175 | How to Travel this Summer and Still Come Back to a Functioning Home for a Successful Week Ahead

The flexibility of a typical summer schedule when we have less commitments, less. Activities a less rigid schedule. That means that there is a little leniency for a last minute travel, maybe a getaway. Uh, the, the kinds of things that aren’t part of our regular schedules, planning ahead is the key to making sure that when you return home, you won’t be met with.

Exhaustion and that struggle to get everything done before the new week begins.

One of my favorite things about summer is the reduction in activities on our schedules and all of these things that we have to do. These commitments that we follow throughout the bulk of the year summer isn’t, as long as we think it is, there’s just a couple of weeks where we can really jump in and embrace the lack of.

Commitment and the lack of constant structure. Because this offers a little bit of flexibility during these few weeks, this leaves time to do things that we wouldn’t normally do on our regular schedule. Time for adventures, maybe even a small weekend getaway or something is spontaneous. It allows us to be a bit more spontaneous than we typically would be during the year when those schedules are so rigid and the demands are in place and the commitments are going, and we have all of these activities and you’ve signed up for these things. And many [00:02:00] of these things are things that we love and we want to be doing, but there are some things to say about the summer time, the lack of schedule and structure that I really, really love.

But I know that one of the reasons that I can enjoy this and I can take a last minute trip or fill my schedule with adventures and vacations and things like that is because. Of the things that I already have in place in my home, and it doesn’t have to be a big trip or an, or a, a last minute getaway. It can just be a last-minute dinner party.

Or having friends over play dates, doing something at your house, being able to go to a movie or go to the lake or go do something fun that you wouldn’t normally do because of the schedule that you keep during the rest of the year. The reason that these last minute things can take place and we can alter our regular routines.

Is because of the good routines that we have in place. I have put mini routines in place in my home, and that’s what keeps us up to date on all the things that keep our home running smoothly throughout. The entire year. We break it down to a week by week situation, you can see the things that needed to be done on a daily basis on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis.

Today is a tip Tuesday episode. And I want to read you a question that came in that got me focusing on this for the topic of the day. The question for this tip Tuesday episode is. We love traveling and summer and try to get as many weekends away or staycations as possible, but it’s becoming more difficult to get back into the week.

And not be an exhausted mess. Last week, the missing groceries that I thought I had it, didn’t impossible to make dinner or pack lunches for the next days. First. Day of a new camp week [00:04:00] for my twins.

And I lost the entire day running around grocery pickup, getting back to work, laundry, unpacking, and catching up for missing the few days at home because we were on this short trip. How can we continue these chips and getaways? And still function during the week without burning out quickly.

Great question. of course, with trips. There is effort that has to be put in. Of course, I’m going to tell you to plan ahead and prepare as much before you leave as possible, but this really goes further into the quality routines we have in our homes. That are allowing us to function with less effort throughout our typical days and our typical weeks and months.

When you are functioning with less effort on a daily basis, this gives you leniency and allows for these trips or weekend getaways to happen. And not have you feel that exhaustion and that struggle like you are constantly trying to make up the entire week to just get back on track. The things that we do as part of our regular life. That’s what makes it possible to spend less time getting ready to go on these adventures. So you’re spending less time at the beginning and it makes it possible to get right back into the swing of things with less effort on that edge to when we’ve returned home.

There is no doubt that trips take effort. And planning. From the packing and to the unpacking, to the actual world planning, what you’re going to do, how you’re going to get there, all of that. And then all the things that you have to do when you return. Having routine tasks that you get done on a regular schedule, that’s going to be the number one thing I can recommend that will make the last minute we can get away possible to do.

Because it allows you to do it with less effort and less stress. For many years, I’ve completed something in my home. That I’ve labeled the weekly [00:06:00] refresh and restocks sometimes I call it the RNR. It’s basically a list of tasks. It’s a to-do list of things that we need to complete every week to make sure we’re prepared for the week ahead. I have my lists available and I also have a blank template that you can use.

It’s completely free. You can download it and use it for your family. You can alter the list if you want to so that you can put things on it. That’s what I would recommend alter it and put. The things on it that are specific, that makes sense for your family. There are simple things that are a part of the weekly refresh and restock.

And when we do these things, it simplifies everything after making sure you do this week after week, you won’t even need the list anymore any longer, because it becomes a habit. Getting these things done just becomes habit. Most of the things are something that I do over the weekend. They’re just part of the routine that is.

Our weekend routine. And the more you do them, the less time they take. But you will be so thankful to get them done when you do these things every week. That means that being out of town for a few days, is it going to throw everything off because you’re on track the majority of the time, and you’ll be able to pick a backup. You’ll be able to get back into that routine quickly when you do return from that trip.

If you are not already participating in something like a weekly refresh and restock to reset you and get you back to the baseline every week. I want you to download the link, downloaded this file. It’s an easy PDF that you can download with the list that I use. It gives you an idea of some of the things that might be helpful to you, and then also a blank template so that you can make one of these lists for yourself.

You can use it on your phone or you can print it and actually write on a piece of paper, whatever you choose, whatever is your preference, you [00:08:00] can do either one and then start doing this at home. If you do it in your home, you will start to feel caught up and prepared all the time. It makes every week easier.

It makes it so that you are not forgetting things and that you are seeing on track and you are able to plan ahead and be perfect prepared for whatever is to come. And it will definitely make it easier to get back on track. When you are gone on a trip when you make one of these last minute adventures or weekend getaways, or maybe it’s even a long trip, when you have things on track,

Going into a trip. when you return, it’s that much easier to get back on track going forward. So I would recommend clicking the link in the podcast description, getting the weekly refresh and restock, download that for your principal. Use it, implement it into your. Life as a weekly routine, there’s also a monthly reset for larger projects or things that needed to be done, but not as often.

You can use both of those and implementing this weekly R and R is going to be extremely helpful for your family. not just when you are doing a getaway and enjoying the flexibility and freedom that comes with the summer time, but also during the entire year, it will be incredibly helpful and beneficial to you.

So go grab that right now by just clicking the link and downloading it. Thanks so much for listening to this tip Tuesday episode. If you want me to answer a question. That you have on a future episode. go to intentional, edit.com and click on the record. Now button that pops up. Leave me a question that I can answer for you on a future episode.

I’ll meet you back here later in the week.