Your brain didn't get the memo that it's summer
✉️ Originally shared in my June newsletter 2026— now available here for easy access and sharing.
3 things to try when your brain turns free time into a project and 14 days to practice it
This weekend the forecast said 25 degrees and full sun and it was my last weekend in Stockholm before heading up north again.
And my first thought was: How do I make the most of this?
Not in a joyful way. In a planning way. I'd been running at high pace for weeks. And even now, with a free weekend and sunshine, my brain had immediately turned it into a project. What should I do, where should I go, who should I see — because who knows what summer will look like and I need to use this.
What I actually needed was simple. A long breakfast. A book. Slowly starting to pack — not because I had to, but because I felt like it. That was it. And it was enough.
I see this a lot — in myself, and in the people I work with. We arrive at weekends and vacations with our working brain still fully online. We've been operating at a certain tempo for so long that slowing down doesn't feel like relief. It feels like friction. Like something's wrong.
So we fill the space. We make plans. We optimize the time off. The brain doesn't switch modes because the date changed. It switches when you give it something different to practice.
I created something I notice both I and many of you might need. Small daily reminders for 14 days, that never takes more than 15 minutes, starting July 1st. Reminders to help your brain actually make the shift into summer. More on that at the end.
But first, three small things I've been trying myself when my brain free time into a project.
3 things to try when your brain turns free time into a project
When your brain says "I should make the most of this"
Try: Ask yourself what you actually need right now. Shift focus from should and must to need and want. Do one small thing in that direction. Then one more and see how it makes you feel.
When your brain says "I'm wasting time"
Try: Name what you're doing and why. Out loud, or just in your head. I'm reading. I'm sitting in the sun. I'm letting my thoughts wander. Because I needed space. It sounds small, but it shifts something. You move from drifting into an active choice. And your brain stops scanning for what you should be doing instead or next.
When your brain says "I'll just quickly check my phone"
Try: Notice how many times you've already said that today. The phone isn't the problem — the automatic reach is. That small, unconscious grab because stillness feels unfamiliar and your brain is looking for something to do. You know it's easier to not eat candy when you don't have it at home. Same goes for the phone. Put it in another room and decide in advance when you'll check it.
These three are a start. But if you know yourself — if you know that one reminder on a Sunday isn't quite enough to hold the shift — that's what the next 14 days are for.
A Steady Shift into Summer - Small daily reminders for 14 days
Never take more than 15 minutes, starting July 1st.
A short message every morning — sometimes a question, sometimes a short audio or video from me with a small everyday shift. Designed to help your brain make the switch from high pace to something steadier.
And the small things? They work just as well when autumn picks up speed again. So see it as training you brain when you have more space for it.
Start 1st of July. 300 SEK.
Sign up here
