As July comes to a close, you’ve had a whole month—maybe even month and a half!—off: no homework, no testing (unless you took the July 16th ACT), no needing to wake up early. So theoretically, you’re supposed to be feeling rested and refreshed by now...right? Feeling excited to start your college app essays and/or test prep and/or campus visits, no?
But here’s the question: have you really caught your breath yet? I know I haven’t!
Phew. Sometimes it can be a relief to just acknowledge that you're stressed out, even when you feel like you “shouldn’t” be. So let's take a minute here, as July winds down, to review the summer so far. Summer burnout has this insidious way of sneaking up on me…and I see it sneak up on lots of my private test prep tutoring students and their parents, too.
Why Do I Feel Burnt out in the Summer?
It's that thing that happens when you start to give up on all the overzealous plans and lists you made in June...or the thing that keeps you sprinting like crazy all summer long until you find, just as the school year is set to begin, that you're every bit as exhausted as you were when it ended. Summer burnout can hit when you're piling too many expectations or tasks onto your plate. There’s no shame in that—it’s natural to get excited about free time, and a lot of us do it.
For instance, here’s why I fall into this trap. In the stressful throes of mid-spring, I start to fantasize about summer. The stretch from June to August always seems like it's going to be a giant blank space where I can do everything I've been putting off or dreaming of, both work and play. The moment the June SAT and ACT are finished, I start telling myself, I can tackle my next projects: marketing my new suite of SAT and ACT ebooks and online courses and drafting my blog posts for the coming school year. Every single one of them. That would make next year so much more relaxing! But of course, those aren't my only projects: there are also workshops to host, conferences to attend, and new developments in the standardized testing world that I need to read up on! And there's summer fun to have, too: I want to hit the beach, see all my friends, explore my other interests, and take my black lab, Princess, to the park. Oh, and of course I'm going to continue to see my one-on-one tutoring clients as they get serious about test prep in August.
...and then I wonder why I feel so frazzled.
Reading that list is enough to make most anyone feel tired—and I know I'm not the only one who gets these Grand Ideas about the sunny season! Lots of the students and families I work with promise themselves that summer will be their chance to unwind…even while they cram it full of all the work and projects they haven't had time for during the school year.
Don’t get me wrong—it's fine to pace yourself on some of that important stuff by scheduling it into your summer! The summer is a great time to check a few important items off your to-do list. But be careful: if you don’t intentionally work some balance into your June, July, and August, you’ll be running on empty by the time September comes around—the very moment when you need to be hitting the ground running for junior or senior year.
So let's not overthink this one. Below is a short, actionable list of ways to beat summer burnout. These tips will help you pace yourself throughout the summer so that you're ready to start junior or senior year excited and energized, all pistons firing.
1. Don’t overschedule your summer break.
If you’re signed up for a 6-week baseball camp, you might want to avoid ALSO doing an internship 4 days a week for 4 hours each day. And you’d REALLY want to think twice about deciding you’ll just “start studying” for the SAT or ACT on the days you don’t have baseball camp! I know it feels like summer is the time to pack it all in because you assume you'll be more relaxed then, but how will you find time to get more relaxed when you're jamming up your summer weeks with every imaginable leftover task?
In general, it’s okay to work hard (even during the summer)...as long as you also plan in stretches of time when you play hard. Are you going on a 2-week vacation in Hawaii? That would be a good way of balancing out a packed and intense school schedule with a summer that's already loaded with scheduled elements like summer programs or work.
However, you also need some blocks of time when you don’t have ANYTHING on the agenda! No vacation, no program, no classes, no job. Even if it’s only a week, you need to have some time when you can just sleep, let your mind wander, and reset. Your brain needs a break just like the rest of you.
2. Don’t Get Burned Out—Get (or Stay!) Physically Active
Some of you are already dedicated athletes, and pre-season is already a built-in part of your summer. But for the rest of you, I encourage you to use this time of fewer obligations to take care of your body! Take a swim, explore your neighborhood on your bike, go running, take a hike, experiment with that adventure sport that you’ve been watching TikToks of.
In addition to the benefits of the happy chemicals you’ll generate with exercise (hello, endorphins!), your mind tends to work better when you can turn it off at times. And exercise is the perfect way to get into your body and out of your head!
3. Switch Up Your Routine & Environment
If your typical summer day usually looks the same—a yoga lesson across the street, a phone session with your best friend, and binge-watching “Stranger Things” AGAIN in your bedroom, it’s time to shake things up. It doesn't even have to be anything major: try making a plan to get together with your cousin, or catch a movie that isn’t your typical genre.
Changing up your environments and activities stimulates your brain and forces you to really be present and observe what’s going on and react to your surroundings. This will help you break out of often angst-producing thoughts that come from not having to think through your day because you know every move by heart!
4. Refresh Your Brain by Getting into Nature!
Sometimes I'll force myself to take a quick drive to the beach—for only 30 minutes of beach time! Even if I don’t spend the whole day in the surf, the change to my routine and environment—as well as the vitamin D!—immediately puts me in a grounded, calm mood that lasts the rest of the day. (And sometimes the next couple of days, too!)
Trees, fresh air, the smells of saltwater, a change of scenery—ideally with cellphone off—can do wonders to help you relax after the ceaseless grind of the school year. Not only can communing with nature hit all the points I've already mentioned under the tips above, it also makes you calmer and more peaceful—and quickly.
So please take these pointers as the permission (or the kick in the pants) that you need to finally give your brain a break during the summer.
Rest is a task too—athletes call it "active recovery," and it's a crucial part of meeting your long-term goals. So remember to prioritize relaxation! And just remember, even if you still have a pretty busy schedule after implementing the above tips, it still makes a difference to take just a few minutes here or there to try something new, go somewhere new, go outside, or exercise. The effect is cumulative! Whatever you can do to give yourself some active downtime will help you stave off summer burnout and help make sure you're making the most of your summer and be ready to rock when the school year rolls back around.
