Classes are nearly, if not already, over. You’ve wrapped up the last of your finals, and it’s done. So now what? You now have three months, give or take. Three months to do whatever you want.
Or so you think. Sure, summer vacation is the perfect time to catch up on everything you missed during the school year, like hanging out with friends, staying up all night, the subsequent sleeping in late the next morning. You aren’t necessarily wrong; it’s great to recharge in the little free time adults can get. The problem lies in falling too deep down the rabbit hole; getting too used to having nothing to do to the point where it sparks a problem.
Don’t waste your free time. Use what few months you have as a break and put them to good use. Spend your time wisely.
This isn’t to say go work countless extra hours or force yourself to be sociable when you’d rather not be. Instead, find new hobbies and introduce yourself to interests and practices you may not have time to introduce yourself to otherwise.
It’s easy to fall into the same routine of sleeping until noon, watching Netflix, eating, then passing out and repeating the process. It’s the constant mentality of, “I have this free time, I need to take advantage of doing nothing while I still can.”
That’s a reasonable viewpoint; after all, it is your free time. In a world where we have no time to ourselves, doing absolutely nothing seems like a well-earned break.
And it is. In moderation.
Don’t let yourself get caught in a routine of nothingness. Otherwise, before you know it, your break will be over and you’ll be hurled back into the high-stress environment that is college life.
It’s important to give your brain a break. Everyone needs a few days of vegging out on the couch and binge watching your favorite T.V. show. Letting your body and your mind take a break from life and just go blank every once in a while is fine. But don’t let it consume your whole life.
While you have these few months, try something different. Take that yoga class you’ve been thinking about joining. Take a walk in the park you’ve never been to. Go visit those shops you’ve been wanting to look around in. Whatever it is, keep yourself and your mind active.
After all, you don’t want to wake up at the start of the new semester and realize you’ve wasted your whole break.