawing but I am not consistent. It's all about brainstorming, digesting the creativity and then spitting it back out in consecutive order. Doing this process out of order messes me up, I spiral out of control and lose interest in what I want to do. So, in order to really dive into my creativity, I screenshot a picture or painting that looks intriguing to me.

Going on Adventures: It's all about starting out the planning that really gets me going. Planning out a trip can be fun but then I look at my checking account and cry on the inside. To really prepare for such a feat, it's all about saving!!! I can't always treat myself to a Starbucks drink or buy the cute sweater. I don't have to go to go overseas or go on a plane to go anywhere. A road trip or being a happy camper can be fun. Of course, it's all about the attitude. To really enjoy an adventure, I want to have a positive attitude and keep an open heart and an open mind.

To really tackle these goals and tasks, I cannot afford to be lazy and let the days pass by into days and then into weeks. I really need to tackle these goals and maintain them. It really is amazing how bored I can become and then do absolutely nothing. I want to avoid that and not feel like I have wasted my time. Of course, there is always a time and place to relax and enjoy the sun.