how not to waste your days when you want to live again?

in september you will admit that you're back on the right track .

I want to say right at the beginning that this post is not meant to carry the pressure that you absolutely must do a million things and make the most productive use of the late spring/summer, otherwise you will waste this time. The point here is just that in winter we are mostly in a state of hibernation, dormancy, neither the weather outside the window nor the temperature moods us for huge action, because we adapt to what we surround ourselves with. We rest more, start new things less, which is why I've always written that in my opinion New Year's resolutions should actually start in March/April, when we wake up and our strength returns. Because January and February are survival months (at least for me). In summer, the energy is completely different, you can see from the people you pass on the street - they don't stay in a slumber, but are alive again, enjoying every day to the fullest and are definitely more inspired. Everyone wants to make the most of this energy, so I've put together five tips that I think are worth incorporating into your life during these seasons.

Why five? Because there could be a hundred tips, but who will remember to do it all? It will be harder to choose a few for ourselves, because it will be difficult to decide which are more important, which can be let go. Either the amount of these changes will overwhelm us and we won't implement anything, or we'll want to implement everything and as a result we'll be exhausted after a few days of ticking off everything on the list to definitely do each of these things. You don't have to do these five either. You can do one or none at all if none of them appeal to you. Then find something else, do less, but do what will be in harmony with your body, mind and soul.

• Set an intention for this time. The intention is to be something you will focus on this time, something you will take care of, an afterthought, a main goal. The intention has to be up to you - you may want to rest more after an intense winter, regenerate, take more care about sleep, about setting aside time for relaxation, about not forcing yourself to work and be productive all the time, about not taking everything on yourself, just letting yourself breathe. The intention may be to be more disciplined, that is, to pay more attention to doing the tasks you have set for yourself, to stick to your own routine, not to abandon your best habits at worse times, to make sure you are persistent in your resolutions. The intention may be to be more in the here and now, not to look ahead, not to keep returning to the past, to focus on what you can do and change in the moment, to be more mindful of what you are doing in the moment, such as preparing a meal and taking a walk. The intention may be to take care of a better relationship with others, to get out of your comfort zone more often, to be more assertive, more spontaneous. It all depends on what you care about, what you should focus on, what you are missing and what you have neglected recently.

It's best to write it down for yourself in the form of a mantra that you will have somewhere with you (in a journal, hung on the wall, in your wallet) and you can easily refer back to it at any time. In the mantra you will describe your intention and what it comes from, what values you want to follow at this time, what you need to work on, what you want to change, and words to yourself to support you when you doubt it.

• Pick ONE thing that you really want to work for over the time. The problem lies in the fact that we feel a lot of pressure that we need to make the most of this season, to do as many things as possible, to achieve some goals, because this is the time when we regain our strength and energy and have much more motivation than in winter. The problem comes in that we don't know what to focus on, where to start, we jump from activity to activity, we don't truly concentrate on anything. This is what I wrote about at the very beginning. We leave an thing because, after all, we wanted to check 10 more activities, September comes and still nothing has changed. It's not that you can't r develop more than one passion, it's just that you should choose a thing that you will really devote time to in order to actually make some progress in it. It could be learning a new language, starting to paint pictures, writing a collection of poems, beginning an online activity. It should be something you've wanted to start for a long time, but kept dragging it out, or something that fascinates you and you finally have the space to devote to it.

What I would add to this - try to plan the stages of learning it, or the progression you would like to achieve after a week, two, after a month and so on. I know it's a lot easier when learning a field, a language, in the case of writing it depends a lot on your vas, but the point is that you should determine which way it should go, so that you don't constantly stand in the same place and don't know where to go next. It's important that you really allocate your energy so that in September you can say, yes - I already have some paintings painted, yes, I've already written a good part of my book, yes, I already know the basics of the language. It's not about speaking like a native speaker, painting like Vincent Van Gogh and already having a book ready to be published, but it's about feeling that you've really focused on it and taken a lot of steps to achieve it in the future.

• Plan your life. I know it's a thing you'll see in every TikTok like “10 changes you need to make to change your life,” but planning gives a lot. It's often the case that you get up and don't even know what to focus on today, you have chaos and pressure that you don't know what to get started with and what exactly you should do. You know how easy it is when you pick up a notebook or turn on an app and have a list of things to do that you can just tick off one by one. Our brains will assimilate what they have to do much more easily when they see the exact sub-items for today. You'll be calmer, too, when you literally have it written down that you've already done something, and those sub-items will become fewer and fewer. I, lately, have a whole lot of things to do (that's why these posts appear less often) and only such a list allows me to somehow control it all, not to get lost and not to forget what else I have to do today. It's also a good way to write down all the interesting things that will be happening in your city, because it's often the case that we forget about an event and remind ourselves after it has already taken place.

Advice from me - Create a list where you will have the easiest access to it every day. If you carry your journal with you every day, write it there. If your journal doesn't exist or you leave it at home, don't do it. It's better to use either the notes on your phone or some app - I from myself recommend Notion. Very easy to use.

• I also advise you to introduce meditation into your life. Meditation is often associated with having to sit for 40 minutes with your legs crossed, chastise yourself for every thought that comes up, and stay with a blank mind at all costs. To resemble a monk and endure as long as possible, or “it won't count.” I understand it completely differently. Meditation is first and foremost about being here and now, not looking ahead and going back to what was. It is, for example, taking a walk without headphones while you listen to yourself rather than drowning out your thoughts with music or a podcast. It's making tea in the morning, focusing on that activity and nothing else, not doing the whole process mechanically just taking the time to brew it, add honey, stir it, whatever. But to be there for it. Such activities show very well whether we are able to be alone with ourselves, or whether we immediately have chaos in our heads when we can't cover it with something.

• Explore art and surround yourself with culture. This is a good time to think about who you are and who you would like to be. We have tremendous opportunities these days and we need to take advantage of it. You can go for a walk and turn on a podcast, an audiobook, a youtube essay on your headphones. We can go for coffee and while doing so, stop by an art gallery for a new exhibition. Most exciting things happen in cities during these seasons, there are openings, concerts, outdoor cinema, classes to help you learn a new passion, meetings with amazing people. Get interested and take part in what you are curious about, you never know what you will experience there, what you will learn, who you will meet.

From me - don't be afraid to go there alone, no one is looking at it, only you over-focus on it because you find it embarrassing, awkward, but plenty of people do it solo. Don't wait for your friends to find the time/willingness to participate in something and don't give up because they don't want to do something with you.

Finally, I would additionally like to share what I plan to start doing most likely from the beginning of May. A year ago in the summer, I did the entire course from the book “The Artist's Way” by Julia Cameron. The course lasts 12 weeks and is designed to help us deal with our creative blocks, discover the inner artist within us (which everyone has!) and change a bit the thought patterns that hinder us from progressing and finishing an art project. Thanks to this, I convinced myself to journal regularly, but also returned to writing seriously. My studies made me write a lot, but I had forgotten what it was like to write simply for myself. Other than that, my favorite part is my weekly art dates. I think late spring and summer is the best time to do this course, because we are charged with new, fresh energy and there is a lot going on, many events are organized, we also want to create and feel inspired. Often it's hard for us to motivate ourselves to do something creative, we are busy with work, responsibilities and don't even think about it. This book teaches us to carve out at least some time for our artistic side.

I’m open to things that you recommend, you do or will do. Let's share hints that will allow us to breathe, grow our potential and make good use of the energy that is all around us right now.

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