The Summer Reset: How Your Brain Works Differently (And What to Do About It)

Thanks to Shopify for supporting the productivity show. Shopify is a platform designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs like ourselves the resources once reserved just for big business. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com/tps. Welcome to the productivity show, a podcast where we believe that people like you can get the important things done without sacrificing your health, family, and things that matter to you. If it's your first time listening, welcome to the show. I'm Tan Fam, founder of Asian Efficiency, where we help people become more productive at work in a life. I'm calling in today from Austin, Texas, and I do this podcast together with my co-host, Brooks Duncan, coming all the way from Vancouver, Canada. How are you today, Brooks? I'm great. There's this period of the year that starts getting sunny. People are starting to wear like summer clothes and Vancouverites are starting to come out from under our rain jackets and in much better mood. Yeah, I think that's one thing that we've talked about before in the pod is this idea of chapters throughout the year and how you can reset yourself and having a particular day of the year where everyone is making that same transition. I think there's something very powerful to that. I also believe about seasonality, not just in terms of weather, but also how we get stuff done and do stuff. Essentially what today's topic is all about. I'm excited to dive into how you approach productivity in the summer, how things are different for you. Because I do think there's a difference between how you do stuff, let's say the first part of the year, and also how you approach things and might do things during the summer. I think it would be kind of ignorant to say if that weren't different at all. I think we all agree that it is difference. If we're being honest, most of us are probably more productive earlier parts of the week compared to later parts of the week. I think on Fridays, I think it's probably fair to say there's a global dip of productivity if you compare it to any other day of the week. And that's just the world that we live in. I'm excited to kind of start diving deeper into your systems, what you're doing during the summer is what your upcoming summer plans are. But before we start diving into that, Brooks, I want to share with our new audience here. We always like to start off our episodes with our top three favorite resources and our three of them here today. So the first one is a new monitor I recently bought. I don't think I've mentioned it on the show yet, but I now have a Dell 52-inch monitor. And it's massive. It's huge. It's amazing. I love it. And I only upgraded because I've just been doing more work with AI agents. And as you have more AI agents doing work, you have to actually monitor them as well. And it's just easier to do when you have a bigger screen. Now, the second resource I want to share with you is an app called Better Display. Now, as the name kind of applies, it helps you enhance the experience of your monitor in terms of brightness and color schemes and everything. And that's one of the main features. But one of the problems I was having was whenever I was on a Zoom call or a Teams meeting. And I had to share my screen. If I share my whole desktop, guess what happens? When you have a 52-inch monitor, nobody can see what's on your screen because it's just too big. So they have to zoom in and it's kind of annoying. And so I would oftentimes focus in on one particular app or window. But then the problem is when you're switching apps, you have to switch again, clicking around to switch. And it was such a painful experience. So I thought, how do I fix this? So I went to chat to you. I said, hey, this is my problem. What's the fix? And it recommended Better Display. So what Better Display allows you to do is create a virtual screen. So imagine you have like a imaginary second monitor. So when you move your mouse off screen, it will go into that second-year screen. But what's cool about it is you can do a picture and picture of you. So I can have another window open on my main monitor if that makes sense. So it looks like the other monitor. And so I can now control what is on the screen. So when I share on Zoom, I just have to share my second desktop. And I can then show stuff actually what's on screen. But it's actually on my main screen happening. So it's really cool. It's solved a real pain point for me. So I want to recommend it because I've tried a bunch of different solutions. But Better Display is the one I like best. The third one is a power bank by Anker. It's called, officially, the Anker laptop power bank with 25,000 mA. And it's so good that I bought a second one. I've been using one for about a month or so six weeks. And I use a lot for my laptop. I use a lot for charging my phone at the same time. It's pretty portable. It's a huge, like, little brick that you can carry with you. And it's the biggest size day you allow you to carry on the plane. And because I've been using it so much, I wanted to have the capability to swap them as one is charging to then have another ready to go. And I've been loving it. So I wanted to recommend it here as well. And so we'll have links to all of them here in the show notes or just go to the productivity show.com. And you can also swipe here in