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Proven Productivity Strategies to Keep Your Summer Fresh
“Summer’s here/And the time is right/For setting a new goal at work!” Ok, that’s not how that old favorite summer song goes, is it?
Summer is upon us and with it, a whole host of outdoor activities to enjoy the longer days and pack in the fun at the pool, at a music festival, the local Farmer’s Market, the rooftop patio. And it’s hot outside! The weather alone can cause our pace to lag and drag a bit, practically insisting that we take life at a little slower pace.
With all of these pretty fantastic distractions around us, it can be difficult to focus on the daily grind, let alone maximize our effectiveness. Lean in to the summer fun and try a few of these sunny strategies to help you and your organization thrive:
- Clean out your locker.
Remember when June signaled the end of the school year? All of those big tests and projects were over and there was a whole summer waiting to be enjoyed. Put yourself back in your prized pupil mindset and make the start of summer your hard deadline for papers, projects, or proposals you’ve been meaning to complete.
- Create a summer goal.
Summer may be the most encapsulated season. There are holiday weekends to start and end it, which makes summer an excellent time to set a solid, mid-term goal. Conduct a semi-annual review of your achievements. Review the goals you set back in January and measure how far you’ve come. Make any adjustments or revitalize the goals that have been on the back-burner.
Perhaps there’s a new technology or some professional learning you’ve been wanting to adopt. Take advantage of an office in flux with colleagues and supervisors taking vacation time, clearing up your calendar a bit. It’s the perfect time to try a new organizational tool, or adopt a new habit. Perhaps you’ve been wanting to get off of social media, get to the office earlier,or give back to the community. Select an activity that “it’s never the right time for.” Summer can be that perfect time to start something new.
- Adopt a summer camp mindset.
While you may not be enjoying a three-legged race, or telling ghost stories by campfire, the summer months can be an excellent time to rebuild community within your office. Launch a wellness initiative that takes advantage of the great outdoors, or host a Summer Reading program that focuses on an initiative your organization will be implementing soon. These are activities that everyone can participate in, regardless of vacation schedules. Summertime can be a particularly good opportunity for the introverts in the office to participate in happy hours or other work-related social events. Fewer staff are around, so introverted colleagues may be able to feel more social in a smaller crowd.
Our team took the summer camp mindset to a whole new level: check out our Careerstone Group Summer Songs Playlist. This team-building activity has provided the soundtrack to some of our team’s favorite summer memories.
A new community-building initiative may create just enough buzz that it gives employees “a reason to come in and stay focused.”
- Take a break.
One-third of U.S. employees won’t take a single day of vacation this year.
This is not only shocking, and detrimental to an employee’s morale, but also detrimental to an organization’s productivity and profitability.
One study found that “vacationers experience an 82% increase in job performance post-trip.” Even if you feel you can’t swing a week-long absence from the office, shorter breaks have positive benefits, too.
And it’s not just extended time away from the office that has advantages. Consider using the summer months to give yourself permission to remove your work email from your phone. This break gives you the opportunity to recharge during your time away from the office. Lean in to the slower summer work pace to make your personal time just that.
Summer’s here and the time is right to capitalize on the fun of the season by adopting some of these fresh strategies.