When the final bell of the school year rings around mid-June, I always feel a newfound vivacity sprouting from deep within my soul. FINALLY. I could go do what I want to do now. Freedom at last.
It’s not that I hate school. It’s that summer finally offers me an opportunity to plan my day how I want to and do all the things I’ve been holding off on because of full-time, mandatory education. Too relatable, huh?
That feeling usually lasts about 2 hours, until I go home, unpack everything from the whole school year, and then find a TV show to start watching…because it’s summer.
Fast forward to August 16th, when I start getting emails about my classes and schedule for the upcoming school year…and it hits me. Summer is almost OVER. School is about to start again. And I am still sitting on my bed (or on the couch for change) watching new remakes of 20th century Egyptian drama. I have not done a single thing from all that I planned to do.
Obviously, I do a lot more than watch TV over the summer. Come on, gotta give myself some credit here. I go places with my family, work part-time, and eat a lot of food. But, that’s about it. And to be completely transparent, that is absolutely not acceptable. You and I can do so much in 2-3 months of free time. That’s enough time for us to remodel every dimension of our lives (and still do those things that we enjoy) if we wanted to.
Wasting that time is deplorable. Wasting any time is. Time is a commodity, dare I say the most valuable one. Investing in it is the bare minimum we can do, both for our benefit and for society as a whole.
So, here is a complete guide on how to prep for summer to ensure that you do everything you plan to do. Don’t forget to check out the list of habits you may want to work on over the summer (if you want ideas) and also the free, printable guide at the end of this article.
1. Do a Brain Dump
I don’t know about you, but there is so much that I want to do that it is borderline more overwhelming than school. I’m fuzzy with energy just thinking about it, but that energy is not concentrated and will fade off when it comes down to business. Why? Because I’m not clear about anything. A million and one ideas are all popping in and out of my brain at the same time. Scattered energy is futile. It doesn’t achieve anything.
Therefore, the first step is to concentrate that energy in the direction you want to go by dumping out all the thoughts you have on paper. Make a list of all the things that come to mind when you think of summer. It doesn’t matter right now if you are actually going to do them. Filtering them out is a different step. For now, just brainstorm all the ideas you have for any potential plans.
2. Make Goals Out of Ideas
Everyone has a different image of an ideal summer. For one person it might be traveling to the most places you can travel to. For another, it might be to read the most books you can read. And still for another, it might be to make the most money or spend the most time with family and friends.
There is nothing wrong with anyone’s image of their ideal summer. It is their life, afterall, and if that’s what it means for someone to make the most of their time, then they ARE making the most out of their time when they do those things. You and I cannot say otherwise. Everyone puts their own definitions, and so whether you adhere to mine says nothing about how effective of a person you are in life. You need to adhere to your own standards, goals, and definitions.
That’s why you need to define what your goals are and set specific deadlines for them. You have to be clear on what it means to make the most of time for YOU. That’s when you should filter out all the ideas you just brainstormed and select the few that are the most meaningful to you, and which would make you feel like you have actually made the most out of your summer when you do them. I cannot give you a list of “15 Things You Should Do to Make the Most Out of Your Summer” (though I kinda will). That’s a bunch of nonsense. Because what I may deem worthy of my time may be the opposite for you. We all have different pursuits, preferences, identities, and goals. Therefore, you should be clear on what yours are and plan according to them.
3. Put Action Steps to Each Goal
Goals without plans are daydreams. If you want something to happen you can’t write it down and secretly wish you wake up in a few days and it would happen. Prepping for summer is just that: prepping. You have to make a plan, write down the action steps that would get you to your goals, and create a strategy for when you fail. Always, strategy before action. Otherwise, that action is doomed to fail. And if it succeeds, it is by luck alone and not of your own doing, which isn’t really helpful.
What does it mean to create action steps for goals? It means to know what’s required of you to get to that place, lay it out one by one, and follow through. If you’re trying to build a new habit, then you must first understand how habits are formed, and then obey those laws of psychology to actually adopt that habit. It must happen consciously and strategically. If you’re trying to achieve a specific goal, then you must do your research. What does it take to get there? I don’t mean that in a motivational “you gotta have what it takes” kind of way. No, I mean that physically. What do you need to do today, tomorrow, and the day after to finally become that, do that, or have that?
4. Create Reminders
Here’s the thing: if you don’t make the actions or habits obvious every day, then you probably won’t do them. There is no point in brainstorming, setting goals, and writing out a strategy if you aren’t going to actually do it. How do you actually do it? You make the action obvious, easy, attractive, and rewarding. It’s not enough to have a compelling motive underlying the goal because when it comes down to it, that’s not going to be enough for you to take action.
You need a more systematic and practical way to get yourself to do things that you know are going to be good for you in the long-term. There are many “systematic and practical” methods that can force you to do things when the motivation wears off. Creating reminders in your daily planner, letting a friend in on a goal to hold you accountable, or throwing yourself cold-turkey in a big commitment to force yourself to do it are all equally effective methods to actually get yourself to do the daily, unpleasant actions to achieve your goal. Choose what works for your personality and the type of goal you are setting.
Ideas for Summer:
Although I cannot tell you the type of goals you need to set or give you a list of tasks and say that they will be worthy of your time, I can give you a general list of ideas to help you brainstorm. The reason being that some people (especially young people) have no idea whatsoever what they want to do and will never take any action unless somebody nudges them in some kind of direction. And for that, I will do all that I can to help. Pick and choose whichever suits your life and your aims. And if you already know what you want to do, then don’t even bother.
- Get a part-time job
- Start college applications (hello rising seniors)
- Do a full house/room deep clean
- Read 3-5 books
- Volunteer
- Go to the beach
- Go on a camping trip
- Cook new recipes
- Learn a new skill: drawing, writing, dancing, swimming, etc.
- Workout daily
- Hangout with friends weekly (or daily!)
- Save money (set whatever amount works for you)
- Get an Internship (whatever field you want)
- Join a church/youth group
- Take a course/class in an area of interest (a lot online for free!)
The Free, Printable Guide
This guide is a template for you to implement all of the tips in this article in one compact, organized, and aesthetic location. You can make all of your brainstorming, goal setting, and action planning for every dimension of your life in one packet. And it’s all for free!
The guide has a section for brainstorming (jotting down all your ideas from tip #1) and then the rest of the packet is divided among the eight dimensions of human life which are important to consider when trying to make the very most out of your summer: spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, physical, occupational, financial, and environmental.
Each dimension has its own box, where you can write an overall broad statement about what you wish to achieve in that dimension for the time period, a place where you can write down the specific goal (with a deadline), and then finally, a place where you can write down the actions steps.