the app to see the links. That better display looks incredible. I've never heard of that app. So chat to you BT for the win. There's lots of apps that will mess around with your monitor settings. I've never heard of one that will create that virtual display. So I'm going to be checking that out for sure. That sounds great. Yeah. Anybody who has a big monitor knows the problem I'm describing. And so having that virtual monitor just like as a window in itself on your big current monitor is such a game changer. So I highly recommend it. So Brooks, let's talk about summer productivity. So we've done similar episode like this before. But we talked about different things back then. And so I'm kind of excited to revisit the topic, but from a different perspective, which is all about how is summer difference in terms of how you get stuff done, what you do, how you allocate your time, your attention, your energy as well. And so if I think about some of the major differences that are happening in summer, compared to maybe older seasons and different parts of the year, obviously daylight, I think is a big factor in the fact that it might still be sunny outside when it's eight or nine o'clock in the evening. I think has a dramatic effect on what we do. I think the second thing is obviously the temperature. The hotter it is for most of us in the summer, unless you're, you know, maybe the summer head administrator, it's affecting what time I go outside, what I do, what activities I do, what time I stay up, what time I go to bed. Another thing that I think is going to be impactful for all of us here is the difference in schedule. Meaning if you have kids, they probably have summer off and that's going to impact your schedule. Also, other people might be going on vacation. How is that affecting your workload and who you can reach and communicate with. And there's also seasonalities related to that. Some businesses just don't operate or get stuff done during the summer. Right? And then I think the fourth one is what happens with your attention during the summer. Is it going to be fragmented? Is it going to be difference? I think the new cycle is going to be different. What you pay attention to is different as well. So these are all different factors. If you think about the T for any more time, energy and attention, they're all a little bit different during the summer. So I'm curious, Brooks, from your point of view, if you think about your summer in the past, but it's last year or two years ago, last few years, how do you think it's different compared to other parts of the year? Yeah, it's hugely different for two, like there's all of the reasons you mentioned definitely apply. But the two that stood out to me as you were talking is number one, the family thing. Right? Especially if you work from home. But even if you don't, you have your kids, if you have kids, you have your kids that are all of a sudden out of school. So you've got to come up with some way to have them occupied. So if they're really young, maybe they're with camps, maybe they're with a sitter, maybe they're with family. But that's still an element of juggling. If they're a bit older, you know, they might be more less structured, but they could be still around. And if you're working from home, that definitely impacts me. So as somebody who's been working from home, you know, coming close to two decades now, that has been a really big theme in my summer as all the time is the kid impact. So that's number one. But even before I had kids, and even now, the other part of it is you nailed it. Like the people you work with, you could be trying to make progress on a project. You could be locked in and going. However, somebody you need to review it. Somebody you need something from a supplier you want to get something from maybe they're off for two weeks out gone to Europe or gone to California or something like that. And all of a sudden you have these external factors that are impacting your productivity, even if you're somebody who wants, who is comfortable being locked in during the summer, there's all these things around you that impact it. So those have been the two big things for me. The kid factor and the coworker slash vendor factor has definitely impacted me. I feel like for me, it's mostly a schedule thing. So for example, I tend to stay up a little bit later during the summer because I tend to be more social during the summer. And the byproduct of that is you might have a dinner that's a little bit later. You stay out a little bit later. It's a little cooler, usually in the evening as well compared to going out for dinner a little bit earlier. And even as somebody who appreciates a good 11 o'clock that time, I think in the summer months, I'm probably closer to midnight if not a little bit later. all the reasons I just mentioned. So I think that has kind of a downstream effect of what time I wake up and what I do. And similarly related to the people, there's like certain groups of people, for example, a lot of family offices and investors are gone during the summer or they really don't take that many meetings during the summer. And so it's a little harder, for example, to raise money during the summer. If you're trying to raise capital, summer months is the most hardest thing to do in terms of raising capital because the investors are typically away from the office, they're traveling, they're vacationing. They might take