Looking back, if I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be to appreciate the summer holidays more. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the weather is if the only time you get to experience it is on a 15-minute lunch break. When I worked full-time in an office, I would feel the pain of this as colleagues with kids jetted off for a summer break and I was left to pick up the slack. I felt as though my life came second to theirs, but I’ve come to realise this time was actually a gift.
Let me explain. So much of our working week finds us rushing to meet deadlines and please bosses. We have a long list of things that have to be achieved and we can get so lost in all of these that we forget to do the other things that can boost both our careers and productivity. The summertime, however, sees managers on holiday and an attitude of ‘nothing will get decided on until September’, which means this is the perfect time to focus on you.
The main thing I’ve learned over my years of working is to use this period to recharge, even if you’re not actually on holiday. I vividly remember complaining to a friend once of being bored during August. After she’d rolled her eyes at this non-problem, she suggested that perhaps this time was slow because I was supposed to be focusing on something other than work. I could leave on time and have a life outside of the office. Making time to see my friends or finally seeing the exhibitions I’d been putting off for months recharged me, and when the lull inevitably ended, I was ready for it.