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<p>When we think of summer, we tend to think of warm, languid, blue-skied days. Pool parties and backyard BBQs. Beach balls and popsicles. Sunshine and smiles.</p>
<p>And it can indeed be an idyllic season. If you live somewhere that’s very cold and snowy in the winter, summer is your reward for enduring those dark days. The season is more temperate and the outdoors is in prime condition for enjoyment.</p>
<p>But summer in a place like Oklahoma is hellaciously hot and humid, and even if you want to literally touch grass, you have to avoid allowing your body to make contact with anything green, which is invariably crawling with mosquitoes, chiggers, and ticks.</p>
<p>Regardless of where you live, if you have kids, your schedule gets thrown into disarray in the summer — especially if you’re a stay-at-home parent or work from home. Your kids are often around all day, every day, and up in your business, which can be fun, but also makes it hard to find traction with getting things done.</p>
<p>Put feeling out of sorts with your routine, browbeaten by the heat, and cooped up in your stale air-conditioned house (or your sweltering non-air-conditioned house), together with the fact that people often sleep worse during these months, and you can start feeling irritated and down, particularly as you head into the post-Fourth, late-July trough of the season.</p>
<p>While we typically associate Seasonal Affective Disorder with winter, it can happen in summer too, though it manifests differently in each season. While winter-induced SAD is marked by low energy, depression, sluggishness, and social withdrawal, summer-induced SAD manifests in agitation, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, and feeling overwhelmed.</p>
<p>Even if summer doesn’t give you a full-blown disorder, it may simply leave you feeling in a funk.</p>
<p>Fortunately, there <em>is</em> a cure for the summertime blues. The suggestions below will help keep you buoyant when the season starts to feel more oppressive than golden.</p>
<h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;">How to Beat the Summertime Blues</span></h3>
<h3>Get sun; get outside; seek water.</h3>
<p>Sunlight has a whole lot of <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/strength/health/health-benefits-sunlight-vitamin-d/">benefits for both body and mind.</a> So does <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/self-improvement/the-5-switches-of-manliness-nature/">fresh air and nature</a>. In the winter, these things are hard to come by because it’s cold out, and even when you get outdoors, the sunlight is weak. In the summer, the sun is bright and blaring, but it’s hard to soak it in, and get sufficient time outside in general, because the minute you step out of your air-conditioned house, you start roasting.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/strength/health/how-to-get-sufficient-sunlight-in-the-winter/">Just as in winter</a>, you’ll have to get creative in pursuing the vitality-boosting “nutrients” of both sun and nature.</p>
<p>To kill both birds with one stone, it’s critical to turn to bodies of water. There’s a reason that Oklahomans are a lake-going people; it’s one of the few forms of outdoor recreation that’s tolerable in the summer. Make a trip to a local lake. Splash around. Rent a boat.</p>
<p>Or hit other bodies of water: Float a river. Seek out a swimming hole and take a dip.</p>
<p>I tell people that if you’re going to live in Oklahoma, having a pool isn’t optional; it’s mandatory. Having a sort of domestic “third space” that gets you out of the house goes a long way in keeping you sane during the summer season. If you don’t have your own pool, get a membership at a community one.</p>
<p>Boating and swimming will provide plenty of sunshine and an ample dose of nature, too. You’ll be surprised at how much getting active outside, soaking in some rays, and taking in the trees, clouds, and sky will lift your spirit.</p>
<p>And there’s actually a third bird these activities kill as well (sorry about all this bloodshed, birds): achieving an element of pleasurable seasonality.</p>
<p>One of the ways to make winter more enjoyable is to partake in activities that are only possible at that time of year, like skiing or snowshoeing. The summer equivalent is swimming and water sports. <a href="https://www.dyingbreed.net/p/sunday-firesides-a-liturgy-for-our">They feel welcome in their rhythmic novelty</a>. If you’re someone who runs the rest of the year, do swimming for your cardio in the summer; not only will it help you beat the heat, <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/strength/fitness/seasonal-training/">adding this kind of seasonality to your workouts</a> keeps your fitness routine feeling fresh.</p>
<p>Beyond getting your swim on in the summer, get outside time by stripping down to the bare minimum of clothing and taking an early-morning or late-evening walk, when it’s a little bit cooler. It will often still be hot, and the nighttime walks won’t net you any sun, obviously, but again, you’ll be surprised by the disproportionate effect continuing to be active outside and getting fresh (albeit humid) air will have on your mood.</p>
<h3>Get a change of location, any location.</h3>
