I know what you're probably thinking, why would I work in the summer? Hold up, hear me out. This blog post is specifically for people going into year 11+. The year that you are going into is going to be a tough one and you're going to want to be prepared. Now I'm not talking about hours worth of studying. Heck no. It's summer time! Who has time to sit down at a desk and literally revise. What I'm going to be talking about is keeping your mind alert and constantly refreshed so you're not thrown into the deep end once its time to go back.
I thought I would share with you things that you can do this summer that will benefit you a lot when you start sixth form or year 11.
First Tip: Wake Up Early
Wake up early? No its summer! That's probably what you're thinking, right? When I say wake up early, I don't mean 6am or what not. Have a lie in but don't sleep until mid day because then half the day is literally gone. I like to wake up at about 9am as I get a nice lie in but I also don't miss half the day. By waking up "early" you have more hours in the day to be productive and get things done. If you want to, you can even get some stuff done in the morning and get it out the way. It doesn't have to be everyday obviously. I mean lets be real, I've already woken up at 12pm this summer holiday.
Second Tip: Have a good breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Think about it, you're sleeping for 6-8 hours, sometimes even more (especially in the summer holidays) and the whole time you're asleep, you haven't eaten. That means your body NEEDS food once you wake up. I know that when I'm awake, I eat every 10 minutes, so not eating for more than 8 hours would be mental. Eating a good breakfast is going to one, make you happy (who doesn't like food?) and two, allow you to concentrate for much longer,
Third Tip: Write a list of what needs to be done everyday
I love lists. Without them, I would be so unorganised. I would recommend sitting with your breakfast and writing out a list of everything you want to get done that day. For me, I do politics so I may put on that list to watch the latest PMQ, so I'm up to date with whats going on (which I definitely need to do actually...). If you're a literature student, you may put that you want to read a chapter of one of the books you'll be studying etc. It doesn't have to be anything major but something that will benefit you. I'm currently in the process of applying for university, so each day I've been trying to find open days to book and things to put on my personal statement.
It really is a great feeling when you look back on the list at the end of the day and everything is ticked off.
Fourth Tip: Select Specific Times
This is an extension of the third tip. Once you've written your list of tasks, try to match it with specific times. So write down how long you want to spend doing it and what time you're going to start the task. This saves you from wasting the day without realising and then trying to cram it all in before bed. For example, you may decide to read for half an hour at 1pm but have a long break to yourself until you do coursework at 4pm. I've found that doing things this way has made me super productive and this is actually how I managed all my revision during exam season.
Fifth Tip: Log Out of Social Media
If you're anything like me, getting notifications distract you. I'll be typing on my laptop and may see the glow from my phone on the other side of the room. That glow will then distract me and I end up checking it. So, what I've been doing lately is logging out of any social media apps that I get notifications from whilst I'm doing something. For me, I get a fair few notifications from Instagram and Snapchat, so I usually log out of there for a bit until I am done. If you can work without being distracted by your phone then you can obviously skip this tip but I would advise it, as it makes such a difference.
Sixth Tip: Reward Yourself!
Once you've completed a task, reward yourself! You've been productive so now its time to reward yourself. Go out with some friends for a couple hours, watch a movie, eat. What I love to do at the end of the day is watch YouTube videos. I love just sitting in bed with the ipad watching vlogs or makeup tutorials. It's my time just to chill. I've been doing it a lot these past few days and I look forward to my daily dose of YouTube.
So these are my tips on how to be productive this summer. The aim isn't to over work yourself but to keep your mind working. I've studied so much this year that I wouldn't do that to myself, its just hopefully going to make September bearable. I hope it was helpful. Let me know if there are specific posts you want to see.
Thanks for reading,
Have a great day x
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