“Summertime is always the best of what might be.”
Charles Bowden
Good morning, and happy first of July! Today I’m sitting down to plan out the month ahead. This is going to be more of a “life update” chat while we create our road maps for July, so fix yourself a cup of tea and grab yourself a notebook. Ready to plan with me?
First things first, I like to get an overview of my vision for the month by getting all my brain-lint on paper. Once it’s there in front of me, in ink, I usually have a good idea of what to expect from the month ahead.
July is going to be a hustle month. I’m picking up another weekly shift, along with an afternoon nannying job, which officially bumps me up to full time hours each week. Thus, tragically, my novel’s word count and my to-be-read pile will be on the back burner until August. More than just work schedule though, I’ll be moving into a room of my own next week and hopefully buy my first car (a Jeep, if all goes well) by the end of the month. Lots of new exciting things on the horizon!
Even though I’ll be keeping busy with work, I hope I can still keep up a decent amount of reading. My neighborhood book club picked Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens for our next read; and so far I’m loving it. It’s historical fiction (think To Kill a Mockingbird) set in mid-1900’s North Carolina; a coming-of-age story with a dash of survival and a teaspoon of murder mystery.
Once you’ve got your month mapped out, move over to your planner and fill in all your plans. I write out any fixed events first, then my shifts at work, followed by my summer plans. When your monthly planner is looking dapper, I like to color-coordinate everything.
Using my monthly layout as a reference, I go in and fill in the weekly spread next. Fixed commitments are written in pen, but any projects or tasks are scrawled onto post-it notes and stuck to the corresponding day.
One more thing…we mustn’t forget to set aside time for the refreshment of the soul (I have a feeling I’ll be needing a lot of that soon). By necessity, I like to keep one day every week (Sunday) free for my Sabbath: for introversion, time to sit and be still, time to take walks and sip coffee on the front porch and catch up on journaling.
Take a look back at your summer fun list and pick out a handful of things to look forward to. Sprinkle those throughout your month: a drive-in movie here, a day at the beach there, maybe even a road trip or a visit to the local fair. Whatever it is, make sure you have things to look forward to (Stranger Things 3, anyone?).
In short, make some space for what fills your soul with light.
Wishing you a wonderful July,
<3 Olivia Grace
