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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This is a true story as told to LatPro.com where you can find helpful career interviews and job search advice in your desired industry. Visit to find a career interview in your field today.
I am a professor of paleontology at a university, teaching and researching on prehistoric life. I have studied paleontology for over twenty years now, and have worked as a professor and research for the past fifteen years. The main body of my work consists of giving lectures on the many topics within paleontology. I teach classes that cover a wide variety of subjects, from history to science.
In addition to my teaching, I also work as a researcher at the university. This work is a little more varied, consisting of various research efforts. These efforts can be as simple as reviewing the work of colleagues' or as complicated as traveling overseas to view new digs and evidence. While teaching is usually the same every year, the research always has something new for me to handle.
On a scale of one to ten, I must rate my work happiness at a nine or so. I do what I truly love, something I have been interested in since I was a child. I always found dinosaurs fascinating, and this lead to a career studying dinosaurs and other prehistoric subjects. Occasionally, classes are tedious, grading assignments or preparing notes or the like. However, I certainly cannot complain.
There are also several times when my job moves my heart and helps me to reaffirm why I do what I do. Whenever a particularly eager student goes out of the way to work with me or to learn a topic is always particularly satisfying. Also, whenever a new site is found or a new piece of evidence is confirmed as true is a hugely exciting time for paleontologists in general, but if I am personally involved in the project it is unspeakably wonderful.
Discoveries, large or small, are what make all of the work and studying worth it! The students and the research are what keep me going back to work everyday, hands down.
There are challenges, of course. One of the biggest ones always revolve around research funding. I write a good number of grant proposals and stress about the finances of certain projects. Like any scientific field, our department is completely dependent on research grants to supplement our regular budget. It is a worry that you learn to live with, however.
Despite the occasional stress of finances, my job is otherwise very free of stress. I teach around fifteen hours worth of class per week, prepare lectures and grade homework for about ten more hours, and then spend the rest of my time handling my research as I see fit. This allows me a lot of flexibility in my scheduling, and I appreciate this greatly. Because of this I am able to enjoy my life and other hobbies as I desire to, while still getting lots of work done.
Pay is not as generous in paleontology as it is in some fields, however I am satisfied given with how much I enjoy my work. With a Ph.D and my experience, you could reasonably expect a salary of between $75,000 and $90,000. Some paleontologists supplement this with consulting work in the petroleum industry and can make much more income that way.
There are other perks not necessarily related to salary, however. I do not teach classes during the summer or during the month of December due to academic holidays. I do continue my research during these times, but there is less pressure and deadlines involved. I also have the privilege of being able to cancel class if I cannot attend for whatever reason. It is frowned upon to do so regularly, but nonetheless it is an option if a personal day is needed.
To work in this field, you absolutely need a Ph.D. This is a lot of schooling, but fortunately the doctoral part of it is not unlike what you do in the job: perform research, teach some classes, and work in a university setting. You need strong writing and analytic abilities, as well as some chemistry and mathematics coursework. Depending on your subdiscipline, you may need to know a considerable amount of chemistry.
I would instruct people looking at this line of work to schedule an appointment with a professor in the paleontology department in order to learn more about the program at his or her school. I also would suggest taking a strong science and math curriculum to give one an edge in graduate school and job applications. It would be even better to minor in chemistry or mathematics; this is rarely required by a program, but it opens many opportunities for graduate school and research.
JustJobs.com is ajob search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Paleontology career image from Shutterstock