your call here and there, but typically if you're trying to get face time with them for the first time, it's gonna be very difficult. And I've seen this from my own experience raising capital to also just talking to a lot of other people who are raising capital as a living that summer is just kind of like dead time. And then there's tons of other industries and businesses that are very similar that you're probably impacted by as well. And so one of the things we can do is plan and anticipate for this, right? So for example, with Asian efficiency, even though the idea of, hey, we all wanna be more productive, my experience of running this company for 15 years now is that guess what, most customers and clients don't wanna be more productive during the summer. They wanna enjoy their time off, they wanna go on vacation. So doing an intensive program during the summer is oftentimes it's like the worst time to do it. And I think we all naturally have a mindset where during the summer we just go, ah, yes, I wanna be more organized and more productive, but I also wanna have a glass of rose by the water and just enjoy my time, right? And that's a good form of productivity too, just in a different way. And so for me, the schedule, the timing, the light, all makes a big difference. Also, Austin being so hot in the summer, a lot of people tend to do activities around bodies of water. So doing stuff around the pool, going on the lake, and that kind of thing. But then there's so many other things that you just couldn't be doing. So for example, I really like racquet sports. Let me tell you, bro, it's playing racquet sports when it's 40 Celsius or 100 degrees and up outside is no fun at all, no fun. And so I probably exercise a little bit less. During the summer. And it's kind of a shame because I really enjoy it, but it's can't eat or buy, you know, I might have to redo my whole schedule, which I tend to do quite often, is eat or play early in the morning or really late in the evening. But I hate playing late in the evening because if I play late at night, it's really hard for me to fall asleep. So then my option is to play early morning, but then, you know, if I'm up a little bit later, then normal, that has the whole downstream effect of like, oh, then I wake up a little later, then it's too hot again. And it's like, it was endless cycle I'm playing. (clock ticking) When the podcast started, everything was just so new. There was almost no blueprint to follow way back then. I mean, what do bloggers know about scripts and recording and all that type of stuff? There was always a new decision that needed an answer. So we get it. When you're starting off with something new, it seems like your due list just keeps growing every day with new tasks. And that list can begin to overrun your life. But finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies everything can be such a game changer. And for millions of businesses, that tool is Shopify. (clock ticking) Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the US. From household names like Allo Yoga, I mean, they're everywhere now, hey, to brands just getting started. Accelerate your efficiency, whether you're uploading new products or trying to improve existing ones. 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(bell dings) When people hear that Mint Mobile plans are only $15 per month, a lot of people wonder, what's the catch? While I can tell you from firsthand experience, there isn't one. There are no gimmicks and no gotchas. Just unlimited talk, text and data, fast, reliable coverage on the nation's largest 5G network and an award-winning care team. I guess that makes Mint Mobile a catch. Since trying Mint, I've had great coverage all over Austin and when traveling. So I'm really happy with the service. You should check out Mint Mobile. Make the switch at MintMobile.com/Productivity. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right with premium wireless for $15 a month. You can even bring your current phone and your number. Choose from three, six or 12 month plans and say goodbye to a monthly bill. So ditch over-priced wireless with Mint Mobile. It's so easy, sign up online and get three months of premium wireless service for $15 a month. To get your new wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to MintMobile.com/Productivity. That's MintMobile.com/Productivity. Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at MintMobile.com/Productivity. That's it, there's no catch. $45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 a month. New customers on first, three month plan only. Speed slower above four gigabyte's on unlimited plan, additional taxes, fees, and restrictions apply. See MintMobile for details. Well, the heat, aside from the factors of like impacting the things you do through your general life, I think the heat is a underappreciated factor when it comes to productivity as well. Now, if you're working in an office or if you live in an apartment that has good aircon, it doesn't really impact real like that much, I wouldn't say. However, if you don't have air conditioning or if you're somewhere, especially where it gets very hot, the heat just saps, you're talking about time energy attention before the heat just saps your energy. It's hard to have maximum productivity output when you're just sitting there sweating. If you're somebody who works at home and maybe your office is on the top