As a normal student who's living an ordinary life with fair financial budget to spend, my 2-month break from school works isn't something that you'd imagined when hearing the word "vacation". In mainstream media, we're usually showed scenes like going out-of-town or getting tan in the beach, staying at a family rest house or doing outdoor commitments, those kind of things that requires money above the usual spending budget.
Well, if you're like me who's a "normal" human being, you're most likely going to get stuck at home facing your gadget or book all the time with occasional window-shopping at the mall bonanza, without the expected unwinding period outside your cozy house; for your whole vacation break.
Sure, you want to be someone who goes on an adventure, but your wallet is complaining!
Sounds repetitive? Need something new? Well then, keep reading cause I got your back!
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Edited by: me (krystallos)
Welcome to my first blog! Since summer is already coming (can you feel the heat?) and that includes our 2-month vacation, I've decided to start my blogging series "How to's" by sharing you some ways on how to spend it wisely. Now, without further ado, let's get into the blog!
1. Plan your to-do list prior to the start of the vacation
Technically, this won't be a valid application anymore since the vacation period has already begun. But as I've said, it's just starting, so you can still do it.
Get a pen and a piece of paper. Divide it into 5 columns and name each section; physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and moral spiritual. Under those categories, list all the things that you want to improve about yourself. Anything, even those simple things that you'd like to develop. Like learning a musical instrument or getting into sports. Make sure it's something that's inside the circle of your interest, so that you won't pressure yourself into doing something you don't want to do. Remember, it's still your vacation. Just enjoy!
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For example, in mental, you want to learn more knowledge about a particular thing. So you're going to write under the intellectual category: read book about (insert the topic that you wanted to know more about). Or if you want to lose weight and be fit, you'll now focus your attention on the physical aspect: look up some exercise videos and execute them. You could list anything! It might sound impossible at first, but if you actually put your mind into it and start doing than worrying, you'll definitely achieved it!
If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.
-Barack Obama
2. Make a schedule for each of the item on your to-do list
Listing what you want and need to do is usually not enough, you have to take the next step forward to the road of execution, and that is to make a schedule. You have to indicate how frequent you'll do those things that you listed. What time of the day, how many minutes or hours, when would you stop, etc.
The schedule is a very vital component on your to-do list. You can't just focus on a particular item in there, you might have the tendency to forget the rest and ends up having only one thing done. It may serves as a limitation and an indication.
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This part also includes your general schedule, like eating your breakfast or lunch, taking a bath, sleeping at a certain time, and waking up at an indicated hour. But of course, this is just optional. If you want to train yourself to be more disciplined, then do this. If you want to be more productive and make it a habit, include this. In the contrary, if you just want to chill and enjoy your vacation doing your to-do list without a schedule pressuring you even the slightest thing in your day, then you're free to to do so.
3. Perform the list
The last step of all is to actually do what you have to do. The recent 2 steps would be invalid if you won't even bother to do the last step. In order to do this, just focus on your purpose, why did you wrote those items on the list? What motivated you to do so? Reflect on them before you accomplish a certain thing and just like the way coffee works on you in the morning, it'll kick-start your mind and tadaah, instant energy fuel.
Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.
-Robin Sharma
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Ideas to Write on Your List (If you still don't have one)
So here are some ideas I'd like to share with you if you still don't have plans for the vacation break. I'm doing the some of the following myself so I can assure you that all of it is attainable and highly recommended by me! Of course, to make things easier for you, I already divided it for every category. So, there you go!
Physical Aspect:
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*Get into dancing
You don't need to spend any cents for this one. Just search for an upbeat music and get that body of yours bouncing to the beat!
*Practice your sports
If you're an athletic one, make sure to often stretch your muscles and enhance more of your skills. And if you're not, why not try discovering the right sports for you? It might be a total life-changer!
*Get enough sleep
This isn't particularly a thing in the to-do list that you just do one time or at selective times. No, this is a MUST if you want to improve your physical health. Practice this in your vacation and who knows, it might become a habit and the difficulty in waking early in the morning wouldn't be too hard anymore!
Intellectual Aspect:
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*Read a book or two
So if you're someone who's not fond of reading, you may start training yourself by reading some short books at a given period of time. You can have a lot of benefits for your intellectual wellness. And if you're already a bibliophile like me, start reading those that are outside of what you usually read.
*Learn a foreign language (even just the basics)
This might seems a little heavy, but it contributes a lot to your intellectual well-being. You can start only in the basics, you don't need to force yourself. And to make things lighter, choose the language of the country you're interested in.
*Play puzzles like crossword or sudoku
This is a little exercise for your brain. You may begin at those simple puzzles every morning, until you're prepared enough to do the complicated ones. It is very healthy for your mind to be train like this even at a vacation.
Emotional Aspect:
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*Do meditation (yoga)
I do this whenever I'm stressed with all the happenings unfolding around me. I'd like to free my mind and calm myself, then after that, I'm good as new again. You can also do that for at least 5 minutes of every day.
*Face your fears
In this part, it's up to you what your fears are since it varies from person to person. Practice it by facing the minor fears, up to the major ones. Do it carefully, don't force yourself as it might lead to stress and anxiety.
*Practice self-discipline
You can already achieved this by simply making a to-do list and setting schedules. Just by following those and limiting yourself to other things, you're already disciplining yourself.
Social Aspect:
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*Join a social skills support groups
These kinds of support groups offer help to people who feel shy and awkward when socializing with other people. This will help you to practice your skills and improve your self-confidence.
*Make yourself available to invitations from friends
As much as possible, if you can say "yes", please do so. Expose yourself to these kinds of social events and have a good talk with other people outside of your circle of friends. Do not limit yourself in just one group.
*Engage in social media applications that's in your interest
Of course, "social" isn't just defined in "oral" communication. There are a lot of apps in the play store or app store that you can install and would get you interacting with people of your same hobbies. One of those apps is 'Amino'. For android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.narvii.amino.master&hl=en, for apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amino-communities-and-groups/id1115565187?mt=8
Moral Spiritual Aspect:
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I am deeply aware that not all of us chose to associate in spiritual activities nor to have these kinds of beliefs, for personal reasons. So if you don't, you can skip this part and just continue to respect each other's claims in life.
*Don't forget to pray at least before going to bed
Let us not forget to thank Him for every blessings that he showered upon us, and to beg for forgiveness for all the sins we have committed. At least construct a short prayer before sleeping.
*Attend bible-reading and study
Processing the bible's word keeps us focused on Him, instead on our materialistic wants. Make sure to apply what you learn in real life.
*Serving others
This simply means like helping your neighbors and doing favors for other people even just on small things. Even in this simple ways, you can improve your spiritual health.
And that's the end of the blog!
I hope you enjoy reading it and I thank you for the time you alotted for this one. May you learned a lot of things from this. Have a nice day and take care! See you in my next blog :)
