So you don't go freaking insane.

Summer is hard, y'all. For me, anyway, the first month of summer is always a breeze because I can catch up on my Zzzs, binge watch all the shows, and just generally relax. But there is only so much relaxing you can do before you go freaking insane. Or maybe that's just me.

If you relate on a spiritual level to my summer feels–here are 11 things you can do this summer so that you don't go freaking insane.

1. Start a Blog

I am really partial to starting a blog, well, because I have multiple blogs of my own. Blogging is not something to be taken lightly and you really need ton of discipline in order to do it correctly, but once you get the hang of it, creating a blog is really fulfilling and I promise that you won't feel bored when you are blogging. Any time I feel bored I am usually either blogging or napping so I know this to be true.

There are so many different types of blogs out there–don't feel the need to go straight into the college lifestyle blog if that's not your style. There are food bloggers, beauty bloggers, fashion bloggers, book bloggers, and so many more types of bloggers out there. I mean, the list could really go on and on y'all.  I personally run this blog which I categorize as a college lifestyle blog and my business/blogging blog Amanda Cross Blog.

If you ever need any advice about blogging I really encourage you to check out my second blog Amanda Cross Blog (where all my blogging content went that used to be on this blog in case you were curious) or check out my free email course for new bloggers called New Blogger Motivation that I think is perfect for anyone who is interested in becoming a blogger.

2. Binge Watch All The Shows

A few weeks ago I talked about the 10 shows you need to binge watch this summer and that is definitely something I do a lot in the summer so that I don't go insane. I suggest shows with tons of seasons like The Mindy Project, Scandal, or New Girl so you have plenty of episodes to watch. As much as I love some shows like Designated Survivor and BoJack Horseman–those shows don't have as many seasons and are easy to blast through which makes them not as summer binge watch ready (although I still heavily encourage that you watch them).

Are there any shows that you are watching at the moment? I find it so difficult to find new shows in the summer because most of my favorite shows are on break right now.

3. Do Some (Window) Shopping

Ahh, window shopping. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping just as much as the next person, but it's hard to do that all the time. Especially if you are doing this so that you don't go crazy. Chances are the boredom part of summer has come and it's here to stay so you don't want to shop and actually purchase every time you window shop.

Some of my favorite places to window shop are:

• Old Navy
• Torrid
• Riffraff
• Metal Marvels

These are just a few of my favorite stores. Let me know where your favorite places are to shop so that I can find a new favorite store.

4. Read All The Books & Magazines

Summer means that you actually have time to tackle that reading list instead of just looking and hoping that you could read some of your favorite books. I am sharing some of my favorite books so that you can pick them up if they sound interesting to you (and of course they will all be YA novels because that's all I ever read.) Here are some of my all time favorite YA novels so you have some summer reading!

For magazines, I really love the app Issuu. So many fun local and national magazines add their issues to Issuu so it makes reading super fun. I love reading all my favorite Arkansas magazines like At Home In Arkansas, Do South, and Arkansas Times there. Chances are they have TONS of magazines for your state or city there too. You can also use the paid app Readly for a ton of national magazines.

5. Listen to All the music

If you know one thing about me, you know that I am OBSESSED with music. Music has been something that has always gotten me through tough times and I really appreciate music for that. One thing that I am constantly doing is listening to music. I try to find new music but I am pretty sure that my musical prowess is stuck in 2006, but that's okay too me.

I have a ton of playlists on this site filled with new music for you to listen to. Search for playlists on my site because I am always trying to update these with more music for you all.

6. Color Away Your Boredom

I am all about coloring y'all. One of my favorite things to do is to sit down with a fun coloring sheet and color away. I really love adult coloring books because the designs are usually quite intricate which makes it a little easier to get lost in coloring for hours on end. Coloring is so fun and I may or may not binge watch YouTube while I am coloring.