floor and you don't have air conditioning, it can be very difficult and you just think about like in Europe, right? Like pretty much in Europe now, pretty much every year, it's like starting in May even, it gets to be in the 30s and air conditioning for a lot of places there isn't as common as it is in North America. And so, you know, it's how you're supposed to grind when you're just sitting there like you want to die. So I think the heat aspect, if you're not in a climate control environment, can really have an impact as well. Yeah, having grown up in the Netherlands, we definitely didn't have AC and air conditioning was just not a thing in most households eater. So, you know, it was a good old open up the window in the early parts of the morning and then as soon as it gets too hot, you close the window and you just pray that it doesn't get too hot inside. But I think it's a real thing. And when I think about my times of living in Vietnam for the short stints I've done it, when it was summer and really hot in my geek, a lot of places don't have air conditioning eater. And so, you kind of constraints by what you can do and what you can focus on. And I think it's a real drainage. And so, I remember living there, I thinking, okay, if I want to do my deep work, I kind of have to do it early in the morning while things aren't not too hot yet. But as soon as it gets too hot, like everyone would just kind of like take a nap at home, if you may well. And also kind of like metaphorically at the office as well as the office didn't have AC. And so, I think for me, the heat is more of an external thing, meaning when I go outside, internal meaning indoors. It's not so much of an issue, luckily. However, the sun and also the UV and kind of like, all the things associated with that is something that I think more people are more aware of is the idea that, hey, it's good to get some sunlight 'cause we need to divide them in D and everything. But it also, it does a lot of damage to us as well. If we do it too much. And that's something I'm much more aware of now, especially being somebody who plays outdoors sports a lot. Like, for example, the way I dress and what I wear during the summer is different in a sense that, often times we're long sleeves when I go outside because it helps with some protection than everything while still having cooling materials, right? You don't wanna obviously wear a sweater or something, but like you can wear a long sleeve linen shirt. And when I play outside, I wear these like, breathable cotton long sleeves so that I don't, like completely burn myself. And I thought it was so funny, I was looking at a photo of me four years ago and then I had a photo exactly year later and the iPhone kind of reminded me. And you can see the difference in skin tone colors because it was one year before I started playing rocket sports and on the year I started playing rocket sports, you could tell the different skin tone that I have even to this day. I think I'm a lot darker than what I'm used to be. I think another thing. to is I think a lot of people, especially if you're somebody listening to this show, you maybe have your job or your business, but maybe you do other things outside, whether that's like a side hustle, maybe you have multiple streams of income, or maybe you just use other times to like, "Hey, I want to learn more about AI." So maybe you're doing like playing around with Claude in the evenings or something like that. I think that can become more difficult in the summer as well because of the things that you've said, there's just more going on, right? There's like family events, maybe you're going to barbecues, maybe you're taking the kids to the lake. So in the winter, maybe you would have just been holed up in your house or apartment, doing Claude code or something like that, but now you're out and about. So there's less time for those kind of non-mainstream things that a lot of us like to do. So that's something to factor in as well. If you're not making as much progress as you were before, if you can plan ahead for that, it's not as disappointing. So to bring some interesting point, do you find yourself, for the reasons you mentioned, doing more learning education stuff during this time of year, or is it roughly the same for you? Me personally, probably less, for that exact reason. We're just doing more outside of work hours. So in the summer, I tend to do less of that sort of thing, even though you'd think it could be more because of what you were saying before with like, it's lighter, so you don't feel like it's going to bed as early and that type of thing. But I think I'm just on the go a lot more than I would be otherwise. How about you? So I think for me, it's the exact opposite. Now, to be fair, I don't have kids, so I think that's a major factor there. I am actually going through more audiobooks in the summer because I'm just like walking more, I'm out and about more, like just doing more things, but I use those times often to listen to podcasts and do different things with audiobooks. So I find myself going through more content in the summer. And then also, I don't read as much as I used to, but in the summer months, I'm oftentimes reading a book outside, which is something that I really enjoy. And so for me, I might read like one or two books every summer that I might have like shoved away from from doing prior to the summer period. So I actually