How to Stay Productive Over the Summer
Elton Lin
With summer comes warmer weather, a freer schedule, and significantly less academic and extracurricular obligations. It’s no wonder that it can be difficult to muster up the motivation to be productive over summer break! Still, making the most of summer is crucial for students preparing for college applications. Here are some of our tips for staying productive this summer:
MAKE YOURSELF GOALS
Navigating these months aimlessly is a fast track to an unproductive summer. Students should give some thought to exactly what they want to accomplish this summer, then stick to those goals! If your student still doesn’t have fully concrete summer plans yet, they can also use these goals to figure out their itinerary. Every student can have different goals, of course, but here are just a few examples:
“My school doesn’t offer German, Thai, or Italian, but I want to try learning these languages.”
“I want to be more involved in my community.”
“I want to experience what college classes and campus life are like before I start my applications.”
“Friends are really important to me, so I’d like to spend more time with them.”
Even a goal like “I want to spend more time with my friends” can be channeled into productive (and fun!) summer plans, such as attending the same summer camp or classes with your friends, making music or developing a passion project together, or even just meeting regularly to work on separate goals while keeping each other accountable with your company.
KEEP LEARNING
One simple way to stay productive is to keep learning! This can include watching educational YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, learning new skills (playing an instrument, knitting or crocheting, cooking, etc.), taking classes either online or in-person, and more. Of course, while learning is valuable in and of itself, and while keeping your mind active over the summer is important, there’s another benefit: figuring out exactly where your interests lie.
Exploring over the summer means students can go into the next school year with a better understanding of what they love to do (and what they would rather not!). This can help students figure out which direction to take their academics, extracurriculars, and more.
WORK ON YOUR RESUME/CV AND GET A SUMMER JOB
The traditional summer job has a lot of merit for high school students – and admissions officers know that! Having a paid job on your resume demonstrates responsibility, initiative, teamwork, social skills, and more to colleges. This is because, unlike a volunteer or unpaid intern, employees are held to stricter standards in customer-facing roles.
Even if students don’t actually get a job this summer, just working on their resumes or CVs is a huge step. Look up references and guides, choose a format you like, and get started. The earlier students start building their resumes or CVs, the easier it will be for them down the road to update when they gain new work, extracurricular, and other experiences. The resume-writing process can often be one of the most time-consuming aspects of job and internship hunting, so working on it now is definitely a productive use of the summer!
CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
It can be easy to feel stagnant and unmotivated if you spend the majority of your summer in one unchanging place – at home, for example. A change of scenery or environment goes a long way towards facilitating productivity. This is especially true if you’re stuck in a rut of procrastination and lethargy, because changing your environment is a great way to trigger your brain to change your habits, as well. Something as simple as tidying up your room or your desk can push your motivation just enough to get started on your next summer task!
KEEP A SCHEDULE (AND A JOURNAL)
Even with summer goals and plans in place, it can be difficult to actually fulfill them. Keeping a schedule can help students lay out their to-do list, see whether or not certain goals are feasible within the span of the summer months, and encourage students to keep at it one step at a time. (It also allows students to pace themselves in a way that gives them time to relax in the midst of a productive summer!)
A journal, too, can help students by giving more structure to their summer. It’s valuable for students to have a place to document their thoughts, achievements, and ideas, especially as they reflect on their summer experiences. Students should keep track of these reflections, as well as what they’re learning – it’ll be helpful to have all this information in one place come college application time, when writing up your essays and personal statement.
If you want to learn more about high school coaching and how we at ILUMIN can tailor a specific plan for your student (for both the summer and the school year), feel free to set up a free consultation with us!