Whether you have children home for the holidays or not, this time of year can be challenging for some. Here are some tips to help you incorporate healthier habits and get the most out of your summer.
1. Take your morning coffee outside
Starting the day with sunlight has been proven to positively impact our mood for the rest of the day and improve the quality of our sleep at night. Sunlight helps to regulate the body’s circadian rhythm (when we sleep and when we wake), so if you’re reaching for your phone first thing, with the curtains still drawn, you’re probably not doing your nervous system any favours.
Try to hold off on the screens for at least 30 minutes after waking. Try having your morning coffee in the garden/balcony or even in front of a window. Better yet, sleep with the curtains slightly open so you wake naturally with the sun and see if it makes a difference to your overall mood.
2. Make the things you need to do fun
Unfortunately, chores don’t take a break over the summer, but that doesn’t mean that they have to be boring. Try to incorporate something you enjoy into your daily tasks. That could be creating a playlist to listen to while you’re working, or setting a timer when you’re cleaning and seeing how much you can get done in that time frame. Maybe take a time-lapse video and see how satisfying it is to watch it back!
Not every day can be made up of exciting memorable moments (although social media would have us believe otherwise) so it's important to recognise the joy in the mundane where we can.
3. Try new things
Trying new things has several benefits to our mental health. It activates the ‘novelty centre’ of our brains, which affects the release of dopamine and other ‘happy hormones’. It fights off boredom and helps keep life interesting. It can even impact our ability to learn and retain information. Over the summer, try to come up with an activity for each letter of the alphabet and see how many you can get through. This could be anything from having a Pizza night - making pizzas from scratch as a family, to Zip-lining at your local adventure park. Why not take a photo during each one and make an ‘Alphabet Activities’ scrapbook?
Good luck coming up with something for X!
4. Be a tourist in your hometown
Sticking with the theme of trying new things, how often do you manage to get out and explore where you live? There are likely many things going on in our hometowns that we don’t know about because we’ve never thought to look. A quick search of ‘best things to do in [my local area]’ showed me that I’m missing out on 3 museums, a couple of guided tours and a tank driving experience. Whether it’s a family day out you’re after, or a solo trip to a new café, it’s always worth getting out and exploring what’s on your doorstep. You never know what you might find.
5. Schedule ‘blackout’ nights
For one night a week, try shutting off all screens. On average, people in the UK spend 6 hours and 8 minutes a day online, that’s not including watching TV. Too much screen time can affect our eyesight and sleep, so it’s important to give yourself a break from them.
Try playing board games or starting a puzzle, you can even buy ‘home escape rooms’ as something novel and different to do. You could schedule these with family or friends, or take some time to yourself, if that’s what's needed, to read a book or pick up a new hobby. Taking a night away from screens does wonders for our mental health and you just might have a better night's sleep.
6. Make movement interesting
It's no secret that moving our bodies has multiple benefits for our physical and mental health. But that doesn’t have to mean going on a 5-mile hike or lifting weights in the gym. It can mean putting an 80’s dance class on YouTube and singing your heart out for half an hour or going for a short walk and calling a friend to catch up. Playing as a family, whether it’s ‘tag’ or ‘the floor is lava’ is a great way to get movement in without even realising. Even just sitting in a deep squat position while watching TV will help with mobility, anything that gets you off the sofa is a winner.
7. Aim for progress rather than perfection
Striving for perfection in anything is likely going to lead to disappointment at some point, so be sure to aim for progress and improvement over getting it just right. Committing to adding more fruit and veg into your diet, for instance, is far more achievable than trying to eat clean 100% of the time. Starting each task by saying ‘My goal is to make progress’ can be a nice way of taking the pressure off yourself. ‘Progress’ could be writing one more paragraph of a paper for work or clearing out one cupboard as part of a spring clean.
‘Progress’ is whatever it means to you, so be kind to yourself and enjoy the summer!
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