go to opposite routes and because oftentimes the people are work with and people around me that I interact with are gone, especially in Austin, it's a thing where because it's so hot here during the summer, a lot of people I know go away because they go to Europe, they go to cooler states like, you know, Pacific Northwest or the East Coast. And so there's fewer people in Austin in general, which means it makes it a little bit more boring. And because it's less social during this time, like there aren't that many events, the organizers of a lot of things were also gone. And so Austin is a little bit of a sleeper town during the summer, which means more downtime and quote unquote boring time for me, which then translates into more educational stuff or getting to stuff that I just been putting off for a really long time. So stuff in my backlog oftentimes gets picked up because now I'm like, oh, hey, I don't have that many meetings anymore, which is great. The work that I need to do is still getting done, but maybe I do it a little bit faster now or I have a little bit less of it. So now I have this extra time to do the things that I maybe have been putting off, whether it's the book that I want to read, the audiobook, the stuff on my backlog, the courses that have been wanting to take and the putting off, like I tend to do more of that. But I think to your point, it's probably because I don't have kids. So that makes a big difference. Yeah, I think it's a perfect, you know, this conversation is a perfect example of why it's more important to focus on the framework that you want to apply to your life versus following some prescribed set of rules or plan that you get somewhere because it's like exactly what you said, right? It's seasons. It's figuring out what's going on in your personal life, adapting productivity to your personal life and not trying to fit yourself into some box that doesn't apply to you. And so it's a perfect example like we have different experiences, which means we're going to be doing most of the same things to kind of maintain our productivity during the summer as much as that means to us. But the way we do it will probably be very different. So are you still setting goals in the summer, even though you're much busier or do you find yourself like relaxing on that a little bit? I think I personally relax on that a little bit more or maybe another way to say it is give myself more grace. So maybe there's to your example with the educational stuff, maybe there's a course or a skill that I want that I would otherwise want to learn. Maybe I won't try to do it as quickly. Maybe I'll just say, hey, for August, it would be great to do this. But again, having that grace with myself to be like, if it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm not going to call it a missed goal if it doesn't work out because it's more important, especially like you said, as somebody with kids and family and especially when they're getting older and the number of summers and stuff like that we're going to have with them is much lower. So you're trying to like squeeze all of that last few summers out before they're off off on their own. So that's the season of life that I'm in. So it's a question, yes, but it's like with an asterisk beside it. How about you? Making proposals and sending follow up emails to clients is something that used to take me hours. But now with Claude, it's fast and easy. Claude is AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and things with you. 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Keeper features like Autofill and Face ID or Fingerprint login just quietly make things easier. So best in class protection doesn't feel like extra work, it just happens in the background. And for businesses, Keeper takes the chaos out of managing access for teams so they can securely share logins, control permissions, and protect sensitive data without slowing down day to day work. This offer is only available for podcast listeners. That's KeeperSecurity.com/tps for 60% off personal and family plans. Make sure you use our link so they know we sent you. That's KeeperSecurity.com/tps. Yeah, I would say I set kind of like chill goals as I like to call them. There's like aspirational things I want to do, but there's no sense of urgency typically. I would say most of the goals I do set during the summer are not professional related to mostly personal related. So for example, most of the time during the summer, as we like to call it KLL, keep in the lights on. We just kind of do stuff to keep the lights on. Whatever needs to be done in the business, you keep the lights on, just keep that going. But then I tend to focus more on personal things of projects I want to do, things I've been planning to do for a while, been putting off. So for me, summer has been a lot more personal transformations and updates. And that's why keeping a backlog list I think is so good or like a someday maybe list where you just put the stuff on there that you at some point will want to get to, but you just don't know when. And I find that as soon as June hits July, there August is kind of going on. You're like, "Hey, what else can I tag our fondylists that I really want to do?" And oftentimes there's a lot of things that are really fun, but you've been always deprioritizing because you're trying to prioritize other things. And during some of the months, I find myself oftentimes