Summer Just Started, and You’re Already Behind

There is a flat of annuals on my terrace. Or there was. By the time you read this, it has probably crossed the line from “still possible” to “definitely dead.” The petunias went first. The geraniums held on longer than they had any right to, which somehow made it worse. Whether it’s withering annuals or your own list of projects you’d planned to complete before summer hit, we have some tips for what to do when summer’s just started, and you’re already behind.

I bought the flowers with great intentions. I had a vision. But travel and life happened in the weeks between buying them and planting them, and now here we are at the start of summer with dead annuals. Besides travel and general life, I also decided (after buying the annuals), that I really needed to get the linen closet and under the bathrooms sinks cleaned out first. (That also hasn’t yet happened.)

If this is familiar, you’re not alone. And I want to offer you something that isn’t a pep talk about trying harder next time.

One thing I can offer is a framework a framework for deciding what to do with the things that didn’t get done before summer started. Whether they’re in the garden, or everywhere else. The other thing I can offer is your own set of Permission Slips, giving permission to to let it all go.

Why the garden guilt goes deeper than gardening

The garden is just the most visible place where our good intentions meet their expiration date. But if you’re honest, the list probably goes a little deeper than wilted geraniums.

Maybe it also includes:

• The spring cleaning that made it through one closet and stopped there
• The fitness routine you were going to start in April
• The friend you keep meaning to call (you can picture her face when you think about it)
• The half-painted room (the samples are still on the wall)
• The creative project you were going to start once things settled down
• The pile of books that only grew taller
• The meal planning system you researched thoroughly and never began

If we’re already behind, do we have to be productive?

These undone things feel just a bit worse in late spring and early summer. We feel the season shifting, the calendar filling with different kinds of days, and suddenly all of those great intentions, the ones we were definitely getting to, are staring at us from the to-do list.

Are we unproductive? No.

Undisciplined? Not that, either. What we are is human and even when we try to eliminate the unnecessary, our lives are often still too full.

What’s the answer to being behind at the start of summer?

I’ll use the word “discernment.” Not everything on our unfinished list deserves the same response. Some things need to be released. Some things need to be rescheduled. And some things need to simply wait. Here’s a simple way to sort them:

Compost it: Let go of what’s truly done this summer

The annuals are dead. You can’t plant them now. This isn’t a failure, it’s information. Some things have a true expiration date, and once it’s passed, the kindest thing you can do is let them go, without ceremony. Compost them. Put them in the garbage so you’re not staring into their dead eyes every day.

The spring fitness plan you never started? You don’t need to start it in June with the pressure of “making up for lost time.” Let it go. There will be a better moment to begin. Not because you failed, but because summer has its own rhythm, and forcing a spring intention into it rarely works.

Instead, aim to do something every day that’s includes move: Walk your neighborhood, bike to the farmer’s market, take the stairs instead of the elevator at work.

Transplant it: Reschedule what just needs a better season

Some things didn’t get done this spring not because they were wrong ideas, but because the timing was off. These deserve a second chance, just not right now. Transplant them to fall.

That closet clean out? Fall is actually a better time since you’ll be transitioning wardrobes anyway. The creative project? September has a natural “new beginning” energy that summer often doesn’t. The friendship you want to tend more intentionally? Make one plan now, and let that be good enough.

Transplanting isn’t procrastinating. It’s recognizing that good things grow better in the right season. Write it down somewhere real. Your planner, your journal, a note in your phone, so it isn’t just floating and guilt-producing. Give it a new date.

Let it wait: Some things don’t need to be done this summer

Some things on your list don’t actually need your attention right now. They’re not urgent. They’re not expiring. They just exist as aspirations, and that’s fine.

The paint samples on the wall? They can wait. The book stack? It’ll be there. The meal planning system? It doesn’t have a deadline. Some things don’t need to be composted or transplanted. They just need to be acknowledged and set down for now, without guilt and without urgency.

Summer has a way of making us feel like we should be doing everything and also doing nothing, relaxing but also maximizing, present but also productive. We don’t actually have to resolve everything on our list before we’re allowed to enjoy the season. Let some things wait.

What summer is actually for (Hint: It’s not catching up)

Here’s the reframe I keep coming back to: Summer isn’t a catch-up season. It never has been. The idea that we should use summer to finally finish everything we didn’t get to in spring is a story we’ve told ourselves, and one we should shut down.

Instead, why not give your permission to opt-out of the activities, events, chores, and lists you really don’t want to do or tackle this summer? Would it really be so bad to put a whole lot of this on hold. Or just opt-out altogether this summer?

Need permission? Click on our Free Download to get 6 Permission Slips you can read, forward to a friend, print and hang on your fridge, or just keep in mind this summer.

Summer is the season of long evenings and open windows and the particular kind of slowness that only comes when you stop trying to optimize everything. You probably can’t attend every event, reunion, get-together, and summer-catch-up that’ll present itself to you. Busy does not equal happy, or at least not necessarily.

Summer just started: Give yourself permission to opt-out

What if this summer, instead of carrying the weight of everything that didn’t get done, you made one intentional decision about each undone thing. Compost it, transplant it, or let it wait. And then, what if you gave yourself permission to actually structure the short summer months in just the way you wanted?

Maybe you really don’t want to travel somewhere every weekend, or attend every family event or neighborhood porch party.

Maybe the front beds won’t have fresh annuals this year. That’s okay. Pick up a couple of pre-planted containers and call it a day.

Your turn: One thing to let go of this week

Take five minutes this week and make a quick list of the things that didn’t quite get done before summer. Then sort them. Compost, transplant, or let it wait. You don’t have to do anything with the list after that. The sorting itself is the work.