Not every part of the world gets to have the summer that most people in the United States know—nine months of school and almost three months of the ultimate holiday that everyone looks forward to since day one. The major downside to this? You lose three months of learning in the summer, meaning you can forget up to two months of learning over the summer, so it'll take you two months to get back on track with your learning.
All of us usually walk into the summer with a literal written plan on what we're going to accomplish, and by the end of the summer, we realize we haven't gotten anything done. Yes, you're not the only one that this happens to! But fear not, for there are ways that you can avoid wasting all this precious time and be productive for the three months without school.
1. Get rid of your devices immediately.
Unless your summer activity directly involves doing something on technology, make sure you get rid of any devices that you have near you. Devices can be oh-so-tempting and it's easy to lose focus when there's an outlet sitting right there in front of you.
2. Have a basic idea of how you want to spend the day.
Don't ever walk into a day in the summer blindly. You may say, "Oh, it's just a day. I'll recover. There are plenty more, right?" Well, those days pass by much too quick for us to notice, and before you know it, school's rolling around again. Instead, don't make a legitimate list everyday, but just make a mental note of what you wish to get done on that day. Remember, be reasonable!
3. Don't get frustrated if you don't get much done.
Things happen in life, even over the summer, and you may have to spend a few days, or even weeks doing something and lose all that time. But the worst thing you can do in that kind of situation is get stressed out and frustrated. You'll start creating scenarios in your head where you fail every single time, and you won't have the energy to continue working once you're able to.
4. Don't overwork yourself.
At the end of the day, we're all human. Most of us don't have the drive or determination to work nonstop for hours without getting some breaks or rewards in the middle of it all. If you can only work for about two hours every day, plan so that those two hours are the most productive ones you're ever had. But if that's truly all you can do without driving yourself crazy with work, stop for the day. There will always be tasks to be done, so instead of wasting your time worrying about them, why don't you live life a little?
5. Focus on just a few things everyday.
You probably have millions of task just waiting to be discovered, but something that's really going to tip your productivity is overwhelming yourself with all those tasks before you even start doing something. Instead, early on in the day, make note of what you're going to focus, such as writing a novel, practicing an instrument or playing a sport. Pick one of these, and refuse to even think about the others for the entire day. You can worry about them later in the week.
Of course, if you have anything that urgently needs to be done that day, you must do it. However, any day you have a choice, choose only one or two.Stop wandering around aimlessly.
While boredom is an important and crucial part of life, it is like anything that is good for you: too much is not good for you. If you've been sitting around with nothing to do for the past hour, find a way to make your time productive instead of feeling bad about how much time you lost when you had no specific tasks at hand. Trust me, you will definitely find something to do, no matter how trivial it may seem.
7. Take a moment to just reflect and smile.
First of all, praise yourself on what you're doing. You're trying to get stuff done in the summer! Not many people have the drive to do that. Second, just smile and think about how grateful you should be when your biggest problem at the moment is getting some extra work done. When you feel yourself in a better mood, you know you're ready to get back on track again.
There's one thing I can say for sure: none of us want to intentionally waste time, especially if we know that we could be doing something else. Time is important and precious, and no matter how rich or poor you are in the world, everyone gets only 24 hours a day, not a minute more or less. It's up to you how you spend that time, and you can make the most of it by not wasting it.
