How to Maintain an Academic Mindset Over the Summer
Edited by Lydia Boubendir
When school lets out, it’s tempting to hibernate in bed until school starts again. However, summer assignments aside, allowing yourself to lose all motivation and drive over the summer can cause you to miss out on opportunities and have a harder transition back to school in September.
So how do you maintain an academic mindset over the long break, even while enjoying the rest and relaxation you so deserve? Here is a list of tips I use to keep myself stimulated and motivated over the summer!
Make a list of goals!
Even before summer starts, I make a list of the things I want to accomplish before it ends. For example, as a rising senior, I plan on finishing my Common App essay before school. Be that as it may, “before school” is a vague, wishy-washy deadline, so it helps to specifically assign projects to different months, e.g. finishing a personal programming project in the month of June, and finalizing my essay in the month of July.
But when there are many projects you want to complete, your schedule can be hard to remember – and even harder to stick to – which brings me to my next tip:
Keep organized!
It’s impossible for me to devote 100% of my attention to the task at hand if I’m also preoccupied with remembering the dozens of other tasks I have to get done afterward. Jotting down every idea that strikes, and every detail I remember I must later iron out, is essential to working efficiently. At the moment, I mark pressing questions on Post-Its, I use two agendas – one for work, one for academic endeavors – and I take advantage of free planning software such as Reminders (automatically installed on MacBooks) and Microsoft To Do (downloaded from the App Store).
Most integral, however, are my agendas. Without them, I can’t help but fret over the possibility that I’ve forgotten something. Waking up in the morning and seeing that day’s workload all laid out for me (pre-determined by Past Lydia) makes it easier to start working and be productive. Breaking long-term projects down into daily duties helps overcome any mental blocks or hesitation: Even if you know a project will take weeks of effort, as long as you focus simply on each task in front of you, it’ll be wrapped up before you know it.
Agendas are also helpful for ensuring you still have time for fun over the summer. If you can, schedule any hang-outs or vacations a couple weeks in advance and rearrange assignments accordingly. If your friends spontaneously invite you out to dinner, that’s not a problem either; go out, and make a note to complete those last few tasks the next day.
In order for any agenda to be effective, however, it’s crucial you stick to it. Being flexible while still being functional is a quality that takes time to learn but proves worthwhile. If you go out to dinner and reschedule a few assignments, make sure you take the time to get them done.
Practice a healthy sleep schedule!
During the school year, I sleep late and wake early. Necessarily, I try to catch up on that lost sleep over the summer – I sleep in, I nap, and I allow myself to wake according to my circadian rhythm.
Although heeding your biological clock is healthy, it can be discouraging to wake up and realize half the day has already gone by, particularly if you work best in the morning and early afternoon, like me. To avoid this problem, I try to sleep relatively early so I can wake up refreshed and inspired. It’s tempting to stay up until 1 am, immersed in a novel or gripped by a television series, knowing you don’t have school the next day, but this habit is ultimately taxing to your health and your productivity.
And if you find yourself slacking off one day, don’t despair! It’s absolutely okay, and even recommended, to take a few days to relax, unwind, and sleep. I hope you have a productive and – first and foremost – happy summer!
