This Summer, Commit To Reconnecting With Yourself

Summer officially begins June 21st. It’s supposed to be a season of respite, relaxation and recharge. Children are out of school and vacations often force the workplace to slow, as out-of-office replies delay the answers, input, and go-aheads to move things forward.

But let’s be honest – do we actually slow down during the summer? No. We still manage to be busy, quickly filling any extra time we have with emails we’ve been meaning to answer, shows we need to catch up on, to-do lists we can finally check off, and newsfeeds we like to scroll through.

We’ve gotten too busy for ourselves.

We live a nonstop life these days. Yes, technology has made us more efficient, more advanced, and more connected. But at what cost? It’s like our devices, as great as they can be, have created a life that is void of any quiet time. Technology has replaced the space where we used to just be. Space we need to slow down, take a deep breath, and think about our life – how we got here and where we want to go.

All the connection has left us disconnected from ourselves.

We could all use a break.

This summer, what if we all took a break? What if we gave ourselves a vacation from the incessant need to know what’s going on in the world around us and focus on the world within us? What if we stopped constantly doing and spent some time just being?

No matter how busy you are, it is possible to squeeze in time for yourself. Start with creating more time by giving up (or decreasing) some of the time sucks you don’t actually need. You don’t need to watch that show. You don’t need to scroll through Instagram. And unless you’re on call for something, you don’t need your phone past a certain time at night.

There will always be excuses, like, “What if there’s an emergency and someone needs me?” And there are always solutions, like putting your phone on do not disturb and set it so that only certain people – like the ones who would call you in an emergency – will ring through. The point is that it’s possible. People lived for centuries without being able to instantly get ahold of each other and they managed just fine.

We need to reconnect.

This summer, commit to finding time for you. Fill that time with things that inspire you, things that quiet you, or things that make you think. Let yourself spend some real time with yourself. Wake up 10 minutes earlier to journal about how you’re feeling. Drive to work in silence so you can think about your life. Watch the sunset outside with your phone inside.

Just remove yourself, just a little bit, so you can reconnect – to you.