How do you make the most out of summer?

Here we are in the throws of busy season and I am getting frustrated once again. Yard work, planting flowers and garden, working on boat and camper, garage cleaning, graduations and other family obligations. I sit at work this time of year and can’t focus on it knowing all of the things I need and want to be doing.

How do you manage it? Adjust work hours during summer to start early so you have more time at night? Just go with less sleep? Bring the boat with you to work so at least you can get a few hours on the water after?

We have such a short summer to do it all and I feel like I lose each year.

its fairly light tell about 9ish so fishing weekday nights helps me out. also fishing super early on weekends too before plans. Protecting your free time is worth it by saying no to things.

I feel like you took that first paragraph right out of my brain. Good post and it’s very true.

I’m very fortunate to have a great spot in the country, but simply lawncare, garden work, and branch/tree cutting is almost another full-time job.

I like when things look good but I’ve come to accept that some projects are years away. The previous owners of our place put a lot of things to mow and trim around, like spots of flowers and hostas, or trees with rocks around, etc. Some of these areas are starting to look older and weeds are popping through. I don’t like it but I know I won’t get it all done anytime soon.

Family time is important and I’m fortunate in that my two boys (ages 4 and 2) love to follow me around and watch me do stuff, so they enjoy the outside stuff too. The past few nights I’ve been tilling after work and my oldest has followed me around looking for worms the whole time.

It can be hard to do, but that whole thing about being present in the moment is something to keep in mind. We end up having at least one fire a week usually and as the sun is setting and I see deer a few hundreds of yards away and coyotes howling a mile away in the other direction, I’m able to appreciate it and make the most out of my summer.

Except fishing….I plan on being able to do more of that when my boys are older.

Great question.
Was on the road at 5:45 this morning. Was done at 5, had the grandson over for dinner and we tooled around on the lawnmower for a bit, fixed the weed wacker, then out to the garden. Just washed the dirt off my hand, poured a libation and walked the dogs.
I don’t mind the work, actually kinda like it. I try to get to the cabin every other weekend to try and catch a fish.

Life is short, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

BTW – I love doing chores, but I also stop and smell the roses.

Go to work at 330 or 4 am. Get off at 230 to 430 pm go home and enjoy life. Don’t get obligated in other people’s things ever. Pick and choose the actual important things. Camp every other weekend on the river with the kids. Don’t worry about my yard being the nicest one in the neighborhood.
Grab every side job possible and make money on the nights I have no plans. Take the kid to those side jobs so he earns money and becomes responsible. Let him. Spend that money on fishing and hunting things. Makes him happier to do those things I already love to do. And now he loves as well.
It’s actually really easy to be happy and free if you allow your self to do so.

When you want to go fish a evening just do so and quit whining about only 9 hours of sleep. 5 has been sufficient for ever.
Stay off the book face worrying what others do. Because all you can do for your self is all you can do.

I run full circles all day long. But if half that circle isn’t about the kid and I then I might as well not do it. I work 5 or 6 10 to 12s a week plus side gigs. And I still get more fishing and family time then alot. I was taught young. If you have a bunch of stuff to do in a day time, wake up early and get it done.

Go to Vermilion every 3rd weekend camping for 3 days. That’s why a guy worked all winter for.

Don’t get married in to a 9 to 5

Half your list should have been done in the very early spring

Except fishing….I plan on being able to do more of that when my boys are older.
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Why not take them now. Even if it’s only for 1 hour. The kids will love it. I started both the kids in play pens in the boat and at camp sites on the river. Why wait. It doesn’t get that much easier the older you get, you only get more things and sports on the to do list. Enjoy it now and enjoy it forever. The older they get is not the less busy you get. I was taught that and I’m glad I learned it, because it is so true. The younger the easier. Even if it’s 1 to 2 hours of hardly fishing. It’s still fishing. And it makes them want it. The only difference as they get older is the less snacks you have to haul with you

Instead of focusing on the things you didn’t get to do, focus and be grateful for the things you did. Life gets busy, prioritize and just keep er going. Life isn’t doing what you want to do all the time, sure makes doing those things extra sweet when ya do tho.

