When you're working a full-time job, finding time to enjoy the warm, bright summer weather can be a challenge. This is especially true for young professionals, as many of them are used to having summers off (or, at the very least, having a flexible summer schedule). But there's no need to feel trapped behind your cubicle walls. Go out and enjoy summer!
Here are a few tips for making the most of your summer while working full time.
1. Grab Some Foldable Chairs
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Keep a couple of foldable camping chairs at the office so you and a co-worker can catch some rays during lunch—whether it's in the park or the parking lot.
2. Keep A Beach Bag In Your Car
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Keep a bag full of summer supplies for your favorite summer activities. Having a bag (or, in my case, a backseat) full of towels, sunscreen, and swimwear keeps you prepared for anything. Friends hitting up the pool after work? You're covered. Once the clock strikes five, you can head to your destination of choice immediately.
3. Plan An Office Outing
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Plan an office field trip to the beach, the park, or the pool. Just do something fun so your brain can recharge and refresh!
4. Organize Group Walks
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Get a bunch of co-workers together and go on regular walks around town during lunch. (Or you could suggest a quick jaunt over to the ice cream shop.) This is a great way to get some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise.
5. Eat Lunch At The Park
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When you find yourself eating out, hit up places with a deck, porch, or patio of some sort. Obviously, eating out every day isn't really a feasible option for most of us, so look into alternative ideas as well. Pack a lunch and hit the park for your own little picnic.
6. Organize Office Sports
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Whether it's setting up an official office sports team or just hanging out with your colleagues a few times a week, playing sports is a great way to get out and enjoy the weather. Have a field nearby? Try setting up some slow-pitch softball games. Or see if you can get a basketball hoop for the office so you and a few co-workers can shoot some hoops at lunch.
7. Join A Professional Group
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During the summer, professional networking groups often have fun events like harbor cruises, pub crawls, and outdoor mixers. Find a professional group in your area and make networking fun this summer.
8. Have An Office BBQ
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Get your grill on! Talk to your boss about setting up an office BBQ. Ask everyone to contribute their favorite dish, side, or drink. Fire up the grill and relax! Hey, it's summer after all.
9. Wake Up Early
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Yes, yes, I know...waking up early is an incredibly painful and unbearable experience for some of us, but waking up even an hour earlier has its benefits—especially in the summer. Go for a morning run, putter around in the garden, or watch the sunrise with a loved one. Talk about starting the day off right!
10. Strategically Use Your Time Off
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Strategically use your vacation days around holidays. This way, you can make a potentially long weekend longer without having to use too much of your precious vacation time. Half days are also pretty awesome. It's amazing how much you can do with four extra hours! If you want an early weekend but don't want to burn up your vacation days too quickly, try taking a half day on a Friday instead of using a full day off.
11. Bike To Work
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If you're one of the lucky few who live within walking or biking distance of work, take advantage of it! Not only will you get plenty of fresh air, but you'll also save money on gas, which is always a plus!
There are plenty of easy ways to enjoy summer when you work a full-time job. So this summer, try out a few of these ideas and make the most of the sunshine and warm weather—while they're still around!
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By J.T. O'Donnell
Anyone who has been on Twitter for a while knows about #followfriday phenomenon. (For those of you who don't use, or dislike Twitter, please hear me out.) #followfriday is when a person opts to tweet the names of their favorite people to follow on Twitter, and of course, they do it on Friday. It's a quick, focused and highly effective way to recognize and share the work of people you admire. It's also a way to learn about other people you should be following on Twitter. Honestly, the idea is simplistic yet brilliant (and aren't those the best kind?). It's no surprise the concept took off like wildfire. Everyone wins with #followfriday.
As I was pulling my own #followfriday list together for this week, I realized as professionals, we should all be consistently doing a similar form of career reciprocity OUTSIDE of Twitter. I mean, how hard is it to pick one day/week, and carve out 15-20 minutes of our time to identify people we admire and respect professionally and share their strengths with others? Actually, it's pretty darn simple....
For example, on LinkedIn, you can recommend anyone you are linked with. Simply open your account, find a colleague's profile and complete a recommendation - all in less than 5 minutes time. Just imagine how you would feel if you suddenly found out a colleague (past or present) voluntarily, and without request, took the time to recommend you online so your professional credibility would be improved?
Or, what about sending someone you admire an e-mail or making a quick phone call with the intention of giving them a professional compliment? We are talking about a simple act of kindness that A) not only makes someone we know feel good about themselves, but B) makes us feel better for doing a good deed.
AND YET, taking the time to do the things I have suggested above seems to elude us all. Days, weeks and even months pass and we just can't seem to find the time to do this sort of career maintenance. Well today, I'm going to make it really easy for CAREEREALISM readers to do get it done.
It's time to give 5 professionals you know a round of applause!
I'm challenging you to bestow 5 people with the ultimate compliment. It couldn't be any easier to participate. Simply list in the comment section below 5 AWPs (Applause-Worth Professionals) you admire. They can be current or past co-workers, managers, clients, vendors, etc. Anyone you've worked with. List them and provide one sentence why they deserve AWP status. Then, shoot each person you chose an e-mail letting them know about their AWP status and include this post as a link.
We'll be tweeting the post all day to help your 5 AWP list get maximum exposure, giving everyone's choices the recognition they deserve.
Don't delay and no excuses! Get your list posted below and out of the way. Think of how great you'll feel the rest of the day for doing such a good professional deed.
