After a long and most likely difficult year of classes, students all around the country will start to go on summer break this month. Some may spend summer taking classes on campus or online, some may spend it vacationing around the globe, some may spend it working at a job or internship or some may spend it doing nothing at all.

Once students leave the classroom, they may feel a lack of structure, a lack of a schedule or a lack of productivity. For some, this may be exactly what they wanted. For others, and especially those who do not have an internship or job, this can be a problem.

When you have no obligations to take care of over the summer, it may seem easier to simply waste away the summer doing a whole lot of nothing instead of putting in the effort of doing something productive.

It’s easy to say: “I’ll do it another time,” without deadlines keeping you on your toes. With this sort of thinking, you dismiss all the free time you have available to continue to push back whatever it is you’re trying to get out of your summer. Then, before you know it, your summer is over and you’re back in class. What will you say when classes roll around and you’re asked what you did over the summer?

So how can you stay productive over the summer? The solutions are endless.The key is finding a technique or tool that works best for you. However, they all start the same: with a goal. First, you must decide what you want to get out of the summer.

Once you know your overarching goal for the summer (could be wanting to make $4,000 or buy a car.) Break that goal into steps by month, then by week, then even by day. 

What are all the exact things you will need to do day by day to achieve your goal by the time class starts back up in the fall?

Now that you have your daily steps, it’s time to figure out how you will stick to it. For some, this may come in the form of a daily planner. 

For others, a checklist or even a white board. There is no correct tool or method to keep you on track, whatever works best for you, will work best for you.

With your goal in mind, and your steps to get there in hand, you’ll be ready to have the most productive summer of 2019.