<p>There’s less going on in the summer. Your kids have fewer school events and extracurricular activities. Friends are out of town. The slower pace can be welcome, but it can also veer into dullness, especially as you’re already feeling cooped up in your house due to the heat. If you’re not going out as much, that can lead to feeling bored, restless, and generally down in the dumps.</p>
<p>So force yourself to get out. Go somewhere, anywhere. Hit the obvious indoor, air-conditioned recreation spots: the aquarium, a museum, the movies, a bookstore. When our kids were little, we’d sometimes take them to Bass Pro Shops to look around and see the fish tank and turtles. It wasn’t much, but hey, it was something to do.</p>
<p>Visiting familiar spots is fine, but make a particular effort to do things you haven’t done before. The buzz of novelty has an extra mood-lifting effect. Tulsa has a surprisingly good dining scene, and we try to do dinner at a new restaurant every other week or so. It’s a small but fun way to mix up our routine.</p>
<h3>Take a weekend road trip.</h3>
<p>There may come a time in the deep trough of summer when getting out around town isn’t sufficiently helping, and you might feel like, “Damn, we need to get the hell out of Dodge!”</p>
<p>Even if you’ve got a longer vacation somewhere on the summer docket, you often need a shorter trip in there too to break things up and provide a more significant change of pace.</p>
<p>When that restless urge comes on, take off on a weekend road trip somewhere. Doing a long drive <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/culture/in-8-hours-you-could-be-in/">(even as far as 8 hours)</a> for just a weekend trip might not feel worthwhile, but it’s typically surprisingly fun. Don’t do a lot of pre-planning — just go. The more spontaneous it is, the more fun and memorable it will be.</p>
<h3>Improve your sleep.</h3>
<p>It can be harder to sleep in the summer if your room is warm and you don’t have air-conditioning. But it’s not just external factors that can impact sleep during this season.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1105233/full">Research</a> has found that sleep is subject to seasonal variations that are rooted in our physiology. We seem to sleep for a shorter time and experience 30 minutes less REM sleep in the summer than in the winter. Our bodies may not actually need as much sleep during this time of year, so this isn’t something to stress out about. But if your sleep quality has declined, and it’s impacting your well-being, then now is a good time to <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/strength/health/how-to-get-a-good-nights-sleep/">make sure you’re doing all the things commonly recommended</a>: keeping a consistent sleep/wake time, refraining from caffeine late in the day, keeping your room dark and cool (the best you can!), etc.</p>
<p>If you’ve tried the standard stuff, and it isn’t working, <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/strength/health/45-tips-that-you-haven-t-heard-a-million-times-before-to-improve-your-sleep/">here are 45 lesser-known tips that can improve your sleep.</a></p>
<p>One thing to try: a weighted blanket. I find I use my weighted blanket more in the summer than the winter. I don’t sleep under it all night; instead, I pull it on if I wake up too early, and it helps me fall back asleep. <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/culture/gear/how-i-use-a-weighted-blanket-it-s-not-for-sleeping-at-night/">Check out our guide to weighted blankets here. </a></p>
<h3>Loosen Your Grip on Your Routine</h3>
<p>One thing I’ve learned after many summers of working from home is that you can’t simply pretend it’s a normal workday with extra people in the house. When the kids are home, your environment has changed, so your routine has to change with it. You have to adopt a looser approach. Trying to keep just as tightly to your schedule is only going to make you feel frustrated.</p>
<p>Instead of attempting to squeeze in more productivity, just try to create a little more predictability: start the day by telling everyone what your work blocks look like, when you’re available, and what actually counts as an interruption. When your kids are younger, consider putting them in camps if available/desirable. When they’re older, set some rules for how much screen time they get and when they need to busy themselves with non-digital activities.</p>
<p>During the day, intentionally schedule a few “connection breaks” — ten minutes to eat a snack together, play ping-pong, or chat — so your kids aren’t constantly trying to grab your attention between those moments. At the same time, protect your workspace with clear boundaries; if your office door is closed or the headphones are on, you’re at work, not merely at home.</p>
<p>And perhaps most importantly, change your mindset and lower your expectations a notch. Nobody’s going to look back and wish they had spent more time crunching spreadsheets. You have to get done the work you have to get done, but summer isn’t the season for setting personal records. If you can keep the essential habits — exercise, focused work, family meals, bedtime — while accepting a little more noise, spontaneity, and imperfection, you’ll find yourself enjoying the season instead of resenting it.</p>
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<br /><a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/self-improvement/the-cure-for-the-summertime-blues/">Source link </a></p>
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The Cure for the Summertime Blues
