4 Ways To Plan for a Successful Summer Break

Happy summer!

I trust most everyone in the county is out for the summer? For those outside of the county, when does your summer begin?

If you're subscribed to This Side of Perfect (thank you!), you've might have noticed that TSOP has gone through a few changes. It's been a process. I've been playing around with colors and format for the past month or so.

I think I've finally settled on a theme. I like it. I hope you do, too. I hope it is gentle, but pleasing to the eye. I hope that as I slowly add elements to the blog, you're able to find what you're looking for. And if you ever have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below or (if you prefer) email me. I'll get back to you promptly.

4 Ways to Plan for a Successful Summer Break

Obviously, updating my blog isn't the only way I've been planning my summer break. I've actually created a list. I'd like to share with you six ways you can plan for summer.

1. Rest
As women, we are used to being on the go. If we're not going then we aren't accomplishing anything, right? I'm not a hard Type A personality, but even I have my tendencies. But this summer, I had a health scare that forced me to rest.

I had outpatient surgery on my ovaries to remove cysts. While the doctor was in there, he decided to remove my fallopian tubes as well, stating that doctors now know that ovarian cancer starts in the fallopian tubes. A week later, my results came back and they were benign (that's non-cancerous, by the way), which was a huge blessing.

However, outpatient or not, I was still in pain. I was tired. I had to let some things go for the summer (very important things). And at the beginning, I was a little bummed. I felt bad. I felt like I should be doing so much more than what I was. But luckily, I listened to my body (and well-meaning friends and family), and I have rested. And you know what happened? The world kept on spinning. I kept on healing. And now I'm feeling a little more back to normal.

What I was experiencing was the fear of missing out (FOMO, for short). This is an actual phenomenon where a person feels like everyone else is having an experience that they themselves are missing out on. It's actually a branch of social anxiety

The best way to combat FOMO? Stay off social media. Which is what I was forced to do at the beginning of my recovery time. But as I began feeling better, I started edging away from social media (mainly Facebook). I got on to wish people a happy birthday (June is my birthday month, so not only do I celebrate, but I want other June Babies to celebrate, too!) I also posted inspiring and uplifting sayings. This was more so for my well-being than my friends', but I posted for them, too.

2. Catch Up
This might sound counterintuitive to #1, but I use the summer to catch up on things. I catch up on my reading. I try to read one non-fiction book and one fiction book at a time (yes, I read two books at a time; don't you?)

I catch up on decluttering and organizing tasks that go by the wayside during the school year. (Don't we all do this as teachers?) I recently found Cass at Clutterbug and I adore her! Her theory on home organizing is that we aren't disorganized, we organize differently. Genius! Take her Clutterbug quiz to find out what kind bug you and your organizing style. I'm a Ladybug! Please comment below your bug type.

I sit down and catch up with family. It's been a cross between very (very!) warm and very wet here in SE GA. The family and I spend a lot of time inside during those hot, muggy days. Our favorite things to do: watch TV. I know, I know. Watching TV sounds like a horrible idea when you're spending time with family, right? Not for us. We watch educational shows (some quite graphic - our current favorite: Embarrassing Bodies on Netflix). We also watch documentaries that get us talking. Finally, I have really enjoyed sitting down and watching movies with Baby Girl. She is my horror buff and will gladly watch scary movies with me. She also enjoys natural disaster movies. We recently watched the remake of Poseidon.

3. Reconnecting

This aligns a bit with catching up, but reconnecting can be anything that is meaningful to you. Baby Girl recently graduated from high school (has it been that long already?!?) and she was showered with gifts from family and friends. Well, now comes the time when she sits down to write out handwritten thank you notes to family and friends, thanking them for their generous gifts. (If you were one of the gift givers, a thank you card is coming - I promise. Just a month late. This side of perfect, remember?) Sure, she could email everyone, but there is something so special about a handwritten thank you note, wouldn't you agree? Summer is the perfect time to sit down with pen and paper and draft a letter to an old friend or a loved one (Or even make a new one!) Even if you "see" each other on Facebook every day, getting a letter or card from you would make their day!

4. Get Healthy

This goes hand and hand with getting rest, but get back to taking care of YOU this summer. If you're an educator, you've spent the past nine months taking care of your students, making sure you got your paperwork completed and turned in on time, completed lesson plans, administered state-mandated testing, took care of your family, and maybe definitely took care of some friends in need, too. Whew! I'm exhausted just writing that list. I'm sure you are, too.

If you're anything like me, you were put on the back burner (heck, I dare say I wasn't even placed on the STOVE!) My health has suffered greatly for my lack of attention to myself. I haven't drank the water I should. I haven't eaten the foods I should. And I've definitely eaten MORE than I should. As a result, I've gained about 20-30 pounds this year between the busyness of the year and the stress of the year. Not good.

So, this summer, I'm committing to taking care of myself again. Number One on my list: drink more water. It's free and my water tastes good (I get my water from Culligan. It tastes better than tap and it's cheaper - and I think more environmentally friendly - than buying individual bottles of water.) Search the web for two seconds and you'll get differing ideas on how much water you should drink: 8x8 Rule. 1/2 your body weight in ounces. Some say you should look at your urine to determine if you're getting enough water or not. I think how much you drink depends on many factors: is it summer? Are you working out? Are you nursing? Water isn't a magical elixir that will cure all ailments.But you can't deny science. Our body is mostly water and it only stands to reason that we need to give it water so that it can carry out the daily functions. So my goal this summer is just drink more water.

I have other health related goals, but I've learned through reading some of Michael Hyatt's books that goal setting needs to be done in small chunks in order to succeed. Otherwise, you're bound to fail. And I've failed enough. I'm doing this one small thing.

4 Ways to Plan for a Successful Summer

So there you have it: 4 ways to plan for successful summer break. Is it the most exhaustive list? Not by a long shot. But I believe these four will help get you started on a great adventure of summer!