A few years back, I began writing monthly to-do lists to help me keep track of what’s on my plate. I share these lists here, and report back each month on what I was able to accomplish.

My May list focused on taking some time off work, transitioning into the summer, and finding new ways to relax. Here’s what I was able to get done in the last month:

  • Took some time off of work. I blocked a few days off throughout the month of May and it was great to have mini vacations to look forward to. I mostly used these days for extra reading and rest time and it was just what I needed.
  • Transitioned to the summer season. Once commencement wrapped up in mid-May, my schedule at work started to slow down. However, I also picked up some new job responsibilities that have added some more meetings and tasks to my plate. I think it will be a busy summer, but I’m still looking forward to more walking meetings around campus.
  • Tried out my new hammock. I purchased a stand-alone hammock in April just in time for us to get a couple more inches of snow here in Denver. We had warmer weather in May, but also our annual influx of miller moths and they were everywhere until the end of the month. Once they cleared out, I had my much anticipated hammock time!
  • Engaged in more strength workouts. One of my goals this year was to do more intuitive exercise. The short strength workouts on the Peloton app (some as short as five minutes) have been great to experiment with to see what kinds of exercises I need to devote the most time to.

May passed by pretty quickly and I loved getting in some intentional rest time away from work. Now it’s time to plan for a new month of to-do items! I’m ready to launch into June and see what this next month will bring.

Here are some of the items on my June to-do list:

  • Read a bunch of really long books. Some of the current ones on my list include The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (1,007 pages), The Deluge by Stephen Markley (896 pages), The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (724 pages), and Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (544 pages).
  • Start an extended vacation. I don’t know if I’ve ever taken more than a week off of work for vacation, but I’m going to try and attempt it this summer. I’ve blocked the last week of June into the first week of July to be out of the office. I don’t have plans for this time yet, but I have a few larger projects that could definitely use up that time!
  • Log 2,000 minutes on my Peloton app. One of my summer goals is to exercise 2,000 minutes each month through walking, biking, strength training, meditation, yoga, and other activities. 
  • Schedule a massage. Another summer bucket list item, I’d like to research and figure out where I want to get this done. I would really like to find a place that I can return to consistently for future massages as well.

Once again, this next month is looking pretty full! What are you looking forward to in the month of June?