5 Ways to Get Inspired This Summer

Have the blue skies and ample daylight cut into your productivity? If you answered, "yes," then believe me. I know your pain. Gorgeous summer days can really mess up a work schedule. It’s hard enough to concentrate when the world smells like sunblock and nostalgia. Add the fact the neighbors are grilling and lawn mowers are mowing, and I'm lucky to put two sentences together. It's no way to complete a novel. *shakes head sadly* Everywhere we look this time of year, someone’s doing something more interesting than sitting behind a desk, but that doesn't change the fact that the work NEEDS done. So, how can we do the things we need to do when our minds are on a raft at the nearest pool?

I have a few suggestions:

5. Read. Read your favorite book. Read a new title. Read whatever suits your fancy. Sometimes a little mental break may be all you need to get your creative juices flowing again.

4. Take a walk. Around your block. Through the woods. Down the towpath. Anywhere you can absorb the world in bloom. The sights and sounds of a babbling brook, calling frogs and singing birds might jiggle loose your next great idea. Bonus advice: If your creativity is better fed by nocturnal things and bat colonies swooping past a full moon, go out at night. Build a bonfire and track rising embers into the ether.

3. Nap! Find a comfy chair in the sun room, a blanket under an old oak tree or a hammock on the porch, and gather your ideas by osmosis. A few new stories are sure to form in your pores if you fall asleep surrounded by nature, right? How could we not dream something amazing with the summer sun on our cheeks and warm wind in our hair?

2. Visit the local ice cream stand. Grab a cool treat to soothe your weary mind. Whether it’s a cone or sundae, sweet tea or lemonade, there’s just something special about the snacks at an ice cream stand. Not to mention, the stand is always surrounded by families and little leaguers, young couples sharing malts and older couples sharing memories. If the delicious treats and community feeling doesn’t inspire you, you never know what kind of story fodder you might overhear!

1.  Embrace the distraction. Sometimes, there’s nothing left to do, but make those memories. After all, it’s only summer for a little while, and life is about moments like these, right? So, somedays, I just have to grab the nearest rope and swing into the creek one more time. The work is guaranteed to be there when I get home.