Ever feel like your summer gets wasted every single year? You wake up one day, and there’s no school. You have all the free time in the world. But instead of living your best life and enjoying the time off, you waste it scrolling on your phone, and before you know it, the summer has passed, and it’s time to go back to school. There are many ways you can avoid this situation and make this summer something to remember.

• Find a Summer Job

Finding a job over the summer is a great way for teenagers to keep occupied and gives them key lessons and skills that will be useful later in life. And if getting a job in fast food or retail sounds boring, then get a job that suits you! For example, if you enjoy being outdoors, apply to be a lifeguard or work at a summer camp. If you enjoy sports, look at opportunities to ref Little League games. If you love movies, go work at a movie theater; working a job doesn’t have to be miserable, you can find ways to enjoy it. While having a job earns you money, you don’t have to do something that will help financially. Go help out your community with volunteering, look for unpaid internships that might interest you, and just find ways to keep yourself productive. Doing these things will help improve your skills now, but will also help you in the future when you go out into the real world.

• Go Outside

While it seems simple, just taking a step outside can help in so many ways, both mentally and physically. According to Scientific Reports, studies show that spending at least 120 minutes per week in nature leads to an improvement in overall health and well-being. Mentally, it can relieve stress, improve mood, increase focus, and broaden your mind. Just going for a casual walk can remove distractions and give you time to think and take in your surroundings. If you want to do something more physically demanding, there are many activities: swimming, sports, biking, etc. Physically, increased sunlight and exercise benefit your health, along with more social interaction. 

• Make a Schedule

During the summer, most teenagers tend to develop bad habits because they are not bound by a school schedule. However, making a daily schedule is a great way to fix this problem, by writing down the things you’ll do, it motivates you to get things done. For example, waking up at a certain time every single day, doing chores, going for walks, and working out. A schedule helps you build discipline, which is not easy when you have so much free time in the summer. It allows you to start a routine that becomes easy to maintain once you get the ball rolling. This also lowers the time you’d otherwise be wasting on your phone, because you are enabling yourself to focus on things that truly matter to you. It’ll make the summer feel like something you can go back and remember fondly of, because you are able to get so much more done when you have a good routine.

• Do Things

It sounds obvious, but if you want to get the most out of your summer, you have to go out and do things. Try new things. Get out of your comfort zone and go to places and events you’ve never been to before. Plan trips/things to do with your friends, and make the best of what you have.