How to Prepare for Summer in 6 Easy Ways

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Summer is rapidly approaching. If you don’t want it to find you all over the place, there are 6 things you should do to prepare yourself before the summer season officially starts!

I know: you’re ready to soak in all the sunshine, have fun at the beach, and finally relax! But, if you want to live a stress-free summer, then you have to put some extra work in beforehand – so that you can enjoy the next 3 months of your life in the best possible way.

Are you ready to know how you can best prepare for the summer season? Then, let’s get started!

1. SET YOUR SUMMER EXPECTATIONS

Before the start of the summer, it’s the perfect time for you to set new priorities.

Every season follows a different pace: while spring pushes you to do more, summertime invites you to slow down and relax.

It lasts only 3 months, so why not get the most out of it?

While during the rest of the year, you might be more focused on yourself and your goals, the summer is a perfect time to get energized by spending time in nature or with your loved ones.

I’m not telling you to give up on your dreams, goals, or aspirations. That would mean screwing up all the progress you’ve made so far, only to then have to start ground zero in September.

You don’t want that for yourself – and I don’t want it for you either!

One thing that can ruin your summer is dissatisfaction. Where does dissatisfaction come from? Usually, it happens whenever your expectations don’t meet the reality.

And what do we do when we feel unsatisfied? We give up. We screw it all up.

One of the best ways you could prepare yourself for the summer to avoid dissatisfaction is to set your expectations lower.

How can you set your expectations lower? By setting new priorities, that are in line both with the season and your goals.

For example:

• Unless you want to spend the whole summer tied up to your desk, you shouldn’t set the priority of “Growing your business” over the summer
• If you love running for 1 hour every day, but in the summer you can’t make yourself do it because it’s too hot or you have a busy schedule, then you shouldn’t set the goal of “Sticking to running for 1 hour every day” in the first place

Lowering your expectations and setting new priorities doesn’t mean that you’re going backward or losing your progress.

2. SET FLEXIBLE GOALS

Once you’ve set your list of new priorities, the second thing you must to do prepare for the summer is to make a list of your summer goals.

Just because it’s summer that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have any goals at all!

But, like your expectations are lower, so your goals should be more flexible in summer.

For example:

• If one of your priorities is working out, and in the winter you follow a rigid schedule of working out 6 days per week -> Your new goal for the summer could be exercising from 3 to 5 days per week
• Do you train for 1 hour at the gym? -> Maybe in the summer you want to enjoy the nice weather rather than staying locked up: walking, running, and hiking are ways of exercising you might consider
• If you typically meditate for 30 minutes every day -> In the summer you could set the goal of meditating for at least 10 minutes, to give you the flexibility to say ‘yes’ to a spontaneous coffee date with a friend

Learning to set flexible summer goals is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for the summer and, again, avoid the dissatisfaction that comes from unrealistic expectations.

It doesn’t matter how fast you go as long as you keep moving.

3. DECLUTTER

Before the summer season officially starts, another thing you should do to best prepare for it is decluttering!

In particular, you should focus on 3 areas of decluttering:

• Physical
• Digital
• Mental

Let’s explore them in detail!

PHYSICAL DECLUTTER

Whether a couple of months ago you did the typical “Spring Cleaning” or forgot about it; the start of the summer is another good time to declutter your space.

As we take off jackets and layers of clothing in sight of the warmer weather, your space too should become lighter.

Here are some ways to declutter your space before the summer:

• As you put away coats, sweaters, and long pants, get rid of any you might not want to keep for next year
• Go through your summer clothes and decide what to keep and what not
• Declutter your makeup area
• Sort your accessories and purses
• Declutter your desk or working space
• Trash things from college you don’t need anymore

Done? Then, let’s move to step number 2!

DIGITAL DECLUTTER

Approaching the summer season, I hope you can trade some of the time spent on social media for time spent outside soaking up the vitamin D!