Hopping off the social media feeds, yes this includes ido, greatly helps in not fueling those desires to be doing other awesome things someone will always be doing somewhere.

Youbetcha wrote:

Protecting your free time is worth it by saying no to things.

I think that this is an important skill in both our personal and professional lives. Stacking on too many commitments causes stress and frustration, yet we all do it.

Make plans and force yourself to do them even if it’s busy season or you don’t think you’ll have time . I’ve got some heat for taking vacation in busy seasons to go on fishing or hunting trips , or cutting them close to meetings ect . Used all my vaca and then some on one year or two. In the end you can have all the nice possessions you want – but if your old and can’t do much anymore the only thing that’s worth having is stories and have some damn good ones .

Managing time is tough. Setting up barriers to work and your personal live is tough. I always try to tell myself that work can wait and family and fun cannot…but then I fail miserably at holding true to that. Thankfully my wife keeps me grounded and will put her foot down to the work, chores, etc. and schedule things that we drop everything and do.

Free time is some invented phrase that I can’t really define. I’ve got 2 children (hopefully a third soon) and a wife that runs an emergency room and takes shifts on the floor of the hospital too (all 12 hours, sometimes days and sometimes nights). We’ve built a forever home that I was doing some of the general work on in the past 2 years. I have tried to keep the wife happy and create her 2 acre “pretty” lawn with a combination of seeding, hydroseed, overseeding, fertilizing, watering, etc. I’ve planted almost 100 trees on the 40 acre parcel the house is on (most were hand dug transplants of 3-4′ white pines and other potted 10′ maples). I spent dozens of hours this spring trying to repair field accesses from flooding. I deal with headaches from managing our ag land to leasers. In the winter I plow a 1200′ windblown driveway all winter in the country and clean up around buildings down the road. I try to keep trails cut on 160 acres of family hunting land knowing whole-heartedly I won’t have time to hunt (but some distant relatives love the opportunities I create). Then there’s the upkeep part of a boat, tritoon, a couple mowers, vehicles, tractors, the house in general, that eat up time.

^As much as I complain…I wouldn’t trade the chaos of my life for anything. Every night I make it a point to be there to tuck my girls into bed knowing those giant hugs make everything worth it. Raising them and running ragged with everything else is tough, but it should all make their lives better than mine one day.

As for the OP about Summer specifically – I admittedly love Summer the most, but I make it a point to find something that I enjoy associated with every season. I have always felt bad for those who dread one season or another. Summer brings more work, but it also brings more hours of daylight and time outdoors for me which generally makes me happier and healthier.

This is the biggest perk of being a teacher. I have so many issues with the job, but can’t imagine giving up my summers.

Same here. Worse since I have gotten older and have more responsibility at work.
There doesnt seem to be enough time and money for necessary things like home, vehicle and upkeep let alone free time and vacations. Having two dogs limits us as well.

Yup, I just accept the fact that I don’t have time to do it all so I maximize the time that I do have.

I’m actually doing a lot more than I used to this year with two Canada trips and our annual Cabin week, then there was opener, upcoming Mem Day, 4th of July and Labor Day all spent up north at the cabin with the larger family.

The rest will be focused on Home Projects, Youth Sports and Work!

Why create more work for yourself like planting flowers?

Don’t feel the need to attend a graduation party, just people sending an invite looking for money.

Do what you want, skip what you don’t and never feel obligated or guilt.

The next 2 years is going to be hard for me. I sold the boat and I am going back to school. I am letteral studying 9pm-12am every day then getting up at 7am going to work. Then the weekends I am studying when I can until 2am.

It sucks but I know in the end it will be worth it.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Why create more work for yourself like planting flowers?

Don’t feel the need to attend a graduation party, just people sending an invite looking for money.

Do what you want, skip what you don’t and never feel obligated or guilt.

Each spring I fight off the urge to plant and grow things. It just results in more work and I don’t enjoy it.

queenswake wrote:

How do you manage it?

Prioritize what’s important to you. Summers do seem to fly by, so I try and get most of the chore’ing done during the week, before or after work. Weekends are for fun. Graduations are very overrated imo, especially HS, so unless it’s immediate family just send some cash and utilize your time. Lots of other good suggestions as well imo.

