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With each season of weather comes new opportunities for things to do and events to look forward to. But if you don’t plan ahead, sometimes you can find yourself missing out on some of the things that make experiencing different times of the year so great in the city you live in.

Rather than wait until the last minute, it pays off to be proactive and solidify a few core things on your calendar to make sure you are checking off the activities you 100 percent want to do during certain months, while giving yourself time to space things out or save up for the experiences that are best completed in a particular season.

Here are some tips to create a seasonal bucket list and fill up your free time calendar (without filling it up too much and getting overwhelmed.)

Make a list of your favorite activities

This might seem silly, but putting pen to paper when it comes to your goals –whether they’re fitness-related, work-specific, or simply for pleasure –can help materialize them IRL and help you create a plan to stick to those goals. If we do it for professional or personal reasons, there’s got to be a benefit in doing it for fun things as well, right?

When heading into a new season or time of year, write down some of the things you would love to do and try to come up with an actionable item that will help you reach that goal. For example, if you enjoy going to see live music, you might write, “I want to go to three concerts this winter.”

That way, you can do your research and find out what artists are playing in your local area, or perhaps even map out a show where you can sneak away for a night or weekend to see one of your favorite bands in concert. If simply getting out for a show is good enough for you, check out small venues from breweries to coffee shops that might feature small performers in your immediate area. Having the ability to look further out on the calendar and plan these types of outings in advance will ensure you reach your goal of getting out a certain number of times for a set activity, which will make you feel accomplished in return!

Research the best restaurants for each season

If going out for a nice meal is something you like to do with friends, family, or even solo, it’s smart to make your reservations to visit the top spots during their peak season so that you can soak up all the culinary and aesthetic offerings to match the time of year.

In the warmer months, research restaurants that have a great outdoor dining atmosphere with plenty of seating, live music or A+ views of the cityscape, water, or plush greens and gardens. You’ll want to take advantage of being there in its prime rather than visiting during the colder months when you’re stuck looking out the window waiting for it to be warm.

Summer and fall are both great opportunities to look for farm-to-table or locally-inspired menus where the kitchen prepares most dishes using locally grown ingredients in season. Think butternut squash soup and an apple cider sangria in the fall, or a Caprese salad with fresh tomatoes in peak summer with a mint mojito for those hot days.

In the winter, find the restaurants nearest to you where cozy vibes are the main event. Fireplaces, comfort foods on the menu, warm cocktails, and more will have you looking forward to trekking out post-snowstorm to make a new memory and dine at another restaurant during the time they are designed to thrive.

Plan a staycation…during your least favorite season

Listen, we all have times of year we absolutely love and other times of year when we’re just trying to get by. One way to make it through a season you might typically find it difficult to navigate is to go out of your comfort zone and plan a getaway to help you enjoy it in a new way.

Of course, a warm weather vacation in the dead of winter is great, but it’s not always feasible from a scheduling or budgetary standpoint. So instead, look up destinations within driving distance from your home, whether it’s 45 minutes or a three-hour getaway to get out of state, and plan a trip to a new place.

You could find yourself appreciating the season in a new way, whether you shack up in a cozy cabin in the dead of winter or dedicate a weekend drive to seeing fall foliage and embracing fall. You’ll have something on your calendar to look forward to in anticipation of the weekend away and will appreciate the change of scenery to help you get through the rest of the season afterward.

Pick a project to DIY

If you find yourself being more of a homebody during certain times of the year, adding a few DIY home projects to your bucket list will help instill some motivation and make sure you’re staying busy and active even while being indoors.

There is so much inspiration to be found online, whether you’re looking for an organizational project or something cosmetic. Here are a few popular DIY projects that might get you inspired to tackle for your home:

● Cabinet or pantry organization

● DIY wood accents or paneling

● Peel-and-stick backsplash kitchen or bathroom tile

● Wallpaper

● DIY flower beds for gardening or planting

Do the cliché seasonal activities

There’s joy to be found in the simple pleasures of life, even though it can feel cheesy or boring to repeat the same things every year. But instead of being too cool for school and skipping out on seasonal holidays or activities, try and shift your attitude to focus on the fun things and find a way to enjoy them with friends or family!

If it’s been a while since you have been to a pumpkin patch or gone apple picking, add that activity to your seasonal bucket list and arrange a time for a social outing being “basic” and embracing fall. In the summer, mark your calendars for a beach day or afternoon at your town pool and lather up the SPF for a fun, relaxing afternoon outdoors.

In the winter, even if you don’t ski or snowboard, check out what other events are happening at local ski mountains, or at the very least, head to the slopes in your warmest winter threads and sip a Hot Toddy or embrace your inner child and spend a couple of hours tubing down the mountain.

You’re never too old to dive into those simple childhood pleasures and soak up every season before it’s over and onto the next.

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