picking things that are in that category. We're like, "Oh, man, this would be really nice to do at some point, but now I actually get to try and do it." So for example, there's a certain category of books that I will only read during this time of year. So for example, I'm not a big fiction guy, and I still, to just say, don't really read fiction, but there's certain topics of history or certain things about design or biographies that, at first glance, don't have high utility value to me because I oftentimes reach for utility value. I want to learn something and be able to implement it right away. But then there's a lot of books that are in the category of like, "Hey, this would be a nice to read. I think it could be helpful, but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't." A biography of somebody is interesting, but you don't go in with the expectation that you're going to learn something or it's going to be something that you implement right away in your business. For me, it's just, "Hey, I want to know their story." Kind of like, "Fuel inspired potentially and see what I can get from this." I'm also okay if I go 20 pages in and it's not for me, I'm okay with that too. And we just picked you out of book. So for me, summer's a little bit more relaxed in that sense. The other thing I like to do during summer is oftentimes certain things are easier to do. So for example, going to certain restaurants in the summer are easier to do because most people are gone, especially here in Austin. So there's some reservations I tend to grab in the summer that I know are just difficult to get otherwise. So there's certain sushi places that are a little harder to get into. Sometimes you have to book them a month in advance when it's busy, when it's summer like a week or two out, you're going to be totally fine. So there's all these little things that kind of changes and shapes what I do. As far as other goals, professionally, personally, it doesn't change the time horizon as much. So I still like to follow a quarterly system as much as possible. And oftentimes I find myself when it's August and we're kind of shaping up for Q3, like I'm kind of getting back in a groove of like, okay, let's get back to focus. Like September, I know it's usually going to be very busy. People want to have a lot of meetings. People are back at work. And August for me is like a nice on-ramp month to be like, okay, back at home, assuming I'm home, let's on-ramp to whatever we got to do for September. And let's start today on with that. And so for me, August is kind of like back to work already before everyone else is back at work, I guess. Yeah, definitely my reading during the summer, there's a lot more like flipping through magazines. There's a lot like I read a book on the history. So I remember I read a book on the history of shipping containers. Now, that is an quote unquote educational book, but it's not like I'm not building, I'm not trying to learn a skill about it and then to shipping a day or it's just like an interesting read. So that is definitely what I tend to go to in the summer. But you bring up a good point that the type of tasks, at least speaking for myself, the type of tasks that I find myself doing the most other than the core things I need to do, are more of those like someday maybe tasks, like the kind of like little low effort things, like the Eisenhower matrix, like the things that are just great to bang out and you know, in the productivity show, we're always talking about how, hey, you don't want to be like snacking on tasks. You want to be doing those high leverage high impact tasks, which of course is true. But summer is a great time to do those things, right? To like finally submit that extended health claim to get reimbursements for medical expenses or like just those like admin type things that for whatever reason you weren't, you haven't or you aren't able to delegate, but that of maybe like been on the back burner. The summer's a great time for those low effort back burner type tasks. They just like knock them out in between your other normal type of things. I do that a lot. Okay. Here's a fun question for you. Are you spending differently in the summer months as well in maybe like for whatever reason? I'm thinking I don't want to lead you on with what I'm about to say, but I think as I'm asking that question, I'm reflecting for myself. I think the way I spend in the summer is a little bit different too. And when I say that, I mean, okay, this is kind of like a stupid example, but it kind of illustrates the point, which is certain items are cheap to buy in the summer. Then they are in all the times of the year. So for example, I know air for for example is really expensive because everyone wants to travel, right? However, for example, if you buy winter clothes during the summer, they're going to be too cheap as ever, but then also they have no utility value in the summer until winter actually comes, right? And so I remember last year I bought this really nice jacket and I bought it of like a second hand marketplace. And I knew when I bought it, it was like, okay, this is the best price I can get because nobody wants to buy this right now. And I got it for a really good deal. But you know, being in Austin where it's so hot during the summer, I just knew, okay, I'm not going to wear this. I'll probably like after Halloween, which is around November, most likely. And I