Sports Monday-Thursday. Then approximately every other weekend.

The only thing that works is to make firm plans for bigger family fishing trips and vacations. The yard will go yo hell before I cancel a fishing or family trip.

No irrigation and idgaf about weeds in my lawn. I don’t have time for that crap. We’re in the process of quoting a major overhaul of our landscaping. It’s all going to be minimal or zero maintenance landscaping.

I used to go fishing by deciding last minute base on conditions. Now I simply can’t do that. Firm plans or nothing at all. Otherwise the wife will schedule it for me.

Fun fact… If you ignore the yard work and go fishing, the work will still be there when you get home. When it comes time to do the yard work, work hard and fast.

I cleaned my garage in April when it was raining and not ideal for fishing. Flowers die, gardens plant pretty quickly!

Life is short, go fishing and enjoy what you want with who you want! If you can’t find time to do what you enjoy, then start scheduling weekend trips. Try to get 2-3 weekends a summer at a destination fishery, like Leech, Winnie, LOTW, etc.

I get all my home chores done during the week so I can spend my weekends at the cabin. Unfortunately there are home chores at the cabin but at least I am Up North!

Hard Water Fan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Carter Johnson wrote:</div>
Protecting your free time is worth it by saying no to things.

I think that this is an important skill in both our personal and professional lives. Stacking on too many commitments causes stress and frustration, yet we all do it.

Totally agree.

I was having the same issue, feeling burdened and run down by summer rather than enjoying it. What drove me crazy is the hyper planning that some insist on doing. I was getting emails about planning the next family reunion and what dates can everyone commit to and this was in October for a July reunion. Enough!

Here’s what we do.

1. Less is more.
2. Invitations are NOT obligations. We just cannot attend every wedding, graduation, and family reunion.
3. We don’t publicize our plans so we don’t get anyone angry at us for not attending something because they know we “weren’t doing anything on that weekend anyway”.
4. Longer is better. We found it is far easier to take one vacation that is three weeks long than it is to take even 2 separate vacations that are only a week long each. The planning and churn required to do multiple vacations eats up WAY more time that I’d ever thought.
5. Accept that you don’t get to do everything.

Yeah, I think I’m extra stressed this year because we’re still settling into a new house so the garage was complete chaos. The delayed spring meant I couldn’t get the boat and camper out as early as I normally do because of mud and access issues. And couldn’t start yard work as early as I normally do. I married into a big family so constant grad parties, showers (co-ed), etc.

Just feels like a mad rush to get everything setup and ready to start relaxing come Memorial Day this year. Just have to keep pushing. At least I sleep like a rock every night.

The people who say they would get bored in retirement obviously are not fishermen. I have so much catching up to do. So many waters to try. But tomorrow is not guaranteed, so have to try to get to those place now.

I am going to go sit down by the river and do nothing. Until I get bored. My long term goal is to take a day off and have nothing to do.

This is a main reason I got into catfishing, daytime stuff is hard to escape from, but an hour or two soaking some cutbait after the sports/kids stuff is doable.

Haven’t done much last couple years hopefully that changes this year.

Summer is over rated. Too dam hot and humid.

use your PTO. put in your requests months in advance and shut your phone/email off for the time you are out.

pro tip……when you get back from your time off, delete all your new emails, voicemails etc. if they need to get a hold of you, they know where to find you;)

Less is more: Deck, wife, dog, flowers, breeze, trees.

queenswake wrote:

Yeah, I think I’m extra stressed this year because we’re still settling into a new house so the garage was complete chaos.

I can relate to that, as I moved last May. Eventually the garage will work out. It took me a while too, I just did a little whenever I had time. Don’t try to do everything at once at the new house.

I’ve been retired for 2 1/2 years, I wonder how I found time to go to work!;

Stuffed full of spottails, resembling sausages some may say. Last couple of days fished Shallow, pitching jigs. Tried pulling cranks at 1.7-1.9mph. Water at 55. Id say the fish are a week away from a true hot bite. Give me a full moon.

Fish when ya can. Tonight was 8pm to midnight. Last night was a couple hours at shore. That’s how ya do summer.

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