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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After completing nutrition school, I worked for a short time as a weight loss counselor. My clients were about 99 percent female and my job was to help them meet their weight loss goals.
At first, I assumed I would be focusing on menu adjustment, working with the clients to make sure they were getting the right nutritional balance, and monitoring caloric intake and changes in health. But it wasn’t that simple. The true nature of the job was similar to that of a therapist. These women had to overcome some serious mental and behavioral challenges, many of which were more important to their success than the physical nutrition plan they were following.
One of the most common problems I encountered was my clients had problems at work that were spilling over into their personal lives. I noticed an interesting pattern quite quickly: Most of these women worked in jobs where they were caring for others. They were nurses or teachers or stay-at-home moms. They spent the entire day making sure that other people were safe, and they never took the time to think about themselves. That mentality carried over to their time at home. They were constantly putting the needs of others far, far ahead of their own needs. And often, they were so exhausted at the end of the day they simply didn’t have the energy to care for themselves. So they over-ate, grabbed convenience food and quickly gave up on exercise.
It became clear to me, in the short period of time I worked as a nutritionist, that life can’t be compartmentalized. Nutrition and health can’t be managed without also addressing career and stress and every other aspect of life that could be impacting success. They’re all working together and influencing one another.
It’s Always YOU
You can’t simply create a “work persona” and a “home persona.” You’re the same person in both places, and what happens in one life impacts the other. There are no barriers. You can’t turn off your work brain the second you leave the office and— no matter what you do—you’re taking your home brain with you to work each day. You can’t simply tell yourself that what you do at work isn’t the “real” you. If there’s a conflict between your work values and your home values, for example, eventually there will be a point at which the two can no longer coexist; one will change the other so they match.
Understand the Impact… and Manage It
Instead of trying to better separate work from home and create more distinct compartments for your life, the more appropriate course of action is to recognize the inevitable blend that occurs and find ways to work with it. Often, you’ll discover that a problem in one area of your life is the result of problems in another. Just like most of my weight loss clients realized they were experiencing work stress that was negatively impacting their personal health routines.
The solution is to manage both your personal life and your professional life with a holistic point-of-view. Make sure your goals are aligned and that the steps you are taking in one area aren’t having a negative impact on another. Find ways to integrate the areas of your life to make sure they are all supporting the same goal—your success.
Chrissy Scivicque (pronounced “Civic”), founder of Eat Your Career, is an award-winning freelance writer/editor with a passion for two things: food and helping others. Please visit her website and download her FREE mini-workbook called, "How Nourishing is YOUR Career?"
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