5 Tips for Coping if Your Summer Is Burning You Out
You can still have a great, fulfilling summer — and feel as if you’ve done it all (without actually doing it all) — by following a few tips to find a better balance:
1. Create a Summer Value Statement
To write one, Cutlip says: “Think about what you personally would like to embrace this summer.”
That might be alone time learning about yourself and your own needs, time spent with your kids, or even diving into a project that could really move the needle on your career. Whatever it is, it’s the right answer. Make it your value statement by thinking about the ways you want to behave in the summer. “I want to spend more time with my kids,” or “I want to be more playful and adventurous,” or “I want to be more mindful and self-caring” are all examples of summer value statements, Cutlip says. Pick one that speaks to you.
Then, when invitations or obligations arise, you can make your decision based on your value statement. “That way, no matter what your summer looks like, you can know that you’ve had a grounding value that you held true to,” she says.
2. Embrace Flexibility
One of the traps we humans fall into is defaulting to black-and-white thinking. You either go to the backyard get-together or don’t, for example. But there’s actually a continuum of choices around your participation in something, Kaiser says.
For example, if your neighbor is having a BBQ, you can go over for one cocktail (or mocktail) and then head out. Part-time attendance can give you all the perks of going with more personal downtime built in, if you need it. “Ask yourself, ‘What will serve me best in showing up how I want to be?’” Kaiser suggests.
3. Schedule Some Time to Do Less
If you’ve been going nonstop and are stressed out as a result, it’s okay to scale back this week (if possible). Kaiser recommends listing everything you have coming up in the week (or month, if you want to take a longer-term view) and then asking yourself what you can cut — or what’s easy to cut.
4. Focus on One Thing at a Time
“You cannot prioritize one thing without deprioritizing others. It’s just a simple fact, yet we act as if everything can be prioritized at the same time,” Cutlip says. Splitting your focus isn’t sustainable or effective, and it’s a fast track to feeling overwhelmed and burned out, she adds.
The remedy: Focus on one thing at a time. For instance, she says, if you’re in work mode, do that. If you’re with your family, stop working and give them your attention.
5. Check in With Yourself — Often
It’s okay if your summer feels as if it’s gotten away from you — there’s still time (no matter what point of the season you’re in) for a redirect. Cutlip recommends routinely tuning in to yourself and making small, manageable adjustments so that you don’t become disconnected.
When you feel frazzled or overwhelmed, that’s a good time to stop and ask yourself what you need. Do you need more time for R & R? More time to spend on something you find enjoyable? Less time spent running around for the kids’ schedules? Fewer events on your calendar? From there, you can take steps in that direction. “Try to get in the regular practice of scanning yourself and seeing what you need to help make summer a much more enjoyable time of year,” Cutlip says.
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