The middle of July always creeps up on me fast. It doesn’t matter that I’ve been sorting the summer break since 2011; I always feel like I have more time. It doesn’t help that a shift in my youngest’s schooling earlier this year has meant that I’ve got to the summer break a week earlier than expected!  Whilst there is lots of energy and time put into the practicalities of balancing the school holidays with work, the one thing that often gets forgotten is how it can impact parents. So many mums and dads come to me in September, frazzled and worn out. So today I want to share seven last-minute ways to feel calmer during the summer juggle.

 

Now I’m nearly 16 years into trying to balance the school holidays with work; it has got easier, especially as I can be more hands-off! There are some things that I know work, and others that I wish I had known when my kids were younger. I thought the (potential) last week of term would be the perfect time to share these thoughts. Ways to help you with the summer juggle (that DON’T involve spending more money) and will help you feel more rested and calmer.

 

Seven ways you can feel calmer during the summer juggle

 

Use your out-of-office every day

It’s a no-brainer that OOO goes on when you’re off. But I highly recommend using it every day.  Share when you are back, when you expect you will be accessing your emails, and, where appropriate, if you have changed your working hours. It makes your availability clear. You can’t control when people contact you, but you can be transparent about when they can expect a reply.

Check in on deadlines

It’s always worth checking the deadlines on work; has anything shifted based on the availability of others? If you work internationally, the summer holiday breaks aren’t always in the same format as those in the UK, and colleagues and suppliers may have different resource requirements. Now, in an ideal world, these conversations would have already happened MONTHS ago, but being realistic, that isn’t always the case! So, have the conversation now to help realistically manage your workload and expectations.

Plan for September

The summer break can feel long; on average, however, it’s around 7 weeks, give or take a couple of weeks’ annual leave. When you think about potential bottlenecks of the summer resource stretch, what can be realistically moved to September or beyond, when our days are a little more predictable? This may be a conversation linked to project deadlines, or more of a personal conversation about the expectations we set for ourselves.

Pay attention to past you!

Even if this is the first year that you managed the summer juggle, there are lessons you can learn. If you are years into it, then you have even more. Ask yourself, what don’t you want to repeat, what do you wish you had done, and what do you want to keep.  Some may seem obvious, from booking a particular sports club to a specific working schedule. But don’t work with the automatic; when we feel under pressure, it’s easy to just “rinse and repeat”. Ask yourself if anything needs to change or consciously stay the same.

Support your nervous system

When EVERYTHING feels important, time-pressured and serious, it’s no surprise we end up working and living in panic mode. Rushing from meeting to summer club pickup, you can end up tired and wired or shut down. We live in a time where knowledge about our nervous system is sky-high, but we don’t always know how to support it. So, take some time to learn about it and engage with the tools that can help you. To help feel calmer try box breathing; slow inhales and exhales tells your body it is safe.

 

Schedule in specific days

Now, this may not be what you expect but stick with me.

First, schedule in Lazy Days. It’s easy to pack diaries to the max, both for our kids and ourselves. To make “the most” of the summer. From day trips to activity camps, is it any surprise that so many of us get to September tired rather than refreshed? You may have seen a social media trend of creating “90s Summers”- pre-internet and social media.  There is an interesting truth within this viral trend: downtime, boredom, and everyday life have a massive value.  Rest!

Part two of the scheduling is making sure you can get to do the things that calm and energise you. As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup; you deserve a bit of fun too! So, make that list and make it possible!

Check in with your kids

Finally, and this may sound obvious, but have you asked your kids what they want to do? This was the biggest shift for me when my two were younger. So often, they just wanted to be at home, with their things, having some downtime. Now, this needs to be balanced with the needs and locations of work, but once you realise THEY need a rest as much as you do, a whole new chapter in parenting begins. This is particularly relevant if they are transitioning across school stages.

 

So, my final blog, before the summer holidays begins, offers you one thing. That it’s not too late to put some free and low-cost things into place. This will give you an increased likelihood of getting to September recharged and not burnt out. They may not be ground-breaking, but they are seven tried-and-tested ways to feel calmer over the summer* juggle. And sometimes, that is the best thing to have to create the balance you deserve.

Those with older kids, what advice would you share to help parents feel calmer during the summer juggle?

 

*Applicable to other school vacation breaks!

 

It won’t surprise you that this isn’t the first time I’ve written about coping with the summer juggle, so make sure you check these out too.

 

How to avoid parental burnout this summer

Five ways to have a balanced summer

Blogs to help with the summer juggle

 

I’m Clara Wilcox, the affordable coach who helps parents enjoy their careers again. Return to work, career & redundancy coaching for individuals, freelancers, businesses and parents & carer groups. Book a call to talk about coaching or career wellbeing workshops.