For those in the northern hemisphere, July is peak summer vacation time. Whether you have time off from work or studies, or are taking a holiday, the chances are that at some point in the next month or so, your daily activities will look different to your regular ones. It might be that you have more free time and less obligations, or, if your children are off from school, then you might find that you are taking on more responsibilities. Either way, we at Tiimo want to help you prioritise what is important to you this summer - whether that is rest and relaxation, time for friends and family, or fun and leisure.

Summer is not a time for overly complicated plans, but it is also true that routines and schedules can help to bring a sense of calm and security when faced with new situations. So even if your plans are flexible, creating a loose schedule can help give you control over your time and allow you to enjoy your summer break without that nagging feeling that you are missing something.

Tips for creating your vacation schedule

• Start by putting in any pre-scheduled activities over the break. This could be things like flight times, meet ups or if you have bought tickets to any leisure activities like museums, galleries, theme parks or the cinema. If you already have these entered in other calendar programmes, you can import them into Tiimo to save you from having to re-create them.
• Then put into your schedule any of your regular routines or activities that you will need to keep up during the break. You can pull these up from your activity or routine libraries for a faster way to create your day.
• For things that don’t need to be done at a specific time, you could create a timeblock activity (for example, named ‘Afternoon Tasks’) with checklists of activities you need/would like to do. Alternatively you could set these up as flexible activities that you can start or finish at any time.
• Make a Summer Bucket list. It can be really nice at the start of the summer break to make a list of some bigger activities, events or trips you want to take. You can add these into Notes, so that you have an ongoing inspiration list, which you can then convert into activities in your schedule when the timing is right.

• For smaller moments of joy - make a holiday activity with a checklist of some nice things that you want to do over the break that take about an hour (for example: read a book or magazine, go for a walk or cycle ride, watch an episode of a show etc). It will go into your activity library and you can add it into your schedule each day and then pick which activity suits you at the time.
• You might end up being around more people than usual (family members, friends, members of the public) so make sure that you add in breaks and downtime after excursions so that you can unmask, rest and recharge your energy.
• Also don't forget to add in more regular interoception check ins to make sure that you are drinking enough water, having snacks or taking toilet breaks. These things can feel harder to track and remember when the heat is on.
• In Tiimo you can use your regular profile to set up your vacation schedule, or if you have a large number of recurring activities, you can start with a clean schedule by using one of your other 4 free profiles.

Premade Summer Activities

We also have a wide range of new summer-based pre-made activities in your activity library. You can quickly add these to your schedule and then edit and personalise them to suit your needs

• Things to remember when it is hot
• SPF
• Check the weather
• Leisure activities, including Sudoku, Boardgame, Gaming, Crossword, SM, Wordle, Podcast, Audiobook, Reading, Screentime, Playtime, Writing, journalling
• Supporting yourself through seasonal depression (remember you can also struggle with reverse seasonal depression)
• Selfcare & calming yourself activities

Whatever you end up getting up to - we wish you a happy, restful and fun summer!

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