How To Rest Over The Summer

How to rest over the summer? Summer’s officially here. Some students have plenty of plans, while some have no plans at all. Regardless of which student you are, summer is crucial to getting the rest you need. But how exactly do you rest? Today, we’ll be talking about how to rest so that you feel fresh for the new academic year as opposed to feeling burnt out or bored.

Burnout: A Dangerous Summer Trend

Rather than seeing summer as a time to rest, many prioritize padding their college-bound resumes. It’s no surprise. When over the past few summers, students and parents alike have been driving themselves mad for summer programs and SAT boot camps. This leaves most students forgetting to take a break at all.

While it’s important to remain productive, it’s equally important to get rest. So before we talk about how to rest, let this be a reminder to rest in the first place. Here’s an easy way to determine if you’re overdoing it this summer: chart out your weekly schedule for each week of the summer, and determine how many hours of “work” you have. If on average, you have more than 30-40 hours of work each week, this usually means you’re not getting enough time for rest.

Boredom: The Result of The Lack of Challenge

We all get bored, but boredom over the summer is a unique one. It tends to result from things being too easy, and then repeating that same easy process over and over. Think repeatedly binging Netflix, online gaming, or just sleeping. Relaxing, yes. But boring if you do too much of it.

Hence, we recommend avoiding the boredom trap by introducing mild challenges along a student’s interests. By challenging oneself along a personal interest, students become engaged and discover more about a topic they already like. For example, a student who’s interested in basketball can enroll in weekly training or drills to improve his or her skills. Furthermore, a student who’s interested in engineering can experiment with Arduino DIY projects found online. Lastly, just be careful not to over-challenge, as doing so can really spoil the fun.

Too often, students spend summer doing “nothing”. Fix that by doing something that’s both interesting and mildly challenging.

Rest Over the Summer By Taking A Summer Program in something you are passionate about.

This might sound like the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish. However, taking a college summer program in something you are passionate about is a good thing. And it has positive benefits to your college career. You may find yourself to be the type of person that gets more stressed sitting around doing nothing. Keeping your mind engaged in something you are passionate about may be just what you need. If you find this to be true about you, please feel free to check out ReadyEdgeGo coordinated summer programs.

Maybe a Summer internship or a shadowing program may be beneficial and enjoyable. You may find that the answer to how to rest over the summer is to actually engage your passions.

Be cautious though. There is a fine line in having a productive summer and over exerting yourself. Your Goal is to still find rest over the summer and recharge. Therefore, enjoy the time in your summer. Don’t over do it.

Rest by Relaxing AND Recharging Is How To Rest Over the Summer

Too often, we equate rest with sleep or watching television – forms of Relaxation that hold us idle for hours on end. However, this often leads to students feeling sluggish and sometimes feeling like they “wasted all of summer”.

The other form of Rest is Recharging: identifying the activities that give you energy. Sitting idle doesn’t give you energy; it usually just saps it. So what gives you energy? Is it spending time with friends? Reading over a cup of coffee? Trying a new sport?

Whatever gives you energy and makes you feel recharged, make sure to do plenty of it over the summer. Because by the time summer is over, it’s best to feel recharged and rested rather than bored from overrelaxation or burnt out from being too productive.

We specialize in youth mentorship and college counseling. From 8th grade to 12th, we have you covered for any stage in your high school career. Schedule a free consultation with us here.

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See you soon!

Sarah Gooch

Essay Editor

Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?

A: I have five years' experience in coaching student writing, but this is my first year with ReadyEdgeGo.

Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?

A: I love helping students find depth and meaning in their own stories—but I also just love it when they make me laugh!

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: In theory, I enjoy painting and writing poetry, but these days I actually spend most of my free time socializing or watching movies with my husband.

Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?

A: Don't just focus on achieving top grades and credentials because they look good on applications, or your education will be meaningless. The numbers and awards have their place, but stay connected to your sense of curiosity, discovery, excitement, and wonder so that the content you're learning is constantly transforming you—it's something you care about, something you remember after the final exam. Work on the aspects of yourself no one can measure, like integrity, wisdom, kindness, and compassion, so that you're not only developing your academic and career potential but also investing in the type of adult you're going to be, the person you'll have to live with after you clock out every day for the rest of your life.

Doing the hard inner work of building your character and learning deeply instead of just earning grades will set you up for a satisfying, well-rounded life. Strange as it sounds, it will also put you ahead in your academic and career goals, because colleges and hiring managers aren't looking for an empty set of data on a spreadsheet; they want a fully fleshed-out person marked by passion, creativity, and a story no one else has lived.

So go on studying hard for tests, but also spend some time asking yourself what matters in life and who your role models are. Read up on topics that amaze you, and build something incredible just for fun. Cultivate that spark of joy you feel when you're immersed in a subject that fascinates you. If you can hit that balancing act of doing your homework and meeting deadlines but also investing in the kind of person you want to be, then trust that all the rest will follow: schools will recognize you as a dynamic, all-star person, and you will also build a life of happiness, close relationships, and peace.

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