was totally okay with that because I saved so much money about this with this item that I knew I really wanted to have. And so this is kind of an extreme example, but it did change my purchase behavior in the summer. And there were some periods of summer where I like buy stuff like that where like, for example, certain boots I needed to wear during winter. I would only buy during the summer because I knew I would get really cheap. But then, you know, I have no utility value until much later on. So I'm curious from your point of view, are there any things that you buy or do during the summer that is kind of geared with this in mind or you just spent the same? This is probably a wrong time to ask me because all my money is going to buy an art song gear right now. But no, I think for those who missed the reference, they did really well this year. Yeah. Yeah. I think this is another example of like seasons of life and priorities based on your non-work circumstances. Like for me, I am like everyone else where our spending definitely goes up in the summer, but it's like family trips or, you know, my wife and I would go on hiking trips and stuff like that. So it is a lot of like airfare, gas, hotels, like all the things that a lot of people do during the summer just because that's how it works with kids. That's traditionally where the spending definitely goes up, but it's for stuff like that. Yeah. I have done things like a lot of times like local ski hills and stuff like that will have specials on passes and that type of thing trying to entice people to like, you know, smooth out their revenue a little bit in that type of thing. So I've definitely hopped on deals like that during the summer or that's when, you know, maybe I would organize my kid ski rentals and that type of thing because like you said, the prices go way up the closer you get to ski season. So I've always tried to do that type of thing. I did just get served Instagram ad for this nice looking coat that is definitely not for this season. It seemed like a very good price. So I guess that's why I guess the clothing manufacturers are trying to hop on your strategy and take advantage of those summer deals as well. Yeah. Every summer there's a big deal happening around restaurants here in Austin where they're trying to entice for you to come in. And then also you oftentimes can buy gift cards or let's say you spend $100 on a gift card and you get a $125 dollar necklace or something like that. And so I've done that a few times where I'll just buy the gift cards during that time because there'll be a restaurant that I definitely will go to and you know, who doesn't like saving 25% down the line, right? Or if it's girl math, 25% forever, like that sounds like a good idea. So for me, that spending has been very different in the summer. In the summer for me is aside from like the time, energy and intention, productivity, what we focus on, what we read and study and everything else is also the people that I spend time with. Whether I realize it or not, when people are going away, there's a lot more people that are in Austin that I maybe don't have time to catch up with or don't align, but in the summer all of a sudden we can align. And I have noticed during the summer, I'm learning groups of people in town that I spend more time with because one, they're here, especially if I'm here as well, that my older groups of friends might not be in town for. And so it's a really subtle thing, but like that's something I've noticed too. And the only reason I bring this up is I love the feature of the iPhone where it reminds you of photos every now and then. And I something I just noticed during the summer months when I was going through like a summer collage of stuff. And I was like, oh yeah, I'd really hang out with them as much as I used to, but like I see them every summer because we always go to like the same music festival during the summer or like a concert or activity that's going on in Austin. There's like certain things that are kind of like big staples that happen during the summer and I go, oh yeah, this is where I always see them. Like I might see them once a year, for example, but this is the place I always see them at. And so this is not a conscious thing, but it's something I just kind of noticed. Like hey, there is a shuttle, there's a solar shift of people that I'm hanging out with during the summer consciously or not that is happening. And I'm here for it related to that. I think it's a great example of why when you're trying to make plans during the summer, like for your productivity or goals or whatever, like it is better. to keep it shorter than longer. Really try not to make these overarching plans because, like you said, people just might pop into your life all of a sudden. We just had this in our family just recently. We just found out somebody we knew from Germany was just all of a sudden in town. We had no idea they were coming. All of a sudden it's just like, "Hey guys, I'm here." So you end up meeting up with them blah, blah, blah. That's something if we were making longer-term plans, that's something that we didn't account for. There's a lot of that type of thing that happens in summer. A lot of spontaneous stuff that pops up. So I think, again, to your point, there's nothing wrong with making goals and plans like that in the summer for things you want to do. But I think keeping the cycles really short and