For some reason, summer vacation never is very fun for me. After the hustle and bustle of the end of the school year, finals and grade stress, I find myself with an abundance of free time. Instead of doing productive things, I tend to fall into a funk. I work when I can, but other than that, I never get out of my pajamas and spend all day watching Gilmore Girls (I’m on my third rewatch and I’m still not over it). Sometimes I go on the Internet while I watch Gilmore girls, and sometimes play with my cats, but for the most part I do nothing.

I always think about doing things, getting together with my friends, going places, taking day trips, hitting the beach, but then I remember I’m broke and all my friends are busy. I often can’t even muster the energy to do things I like to do! I find myself missing the school grind—desperately. I miss having no free time. I miss productivity. If you also find yourself in a summer slump, I’ve compiled a list of things you can do to keep busy while you wait patiently for it to cool down and school to start again.

1. Find a hobby

It might be too hot to pick up knitting, but its never too hot to think about learning yarn crafts. Oddly enough, knitting is the only hobby that really comes to mind but there are tons out there to choose from. You could glam plan (an exciting way to keep a planner involving stickers and fancy tape)!* You could start collecting stamps! You could learn to belly dance! There’s nothing cooler than learning a new skill, and who knows, maybe you’ll find your true calling?

2. When in Doubt, Work it out!

When faced with free time, one should always consider exercise as an alternative to binge watching TV shows from the early 2000s (I want to be good, Netflix just isn’t letting me!). Taking up jogging is a good way to stay fit with minimum effort, perfect for summer nights. As long as you manage to actually stick with it, you’ll be a somewhat athletic person by the time classes start again.

3. Become a Pokémon Trainer

Pokémon Go has fulfilled the dreams of millennials everywhere. Now we can capture and train Pokémon in real life! Hopping on the Pokémon bandwagon has many benefits, including but not limited helping get us out of our houses and into the real world. It also gives you an excuse to casually lurk in public areas. Local parks are usually home to a pokestop or even a gym, so get out there and catch ‘em all while enjoying the company of all the local nerds.

4. Window Shop

A good thing to do in the summer is hang out in a place that can’t kick you out for loitering and is well air conditioned i.e. the mall. Malls are cool because no one can ask you to leave if you don’t buy anything, and there are so many stores that no one will even know if you spend all day looking at stuff that you can’t afford. The only faults in this logic: there are way too many things you want to buy, and you will almost always end up buying something. Loiter responsibly, my friends.

5. Enjoy Your Summer While You Can

As boring as summer vacation can get, you know you’ll miss it once school starts back up. It’s a vicious cycle. So enjoy your time off! Read some books, watch all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls, catch some Pokémon, sleep in—You deserve it!

* Glam Planning is actually really cool, this link gives a pretty good overview of it: http://plannersquad.com/glam-planning-101-weekly-s...