Balancing summers off has always been a bit tricky for me. Obviously, I spend a significant amount of my time working on all things Speechy Musings, but I can never decide how much time to spend on school/work related things.

This summer, I’ve found a nice balance and thought I’d share with you some tasks that help me make the most of my summer without becoming overwhelmed or feeling like I never had any time off!

Summers Off Reading Lists.

Check out my recommended reads list for 2018. I’m trying to read a lot more this summer and I’m really trying to read more fiction. I’m always down to hear your book recommendations so leave a comment if you have any favs!

Grow.

Summer is my favorite time for some personal development. If you haven’t already, sign up for SLP Thrive! I send a weekly email (every Sunday!) all about topics like work/life balance, self-care, productivity, mindset, planning, and lots of other SLP goodness.

Purge.

Purge everything you own! Get rid of therapy materials you haven’t used in the past couple years, purge your closet, and donate

Stay informed.

I’d definitely recommend signing up for the Informed SLP.

Catch up with friends and family.

Is it just me or does anybody else struggle at times during the school year with keeping up with friends and family as much as you’d like to??! Use your summers off to hang out and catch up!

Explore new systems for organization and data collection.

Instead of prepping materials you might not use, spend time thinking about big picture things like how you’ll store materials, how you’ll take data, and how you’ll keep organized. What systems do you want to try out this year?

Here are some ideas:

—Use Google Sheets to store your lesson plans, data collection, or caseload information

–Set up student work folders

—Explore SLP Toolkit (I love using this for data collection during the school year!)

–Decide how you plan to schedule this school year (here’s one idea!!)

Stay up to date with sales.

Once you have a plan for how you want to store materials and organize yourself next school year, stay up to date with sales! Watch flyers or emails from places like Target, Walmart, Staples, or OfficeMax. They often have AMAZING back to school sales that you can take advantage of! For example, if you want to do student folders next year, watch for great folder deals! Savings really add up when you have to buy 60+ of them!

Relax! Take summers off!

Get yourself in a mental space where you’re ready to tackle another school year. If you’re not there yet, don’t push it. Learn more about topics like meditation or yoga. Try them out and see if you can get into a habit during your summers off before the school year starts. Free apps like Calm or Headspace are a great place to start if you’re interested!

Does that sound anything like your summer? Do you do school work during your summers off? I’d love to hear!

Thanks for reading! <3