I’m settling in very comfortably to my summer break. I am very thankful for this time that I get off to relax. However, it’s not just a time to slack off and do nothing. I’ve spent summers like that before. While that’s not a bad thing (and no shame to the ones that do it), I’m trying to make every day count.

A big theme for me this year is the idea of self-improvement. I want to spend time investing into myself to continue to make myself better. There’s lots of ways to do this. I talked earlier this year about Bloom Where You’re Planted and how it’s important to recognize where you are without looking too far ahead.

This is almost the follow-up of that post. See, even though I’m not “working” right now, I’m still working on a whole host of projects, goals, and tasks. I’ve mentioned before that I keep a weekly running to-do list for myself. I didn’t want things to slack off this summer. Otherwise, all these goals and routines I’m setting for myself would fall apart and I would have to start all over again.

Because of the to-do lists and these ideas of self-improvement, I can find myself in a weird spot. On the one hand, I feel grounded and am taking things day by day. On the other hand, I’m still working on my future goals and projects. So I look ahead, but I also have my feet firmly on the ground. It’s not perfect. I still struggle, but I’m working to give myself grace when needed.

I would also like to share the guidelines I set for myself in the chance that someone else finds themselves in this spot. If I can help others in the process of helping myself, then I am absolutely in favor of that. I’ll also share tips and a couple examples of how this is working for me too to help you better understand how I make this work for me. Without further ado, here are my guidelines for being able to look ahead with my feet on the ground:

• Write out a list of your projects- I have specific things I want to work on in this specific time where I’m off my regular job. Writing them helps me see them. Some of these projects will only take a day, and others will take longer time.
• Write out your goals- I set goals for the beginning of the year for myself. Some of them I have already accomplished, and some I’m still working on. By writing out the goals I want to focus on, I can avoid getting overwhelmed and out of focus.
• Keep a to-do list- I still have things to be doing on a weekly basis (it’s laundry week for me, dishes still need to be done, and I gotta keep my budget journal and blog running, among other things). But, on that note…
• Break down the to-do list- Before I go to bed, I assign a task I want to get done the next day. It could be writing my blog or cleaning my room or doing laundry. It doesn’t have to be necessarily anything huge, but something to make you feel accomplished.
• Dedicate time for projects and goals- It doesn’t have to be a lot of time. But being able to chip away at the projects and goals makes them seem significantly less overwhelming.
• Create a “reusable” day-to-day checklist- This is just the generic of what you want to do. I’ll explain more about this in the next portion.
• Have fun- Life isn’t all work. So I try to make sure that I’m able to relax and have fun in the day-to-day.

So what does this look like in a practical sense? Let me see if I can give some examples. I don’t set hard time deadlines for myself. It’s no “I have to have the dishes done by noon!” Maybe the dishes get done before noon, and maybe they get done at midnight. They still get done. Nothing really changes. I’m not missing deadlines.

I’m also focusing on making myself better through lots of ways. For example, one of my goals is to read at least one book a month. While I know I am capable of more than that, I often find myself neglecting reading at times. Also, this was a baseline goal because I have never had a reading goal for the year before. As a result, I’ve just finished my 12th book for the year, and I’m falling back in love with reading again. But since that’s my goal, I also want to read at least half an hour each day. If I don’t read, it’s no problem, but again, I am currently devouring books. I am actually working through books that are on my shelf that I haven’t read yet. I’m not hoping to read through ALL of those books this year, but I’d like to take that list down at least a little bit.

Some of my projects for the summer are one day things. I’m starting to schedule out days to work on these projects to make sure I get them done. So I see them in my future, but I’m not overwhelmed by them. Other projects take more than a day. Part of my guidelines is that I am trying to chip away at these projects even if that’s ten minutes. I’m already thinking about ideas and goals for next year. I’ll share them later on as they become relevant, but I’m working to be less overwhelmed by taking small steps on them now.

Like I said, I’m not perfect at this. I mess up, I have low spoon days, and I definitely struggle to get things done sometimes. But I’m working. And so far, this system is working for me. I’m less overwhelmed, and I’m still finding ways to feel accomplished each day. This system is helping me get things done. However, I’m still able to enjoy this period of time off from my regular job as well.

That doesn’t mean, though, that I’m completely ignoring my job either. Some of my projects for this summer are things that I am intentional about using to help me become a better teacher. I’m working to improve myself in all areas. This includes my job. I’ve got a number of ideas I’m sitting on and will share when I need to. But I’m hopeful and excited for the next year of teaching. I’m not wishing the summer away. I will continue to enjoy each day as it comes with new surprises, challenges, and excitements. There is hope that I feel for both being grounded and being able to look ahead.