Summer: Work or Leisure?

Written by: Juliane

If you're an IB student, you probably know that the summer before your last year of secondary school isn't like every other summer, but that you are required to do quite a bit of work.

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The most important thing to do is to find a balance between work and fun. Before the summer begins, you should figure out when you'll be able to work; is it every morning? or during a specific week? If you think it can be useful, create a timetable for your weeks of summer holiday. Write down what you will do and when/where and try to stick to this plan as best you can. Remember that working non-stop for days isn't an option. You need to take time for yourself that you can spend with family and friends. If you're like me, you probably don't trust yourself to do all of the work you need to when you need to, but what I try to keep in mind is that future me will regret my procrastination, and will be completely overwhelmed by everything she doesn't have the time to do. Then again, you need to know what conditions you work the best, and the most effectively in.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this summer is particularly different from other summers. You might not be travelling at all, or you might be on the road pretty frequently. You would think that always being at home would make it easier to work, but it doesn't always. On the one hand, if you are staying home for most of the summer, come up with a system: have one room where you work, and the rest of your home is for everything else. You can also find other places to work, like in the park or a library, of possible. On the other hand, if your summer is busy and composed of several destinations, I recommend the timetable method, with one for every week, and every journey. Indeed, the journey is also a good time to work, like when you spend hours in the car, because you know that the distractions are limited, and it's not like you could be doing anything more entertaining with other people. The car is a good place to write, in my opinion, and to work on big tasks like an extended essay.

The main things you probably have to think about as an IB student are your Extended Essay (EE) and your Internal Assessments (IA). These big pieces of work can be gotten through with perseverance and productivity; whenever you sit down to work, be fully concentrated and try to be as productive as possible. It's okay if you work on these things bit by bit, as long as you feel that you're getting closer to the end. Moreover, it's rather likely that you will have some reading to do. My advice is that you read around five pages or more every night before you go to bed. I know that I'm actually thankful for the reading I have to do because the prospect of reading isn't as frightening as that of writing. Then again, maybe that's just me. Some teachers may also have given you extra tasks to complete, so you have to also take these into account, and maybe even do them at the first chance you get.

Again, I think structure is essential. Knowing that you'll be very busy during one or two weeks of the holidays, anticipate that you will have more work to do the following weeks. Also, just do it! Every morning for an hour if need be. Once you've worked on it, you can enjoy your free time more fully, and not constantly keep it in the back of your mind. Of course, this is all just motivational talk; you have to actually do the work, not just think about doing it.

Here's a quick summary of the steps to follow: write down what you need to do, figure out when you're going to do it (be realistic), keep the location you will be doing the work in in mind, and do it. After that, relax! Well, sort of.

... So what's the answer: Work or Leisure? A little bit of both.