Romanticizing life has taken a storm among the young crowd — think of scenic vacation spots, grabbing dirty sodas with friends or reading. The trend has created impressive strategies on encouraging people to live their lives through a cinematic lens. Somehow, this can also apply to being in college. If you’re chronically online, you may have seen videos of people showcasing their daily routines such as going to class, working part time jobs and being part of organizations. In the summer, there’s still the possibility for college students to latch onto the “romanticization” by going on vacation, committing to seasonal jobs or starting their own business.

However, the “romanticization” tends to get smaller once you get a full-time job. In a blink of an eye, June starts to look and feel like February. You’re constantly hit with emails, meetings and early mornings where you don’t want to get out of bed — but, the bills aren’t going to pay themselves.  

The internet loves to tell us to “romanticize life”, but it rarely shows what that could look like when you have limited PTO and a calendar filled with urgent tasks. Every photo dump of someone’s trip to Italy or lounging at the beach can be enough to make you wonder “wow, I wish I could do that.” 

Here’s the good news: romanticizing your summer doesn’t require taking time off your job (or quitting it) or booking a last-minute trip to Europe. It just requires your needs.

Stop waiting for the weekend to celebrate summer

As someone who recently started a full time job, all you want to do after work is eat dinner, shower and go straight to sleep. That cycle continues throughout the week, and once Friday evening hits, you have all of the freedom in the world to live it up.

However, if you wait until the weekend to indulge in some summer joy, the season flies by before you have the chance to enjoy it. Instead, let one of the weekdays count. Take a longer route home and enjoy the summer breeze flowing through. Eat dinner outside to soak up the warm weather. If you’re wanting to do something in the late evening, buy some ice cream after work and go on a sunset walk.

This will help you appreciate the work nights better.

Become a “yes” person

If you have other working adults in your life, there may be some days where they want to invite you to a small gathering after work. The temptation to say “no” is real, but if you want to become more open in participating more after the work day, encourage yourself to take on the opportunity. Not every outing has to be reserved for the weekend and being able to spend time with those close to you is just enough.

Turn your work outfit into a summer fit

We all know the rules and regulations of dress code in a professional setting, but if you’re someone who likes to wear bright colors, why not add a summer theme to it? Pick out a summery color to go with your work bag and add a beach accessory to your jewelry collection.

Embrace your version of summer

Summer doesn’t require a backpack through Europe. Sometimes, it can be walking your city’s trail on the weekends or becoming a regular at a local coffee shop. It can be reading one of BookTok’s summer book recommendations or watching the sunset at 8 p.m. Your version of summer should matter to you and it’s something that should be sacred.

Summer doesn’t end, not even as an adult. Adults have a lot of responsibility to carry and sometimes that responsibility can get in the way of things. 

How are you romanticizing life this summer? Let us know in the comments!