In case y'all need more coloring books I have made a really awesome round-up of some really awesome adult coloring books on Amazon so you can buy a few more if you would like to do so. Also, don't forget to check your app store for coloring apps. There are so many fun coloring apps out there that make coloring a breeze because it's all digital and you can easily erase any mistakes (and you always color in the lines.)

7. Try Some New Recipes Out

When you desperately need something to do this summer–go on Pinterest and look up new recipes to try. I am quite partial to any kind of poke cake recipe and baking in general. I also love to cook savory recipes as well. Something I am definitely trying this summer is this Chicken Parm bake from Buzzfeed's Tasty. There are so many recipes to try in the summer time and Pinterest is a great place to look for any recipe ideas that you may have. Pinterest has become really sophisticated in how they show recipes and sometimes you can even filter for time and other variables now.

Since I LOVE food one of the most relaxing things for me to do is just go in the kitchen and cook good food. I know that seems so weird, but I love it way too much. What do you like to do for fun? Also leave some recipe recommendations below for me because I am always looking for new things to try.

8. Pin All The Things On Pinterest

Speaking of Pinterest–I love Pinterest for other things besides looking for recipes. I am such a fan of Pinterest and the 8,000+ people pinning along with me. If you aren't following me on Pinterest or any of my social media networks you should totally be doing so. I love to see what everyone is pinning there and I would love to pin along with you this summer. I am constantly trying to come up with new boards and things to pin so you should follow along right now. Check out all of my social media networks below:

Some of my recent favorite boards have been my Wanderlust on A Budget board and my Graduation Caps board because it's always fun to pin to–because I am girl on a budget and there are so many new graduation caps after graduation season on Pinterest.

9. Take An Online Course

No, I am not chatting about an online course from your college (although if you find that fun, I could be talking about this.) I am mainly talking about something fun like a MOOC or an online course on LinkedIn. I take so many online courses for my blogs and it's always cool to take even more.

Taking a course may seem counterproductive to your relaxing but as long as your course doesn't require that much it's okay. Of course, if you are taking an actual summer school course you will have to put a lot more into the course, but if you are just taking a not for credit online course or a course to help you with your blog or something else it shouldn't be stressful to you.

10. Go On Some Fun Adventures (Even In Your Hometown)

Summer is made for adventures and chances are you don't even have to go far. One of my favorite things to do during the summer is to go out and look for fun places to take blog pictures. There are so many cute murals in my hometown/places to take photos and I love to take the day with my dad to shoot fun outfits in front of them.

We also live close to places like Memphis so sometimes we will go there for a day adventure or two during the summer. A good adventure be it in your hometown or out of town is never a bad idea.

The above picture was taken one day when I went exploring around my hometown's downtown area and we found this perfect brick wall that was tucked away and it made for super cute blog pictures. I still venture over to this place sometimes when I am looking to take some fun blog pictures. When I am feeling extra adventurous, sometimes I like to go for a nice hike in the surrounding areas around town when it's cooler outside.

11. Get A Job, Freelance, Or Volunteer

Now, for the “dreaded” j word–getting a job or if that's not your style freelancing or volunteering. Having a job during summer break can be extremely beneficial because it gives you money to spend so your summer isn't lame. If you can't spend it because you are working so hard, that may be even better because it will make your fall and spring semester that much easier because of all the money you saved during the summer.

There are many sites to find a job or freelancing opportunities:

• Indeed: Indeed is probably one of the most popular ways to find jobs and you can even find some good remote positions there as well.
• Upwork: If you are looking for some good freelance positions Upwork is a great place to find some good opportunities for all sorts of online freelancing jobs.
• LinkedIn: I love LinkedIn for finding job opportunities. It works better if you are looking for career jobs, but a lot of companies post all sorts of content there.

Final Thoughts

Don't go insane. There are so many fun and useful things you can do over the summer so that you don't go insane. It's just June, although it feels much later, so you still have a lot of summer left to use up. I hope that these steps will help you keep sane this summer and have fun in the process.