10 Things Worth Doing Before Summer Actually Starts

Not a bucket list! Just the ten things you'll be glad you did.

So your calendar has a brief, glorious window before summer fully arrives and everyone in your household starts asking what’s for lunch at 10:47am.

This is the window. Use it!

Not to do more — but to do a few things intentionally so that when summer actually lands on Monday, you’re ready for it instead of just surviving it.

Here are ten things worth doing right now, while there’s still time.

1. Write down what you actually want this summer to look like.

Not a Pinterest board. Not a list of places. Just sit down for ten minutes and answer this honestly: What would make me look back on this summer and feel like it was a good one?

A slower pace? More time outside? A trip you’ve been putting off? A project that’s been waiting? Write it down before the summer fills itself in without you.

2. Put the fun stuff on the calendar first.

Here’s what happens if you don’t: Summer fills up with obligations, commitments, and other people’s plans — and the things you actually wanted to do get squeezed out entirely. Block the beach weekend. Schedule the family dinner. Protect the slow Saturday. Do it now, before anyone else does.

3. Figure out your summer routine before you need one.

School lets out and suddenly there’s no structure and everyone is feral by 9am. (Relatable.) Think through what a weekday actually needs to look like for you to function — and sketch it out before it’s a problem. Even a loose rhythm is better than none.

4. Do the one house project you’ve been walking past all spring.

You know the one. The closet. The junk drawer. The cabinet under the stairs. The thing you’ve been negotiating with yourself about since February. Summer isn’t going to give you more time — if anything it gives you less. Do it now while the energy is still there. An hour. That’s it.

5. Stock your freezer like the prepared woman you are.

Future you is going to thank present you so much for this. A few meals ready to go for the nights when everyone comes home late, sunburned, and hungry, and nobody wants to cook. Lasagna, soup, whatever your people eat. Make it now. Store it. Feel proud about it all summer.

6. Make a “summer yes list” and a “summer no list.”

Two columns. The things you actually want to say yes to this summer, and the things you’re giving yourself permission to say no to. Decline the obligation that drains you every year. Say yes to the thing you always skip because it feels indulgent. Do this before the requests start rolling in and you’re too tired to think straight.

7. Read the book that’s been on your nightstand since March.

Not “start a reading habit.” Just read that one book. The one with the bookmark still in it from when life got busy. Summer is coming. You deserve to find out what happens.

P.S. Emily has lots of recommendations here if you don’t have one that comes to mind!

8. Clean out your car like it’s a fresh start — because it kind of is.

Summer means more driving. Road trips, carpool, errands with three extra people and someone’s wet towel in the backseat. Do a full reset now before any of that starts. Trash out, wipe down, restock the glove box, throw in a good playlist. Five minutes of effort and it feels like a different car. You’ll get in it tomorrow and feel unreasonably good about yourself. Phew!

9. Have the family meeting.

Fifteen minutes. Everyone in the same room. Here’s what we’re doing this summer. Here’s what we’re not doing. Here’s what the expectations are. It’s not glamorous but it is the single most effective thing you can do to make sure summer doesn’t just happen to all of you.

(If you’ve never done a family meeting before, this is the week to start. We’ll be covering exactly how to run one later this summer — stay tuned!)

10. Decide one thing you’re doing just for you.

A workout class. A morning walk you protect. A creative project. A weekend away. Something that has nothing to do with being anyone’s mother, partner, employee, or volunteer. Just yours! Write it down. Put it on the calendar. Protect it like a meeting you can’t miss — because you can’t.

Summer doesn’t have to catch you off guard.

Ten small things, done intentionally before it starts, and you’ll walk into it feeling like “I got this” instead of already behind.

That’s the whole goal.

P.S. Next Wednesday we’re dropping something we’re really excited about — a full summer sanity plan, broken down week by week with themes and ideas to actually make this summer easy and memorable. No overwhelm. No pressure. Just a simple, helpful map for the whole season.