Get ready for summer

Summer shouldn’t all be about the countdown to looking good on the beach, it should be a time for fun, relaxation and some much-needed time out from your daily routine. Unless we make some proper time for ourselves when we can fully relax and escape the stresses of everyday life, the pressures can mount and as a result we face mental and physical burnout, especially when we’re constantly trying to maintain a hectic lifestyle.

In order to make time for ourselves, ideally a week or longer, where we can enjoy lazy mornings, lingering lunches or BBQs in the sunshine, we need to declutter our lives and start to wind down.

8 ways to declutter your life

1. In the weeks leading up to your summer break, try to make sure you’ve finished any outstanding tasks at work. There’s nothing worse than worrying about your job when your supposed to be enjoying a break. You need to be able to totally switch off your mind so that you don’t have any feelings of anxiety.
2. Meditation is a great way to relax, unwind and clear your mind. Set aside 10 minutes every day if possible to free your mind of unwanted chatter. As well as feeling much calmer, it will also help you deal more effectively with any tasks you need to get done before your holiday.
3. Do one extra household chore each week so that you don’t have to think about those niggling jobs during your time off. Perhaps you might want to deep clean the house or catch up on some gardening, especially as it might not be possible to travel this summer and you’ll need to make the most of the holidays at home.
4. As we tend to over-indulge when we’re enjoying a break, doing some form of exercise in the run up to our holiday can make us feel less guilty if we want to enjoy a week of eating and pure relaxation.
5. Try to ease yourself into a better evening routine so that you’re getting plenty of sleep – you don’t want to waste your entire break simply catching up on sleep after feeling mentally exhausted for so long. You’ll also find that if you sleep well, you’ll have more energy to complete you’re the tasks above.
6. Take stock of anything that’s causing you anxiety or stress and try to resolve the issue before the summer so that you don’t have a sense of doom looming over you. Perhaps there’s something at work that’s concerning you or maybe you need to resolve an ongoing disagreement with a colleague or friend. Whatever it is, try to find a way of dealing with it so that it isn’t taking up your head space when you’re supposed to be relaxing.
7. Make a pact with yourself that during your summer break you focus on yourself and do what makes you happy. Put work out of your mind and soak up all those wonderful moments that make you appreciate life.

Studies show that summer provides some very important benefits to our health and wellbeing so it’s vital that we are able to truly enjoy the season. By decluttering your life in the run up to your summer break, you’re much more likely to savour every moment.