By Paris Gill, Content Team Contributor
Summer in Britain is always a challenging period. Dealing with FOMO becomes a real struggle when your whole social media is filled with exotic travels, and warm summer evenings that are obviously abroad, since it’s August, and it’s still raining here! As someone who’s just graduated, and is enjoying the probable last “long” summer, time for resting has been replaced with feelings of loneliness, burn out, and anger at the weather. So here are some things I have been doing to try and just relax in the rare moments of sun, and be grateful for the time off.
My feed has been full of friends and strangers documenting, and rightly so, their glamorous holidays all across the world, so scrolling in bed surrounded by rain has felt pretty dull in comparison. The obvious fix, which is easier said than done, has been to limit my screen time on social media, to avoid consuming as much of this content as I have been.
But in a state of boredom, one of the automatic things we do nowadays is go on our phones to kill time. Now I have some free time, I have really enjoyed picking hobbies back up that I had to abandon during the busy exam season at university. Reading for leisure, rather than my English degree, was something I let slip in order to prioritise work, and so this summer I have made a big effort to reignite my love for reading outside of academia. Try replacing screen time with practicing whatever hobby you have enjoyed in the past which might have been cut to make space for work, or pick up a new one entirely!
As we live in a sometimes-sunny country, it’s so important to try and make the most of the warm dry weather we are rarely allowed. “Outside hobbies”, such as walking, exercise, and gardening, are not only much more enjoyable in the summer sunshine, but also greatly improve our health. Us brits have an automatic Vitamin D deficiency due to the lack of sunshine we get all year, and high Vitamin D is directly correlational to improved mood. Of course, still applying suncream, getting just 10 minutes of sunlight exposure can really help increase these levels, and thus the summer blues.
But it’s also good to remember not to feel guilty if we don’t make the most of the sun. Putting too much pressure on making these summer days “perfect” can actually make them less enjoyable if there are either unrealistic expectations placed on them, or the build up to them causes too much anxiety. Knowing your limitations when it comes to socialising, being away from home, or doing too much activity is vital when tackling these “exciting” days out. The heat only makes me feel more overwhelmed, sweaty and exhausted, and so factoring this extra detail into my plans makes sure I know my limits.
Summer always provides the danger of expectation vs reality, and it’s important to remember that even on social media, no one’s life or holiday is ever perfect. Whether it’s struggling with body image, or the anxiety of being far from home, it’s important to try and stay present in your own moment, and try not to compare yourself to others you see on social media or around you.
I personally sometimes struggle with the transition itself, and often find myself looking forward to the flight home, and that’s okay! If you also struggle with this, maybe bring some creature comforts like your favourite snacks, or a mug for your breakfast tea with you, just to keep some of your normal routine in place, even when on holiday. Equally, if there’s jet lag involved, then endeavouring to get as much sleep as possible, at the correct times can really help overall with feeling more settled in a different country. Having done my year abroad in South Korea, not sleeping on the flight – although painful at the time – ultimately really helped me align my sleep schedule quicker than I might have done.
For those of us who have to fit in a holiday between work weeks, I’d also recommend not sleeping on the flight on the way back, unless of course it’s a Sunday night flight! Getting back into your normal routine, starting with sleep, will definitely help readjust back to real life.
It’s really important to attempt to completely switch off and relax when you’re on time off, and so setting boundaries with your workplace prior to your holiday is vital. A lot of people struggle either with saying no to working on holiday, or switching from work-brain to holiday-brain. Combined with the post-covid era of Zoom and Teams, it can be very easy to slip into remote working even when on time-off.
However, it’s good to remember that taking a proper break from all work will help renew productivity far more than trying to half-work throughout a holiday. Burn out is a real issue, and so ultimately having a complete break, even if you feel less productive, will overall help exponentially with increased motivation and quality of work when you’re back in the workplace.
If you’re not taking a holiday this year, the same relaxation theory applies to sunny – or rainy – weekends. If you can, try and do a little bit of travelling to somewhere local, or even a nice long walk in a park, or nearby countryside. Getting away from your home in whatever context is always refreshing, particularly when the weather’s nice. Exploring somewhere nearby, or going to a restaurant or activity you’ve been wanting to try can also be a nice excuse to relax, and try something new.
Going somewhere local can also be a lot less stressful, and curb the travel and transition anxiety that comes with a foreign holiday, and can be easier to arrange with family and friends. Hosting a summer get-together like a BBQ or, if it rains, dinner and drinks inside, can also place the control back in your hands, and still be a nice excuse to have some summery fun!
Overall, summertime in Britain doesn’t always deliver what we want it to, and sometimes neither do holidays abroad! But by endeavouring to just stay in the moment, and enjoy the time you have to either relax or have fun with your loved ones, is so important to helping reinvigorate your energy levels before the winter rolls around.
