Summer’s in the air. The tail-end of Term 3 is synonymous with the season of relaxation – and relax I most certainly will. With that comes the lethargy, the laziness to try & accomplish something & subsequently the idea of resting for 2 straight months generates an almost infallible mental block. Well, I’m here to discuss how to displace such a looming mental block by breaking it down into a handful of points that can guide you through creating a successful rubric for a summertime of productivity.
SMART Ambitions
My high school would always attempt to hammer this acronym into our heads in an attempt to make it stick. Whether it be coursework preparation or general study skill sessions, they would often refer to this acronym. Being sixteen or seventeen, I barely heeded this advice all in the name of wanting to enjoy life. But this acronym has helped me a lot in my journey in higher education. And for very good reason.
The acronym stands for a goal that is specific (S), measurable (M), attainable or achievable (A), realistic (R) all within a timely (T) manner. A goal or target with this framework in mind allows your brain to not diverge into too many targets or stick your fingers into too many, as it is often easy to get lost in what you want to do as opposed to what you can actually do. Doing this allows a sense of certainty and assurance in which goals you wanna achieve over the summer
Clarity – The SMART framework allows you to funnel your focus into targets that are feasible and within your reach.
Making these goals personal.
Now, the SMART framework won’t do you any good if you don’t feel any connection towards these goals. If there is no personal incentive driving the accomplishment of these goals, it’ll ultimately be a waste of your time & effort in a time where you could be recuperating from your university endeavours. This goal needs to be something you sincerely want to try and accomplish over the course of the summer, and anything short of that will ultimately end up being an utter waste of your time.
For example, what I plan to do over the duration of the summer involves a heavy reading pertaining to key issues & topics surrounding two of my second year modules: medical law & environmental law. Over the course of the summer, I have set myself the personal goal of reading around the ins & outs of environmental law in particular as I hope to specialise in that sector in the future. Another goal is to be more active on this blog.
Whilst to others it may not seem like much, it doesn’t matter what others think if what you believe you are doing is a meaningful goal that you can sustain over the course of the summer.
One at a time.
Slow & steady wins the race. There’s no point in overloading yourself with all these ambitions if you’re too overwhelmed to even process it. Take it easy & take it slow. There’s no need to rush yourself and you have ample time in the summer to gather your thoughts & pace yourself accordingly. Rushing yourself will only lead to mistakes and once more will have you untangling a web of your own making. By dealing with whatever is in your to do list incrementally, it can help maintain your focus as you methodically work through each task.
To put it in simpler terms, break it down as if you’re studying subjects for school or modules for university. Within each study session that lasts say 15 minutes, you wouldn’t mesh both Mathematics and English within the same 15 minute period. Of course, everyone’s studying style is subjective & differs from one person to another, but more often than not, the content won’t be able to stick when compared to studying both Mathematics and English within two different 15 minute period study sessions.
Slow & steady wins the race – take your time with these goals!
And that’ll be all from me today. I hope you found this blog post particularly helpful in maintaining your summer goals & ambitions whatever it may be – which could be but isn’t limited to internships, learning a new course or even a new body training regimen or goal. Until next time! –
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Khal.