flexible is the way to go because there's so many ways during the summer that your plans can get derailed. Yeah. So do you find yourself changing routines in the summer as well? Because your morning routine, evening routine kind of the same is a different. Do you stick to more routines or do you lack a little bit more on your routines? What's your vibe there? I try to keep it similar, which actually I think is a little more difficult in the summer because a lot of times I find summer days go one of two ways. Number one, like you said, like a lot of times we're maybe knocking off a little early, especially if it gets further down in the week, maybe you're shutting down early because if you're working in an office, maybe you're having Friday hang out or that type of thing, having drinks or something at the patio, these things kind of happen more. But it can go the other way as well is because we don't have those natural cues to start shutting down when it's like getting dark and starting to go home, especially when you work from home when it's way late in the day. It can be easy to keep going if you don't have anything else going on. So I try as best I can to keep my routine pretty similar as far as like morning routines and shutdown. But again, being like we've been the theme of this episode, being flexible when stuff comes up, but the goal is to be as similar as possible. Do you adapt it or what's your thought? Well, I think for me, the overarching idea that I think they're definitely adjusted into for example, I still like to exercise three times a week and I typically like to do it in the afternoon. In the summer months, I find myself finding myself to do more outdoorsy and other things either later in the evening or early parts of the morning. And so oftentimes I might actually do workouts during those days, especially with other people because of either the availability of people starting things, but then also if I'm relaxing a little bit on work stuff, it's nice to sometimes just get a morning workout in. You know, that's not my speed generally or doing that in the evening. Also typically not my speed can be done as well. And so I'm a little bit more loose when instead of all the parts a year, I'm like, no, workout in the afternoon, do my deep work in the morning, late at night, do another session if I have to. I'm kind of like routine in that sense, but during the summer I'm like a little bit more flexible about that. So I would say flexibility to me is a big when it comes to routines in the summer than other parts of the year, other parts of the year. I'm way more focused. And I know it's working for me and I'm okay with that. But then summer I'm like, if I do a workout in the morning, that's fine. If I do deep work a little bit later in the late morning, that's fine too. Like let's enjoy life. Let's not forget that part of productivity is also as we'd like to say, happy people are productive people. As long as you're happy, the productivity will come as a byproduct of that. And as you were saying your stuff earlier, Brooks, one of the things I wanted to actually follow up on is for those who have been listening for a while, I know you mentioned earlier parts of the year that you were picking up like making cocktails and like you bought a whole set and kit and everything. So as the summer is coming along, what is going to be your go to drink? You're going to be making and consuming. Yep, that's definitely still going on. My brother was just here from New York and we were making lots of cocktails together and that type of thing. Yeah, definitely keeping it lighter, not as many of the stirred, rye and whiskey drinks that is actually my favorite. More maybe like lighter rum based ones, just kind of like keeping it light and refreshing. I think it's definitely the way to go. Might slip in a my old-fashioned or a Manhattan from time to time, but yeah, definitely, definitely like to keep it light in the summer for sure. For me in the summer, like an old-fashioned can always go, but to me, during a cube has to be a lot bigger and it has to be like a big cube. Like during the older parts of the year, you can get it with small cubes, but in the summer it has to be a big cube, otherwise I won't consume it. Yep, for sure. So on that note, I hope everyone is going to have a great summer. If you are making it all the way to the end here, you probably know that we always like to end things with an action item. So for you, what I want to encourage you to think about is how is your routine different in the summer and what can you adjust or tweak this summer to make it even more consistent or more flexible so that it still serves you because as well as like to say, happy people are productive people. So can you do to your routines this summer, whether it's starting a little bit early, making them shorter or doing them less frequently or maybe you want to do some things more frequently? What is your plan there for this summer? And I think if you spend some time thinking about this, you'll see some opportunities that you can do to tweak your routines that would benefit you. So for me personally, I'm probably going to read more books. I already read 20, 30 minutes a day, but I think I'm probably going to bump that up to 45 minutes a day. So I'm curious what that is going to be for you. All right. So thank you so much for listening to the Productivity Show. We'll see you again next week.