💎 How to Stay Sharp This Summer

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This week: We’re sharing some ways you can keep your brain sharp while also taking a well-deserved break this summer. Let’s dig in!

🧠 Welcome to Your Summer Glow-Up

For many of you students out there, it’s summer break — time to rest up and celebrate everything you’ve accomplished this year!

If you’re like most students, you’re all too familiar with feeling like you forgot everything as soon as the new semester starts.

Doing some lite learning over the summer can prevent the rush to catch up — and doesn’t have to feel like homework or the rigid approach you’re used to!

Think of it as a fun activity and a glow-up for your mind, body, and spirit.

And if you’re not a student? There’s no better time than summer to dive into that thing you’ve always wanted to learn or try!

Apart from keeping your mind active, this can help you:

• 💡 Understand how you learn best

• ❣️ Discover new interests and things you love to learn about

• 🛠️ Develop new skills, hobbies, and crafts to enrich your personal and professional life

Ready for your summer glow-up? Scroll on for our 4 actionable tips!

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Now, let’s jump into 4 fun and creative ways to boost your brainpower this summer!

💎 How to Stay Sharp This Summer

Try these 4 tips to flex your mental muscles and avoid the back-to-routine haze:

1. 🧑‍🔧 Find something interesting

Of course, you can choose to review practical skills related to your industry or field if you want.

But if your goal is to keep things light and breezy, try something totally different from what you’d normally go for.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Build your own terrarium

• Create your own website

• Learn the basics of a new language

• Learn a new strategy game, like carrom

• Try electronics repair

2. 🥳 Make it fun

“Fun” means something different to everyone.

Need some inspo? Here are some ideas:

• Invite your favorite people to learn with you, or join an online community!

• Use cute or colorful stationery to take notes

• Turn it into a competition or game

3. 🪁 Romanticize it

Romanticizing your life means using creative techniques, like visualization, to make life more fun and engaging.

Use this approach to make ordinary tasks something special and enjoyable!

• Create a cozy space

• Incorporate your senses using candles or background music

• Imagine yourself mastering the new skill and the positive impact it will have on your life

• Keep a journal of your learning progress — take photos, jot down thoughts, and reflect on your experiences!

4. 💆‍♀️ Let go of expectations

Summer break is just that: a break.

Setting harsh or unrealistic expectations for yourself — like “I have to review biology every night for at least an hour” — is only going to make you feel even more burned out than you already do.

For your summer glow-up, keep things loose and unstructured. Do it for the love of learning, not to hit a specific milestone.

If you do want to measure your progress? That’s cool too! But try to approach it in a way that makes it feel less like work and more like a hobby.

🪅 Flocus Picks

A curated list of things worth sharing.

• Jeopardy Labs (Game) — Test your knowledge with these online Jeopardy games! You can even create your own Jeopardy boards, crosswords, and word searches

• 21 Quirky & Easy Skills to Learn (Article) — Stumped on what you should be “studying” this summer? From moonwalking to chopping veggies like a pro, these 18 skills are sure to come in handy

• Bill Gates’ Summer Reading Recos (YouTube) — In this short clip, Bill Gates shares his top TV and book recommendations for summer 2024

🖥️ Flocus: All-in-One Dashboard

Flocus can be the ultimate companion for your summer 2024 glow-up! Stay motivated with inspiring quotes, beautiful backgrounds, built-in tasks and focus stats, and more. Not working? Zen out in the dashboard’s Home or Ambient Mode.

Also includes picture-in-picture mode for when you’re watching educational videos or playing brainteaser games!

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No matter how old you are or what stage of life you’re in, new learning experiences can make you smarter and boost your brain health.

What are you learning this summer? Hit reply and let us know — our team is learning how to code and sew!

Until next Sunday,

Flocus Team