Here are some ways to do a digital declutter to prepare yourself for summer:

• Go through all your emails to reach -> Inbox 0!
• Delete pictures from the gallery you don’t need
• Backup documents, images, and important things on your iCloud
• Go through your Notes app and delete what you don’t need
• Delete any apps that are a waste of time
• Set the goal for a digital detox day and spend it in your favorite way

Step back from your addiction to technology, and embrace living real life intentionally!

MENTAL DECLUTTER

The best way to live a stress-free summer is to be organized and not have your thoughts all over the place – that takes up so much mental energy!

If you’re looking for a way to relax your mind other than your body over the summer, then you’ll love my next tip!

4. HAVE A SUMMER TO-DO LIST

To live a stress-free summer, there is one thing you could do: have a summer to-do list.

Watch out: this ain’t your regular to-do list that you must check every single day!

This is a flexible to-do list (kinda on the same line as your summer expectations and flexible goals)!

Ideally, it’s a list that you start ahead of the summer. And…it’s totally up to you to decide what to put on it!

The goal is that, whenever you have some spare time, rather than wasting it or scrolling your days away, you can make some progress by tackling off any of your to-do’s.

For example, some things that could appear on your list are:

As you can see, it’s both a mix of a to-do list and a bucket list.

The goal? To keep you busy, entertained, and inspired whenever the easiest thing to do would be to scroll on social media (envying others that are living their ‘perfect summer’).

5. CREATE A BRAIN DUMP SPACE

While the previous list is realized at the beginning of the summer season, this tip mostly refers to how you can set yourself up for success and productivity both throughout and after the summer.

One thing you could do to best prepare for the summer is to designate a specific place serving you as a brain dump space.

If you’re more tech-savvy, you could turn to:

• Notion
• Evernote
• Trello
• Google Calendar or iCalendar
• Notes app on your phone

On the other hand, if you love planning on paper, you could use a:

• Bullet Journal
• Notebook
• Yearly agenda
• Paper planner

If you love paper planning, you can grab for FREE my WEEKLY PLANNER – which also contain a brain dump space for you to jot down all your amazing ideas!)

How can you use your brain dump space? Well, let me give you some examples based on the to-do list mentioned in step N#4:

• Jot down any amazing ideas you have regarding your novel
• Break down all the steps to take before launching your blog
• Write the blogging tips and mistakes other bloggers are sharing
• Jot down any ideas for future YouTube videos
• Write a reading list for the Fall
• Use it to experiment with new bullet journaling techniques
• Create a list of your Christmas trip options

Your brain dump space is basically the place where you want to jot down anything that comes to your mind but that you either cannot do at that moment or want to do in the future.

Since our brains are the most creative when we’re relaxed, this is a great way to make sure that your brilliant ideas don’t get lost in the chaos!

6. EMBRACE THE SEASON

The last thing to do to prepare for the summer is to learn to embrace the season.

As mentioned earlier, every season comes with its own rhythm. That rhythm should dictate your pace as well.

While the other seasons invite you to work hard, the summer is an invitation to slow down and…chill.

Appreciate every moment you get to spend with your friends.

Be grateful for every day you spend at the beach since the weather is amazing.

Laugh with your family.

Take your dog on a walk to the beach and watch him/her play with the sand.

Wake up in the morning and listen to the birds chirping.

Sit outside, walking barefoot on the grass, and feeling the warmth of the sun kissing your skin.

Say ‘yes’ to spontaneous hangouts and invites.

And please, keep in mind that it’s ok to slow down and live in the moment.

Be present in every moment, and make your summer an incredible one!

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If you’ve made it so far, THANK YOU! I’m not sure if you could tell, but summer is definitely my favorite season! (What’s yours?)

Most people beat themselves up when they can’t stick to their routines, goals, or schedules during the summer. I’m here to tell you: it’s ok!

Hopefully, this post provided you with some ways to best prepare for summer to make sure that you both live in the moment while making small progress.

Positive reminder: Small progress is better than none!

Now I’m curious to know, how do you usually prepare for the summer season? Let me know in a comment!

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