What to do on your summer holidays to recharge (even at home)

This blogpost was originally published on August 15th 2020, but re-published now during my baby 2 maternity leave. You can skip the 2020 pandemic intro and jump right to the still relevant tips below, which I still follow every summer holidays. Hope you enjoy it!

We had some pretty intense months. You may have been challenged to start working from home, have your kids 24/7, homeschooling, forbidden to go out for your usual relax outings, or working as a necessary front line worker while everyone was safe at home. Whatever was your reality on the first part of this year, there wasn’t a time where you deserve these tips more than this moment:

One thing I always enjoyed at the end of the summer was the planning of getting back to school, to a new year of hustling, adventures, new things. Do you remember that sensation? A few years ago I found myself asking: why do we have left it at the school years? Why don’t we keep it to our adult years too? That was when I created this routine for myself, every summer holidays I take a step back and do these 6 thinks to recharge and get back to work as a new person:

Disconnect – Unplug completely from work

I’m inflexible about this point. I’m from the opinion that holidays are for unplugging 100% from work. You need to do it. Your mind needs you to do it. Your loved ones deserve you to do it. Your colleagues will survive. Yes, I’m 100% sure that this is the first step to recharge. If you keep reading Slack messages, checking on e-mail or your co-workers messages, you won’t let your mind to rest. So, give yourself permission, say goodbye to everyone, write an out-of-office message on your e-mail saying that you will be without access to your e-mail and another person they can contact meanwhile and your phone number only for emergencies. Do it, and tell me after how much lighter you feel.

Read something inspiring – a book, a magazine

In the year I started this routine I found a magazine it became my favorite one for awhile. It was an August issue focused on healthier choices, tips for getting back to work, empowering women, entrepreneurs… That kind of things I am all about it. It was so inspiring to read that I took it with me for days with a notebook so I could take notes and do the next point on this list. I am all about that reading life, you know it, but sometimes the most inspiring media can be in other formats. It can be a book, a blog, a Youtube channel, a podcast… The important thing is that gets you excited and lifted up to better your life.

Make a list of things you want to improve

I bet that at this time if you did the above points you already have one or two things you want to implement in your life after these time off. So, get it written down. Do it.

SEE ALSO: #Liveyourdreamlife: How to change your mindset to have the life you truly desire

Create a plan for getting back to work

And this is one of the parts that excited me most. Who doesn’t love to plan? Well, maybe not everyone, but let’s give it a moment. Whatever feels right for you, look to your calendar for the next part of the year and see how you can implement the list above in your daily life. Do you want to start working out more? Research a workout plan that excites you and schedule a few hours a week to do it. Do you need to take better care of how you eat? Put on the calendar to order groceries every friday and meal prep on sunday. Whatever you would like to add more to your life, make an excited plan for it.

Have (at least) one self-care day

Ohoooo… We are getting excited, aren’t we? So, let’s be honest over here a minute. When was the last time you took a self-care day only for yourself? I bet it’s not something you do every day. If you’re a parent I can bet even more that you can’t remember the last time you did it. So, take this point as your reminder to do it. Take at least one of your vacation days to only care for yourself. Do only things that make you happy. That could be having a spa (at home) day, go (get take out) to your favorite restaurant, play with your pet, go to the hairdresser, sleep in, have your favorite cocktail, read that magazine or book that it has been getting dust on your bookcase… You name it. Just do what feels (sooooo) good to you!

SEE ALSO: SELF-CARE: 6 ways to take care of yourself during these crazy times

Go on an adventure – do something new

Oh, another one! I bet you don’t know when you did this last either. So, let’s plan it. What have you been thinking that you should try and never do? What is that thing that you keep telling everyone “ohh, I really want to do it, but I don’t have time”. Let’s do it! Embrace the social distancing summer and go on an adventure, do those things you have been delaying to do, try it now! Who knows you don’t discovered something amazingly new about yourself?

So, what do you think? Are you in? Let’s recharge and become our dream selves this second part of 2020.