By Barbara Poole

The bumper sticker said it all: “A rainy day at the beach is better than a good day at the office.” It was rush hour, and the driver of the car sat at the red light with a look of grim resignation on his face.

Here he was, on a beautiful, sunny morning that promised to be a glorious beach day, on his way to the office. The rack on his roof begged for a surfboard, and his Toyota yearned to be pointed south on Folly Road, rather than north, headed into town, its passenger sentenced to hang out in an office until sometime after 5 p.m.

This poor guy has a lot of company out there. It’s summertime, and there’s a collective hunger on the part of many working folks to be enjoying outdoor activities and the fun and frolicking pleasures of the season, rather than cooped up inside air-conditioned spaces that feel so far removed from the natural rhythms of the calendar.

The summertime blues are contagious. They manifest in the form of headaches, stagnation and a lack of tolerance for what feels like the mundane and often inconsequential details of working life. They show up as an epidemic of clock watching and a depletion of the sick days supply. It’s as if there were a gigantic banner draped across many office spaces that captures the sentiment of “Anywhere But Here.”

I can relate. Even now, as I write this column, I’d really enjoy being out by the pool, basking in the sun, hanging with friends, sipping a margarita. And this, from a person who loves to write.

At its root, a bad case of the summertime blues is really about boredom, and the manner in which it is magnified when there is such an obvious array of alternatives that would be so much fun.

However, until someone decides to provide you with a paycheck for heading to the beach, here are some ways to jazz up your job and make it a more engaging and productive place to be during the summer:

Vary your routine. The extent to which you can mix it up depends on the nature of your job and work environment. Consider how you could reshuffle the deck to add more interest, or at least variety, to your day.

Learn something new. Because boredom is the enemy, summer is a great time for developing a new skill or taking a course in something that would be helpful to you in your job.

Incorporate movement. It’s amazing to me how many people routinely rely on e-mail communication with people whose offices are just down the hall from their own. I personally believe that the time lost by visiting coworkers for conversation is more than made up for by the stimulation factor that a live discussion can generate.

Create a mini think-tank. If the nature of your work lends itself to this, consider creating a regular practice of meeting with people for the express purpose of brainstorming. Step away from the monotonous agenda-driven meeting to create a container for pure creativity.

Take a real lunch. Don’t just eat another Power Bar at your desk. Invest in the hour to get up, find some colleagues, and head out to sit down for a real meal. You will more than make up for any lost time in the renewed energy you will experience when you return to the office.

Consider a series of mini-vacations rather than a single two-week hiatus. Some people so need to decompress that only an extended time away will do. However, I often see it happen that for those who take their vacation early in the summer, the rest of the season becomes a chore. And for those who wait until the end of the summer, there is a tendency to spend three months just “getting through” in anticipation of the final reward. If it works for you, consider taking several long weekends instead.

Volunteer for a special project or a rotational assignment. Sometimes a project that deviates from your regular job responsibilities can be just the thing to re-energize your interest.

Explore what might be possible in your work environment, and don’t assume that just because it’s not already a regular precedent that it won’t be doable where you work.

Use the down time you do have in healthy ways. Just because it’s hot outside, don’t be a couch potato. You will actually feel more rested and rejuvenated if you get out and do something invigorating than if you make it your business to get horizontal.

Enjoy your summer—both the glorious time spent at the beach, as well as the time that you spend at the office. And now, I think I’ll go grab a bathing suit and head outdoors.

Barbara Poole is a Leadership and Career Development Coach with Charleston-based Success Builders Inc. E-mail her at CoachBarbara@SuccessBuildersInc.com.

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