Summer should involve plenty of unscheduled downtime for kids, especially those who have been pushing down on the academic and extra-curricular gas pedals all year. That’s why when I re-publish my summer activity suggestions list every year, I make it clear that kids who work hard during the school year should dedicate plenty of summer focus to recharging and hopefully do some full-fledged goofing off.
But that well-deserved relaxation doesn’t preclude you from accomplishing something this summer. You can do both.
If you spent just 2 1/2 hours a day, 5 days a week this summer doing something—practicing piano, reading your favorite authors, working on your curveball, volunteering—etc., by the end of the summer, you’d have dedicated over 100 hours of time to something that matters to you.
I’m not pointing this out to get you to focus on the total number of hours. But think about how much you could learn, contribute, or grow with 100 hours of focused effort. Summer can be relaxing and productive. Make the commitment to do both this summer and you’ll look back on how much fun you had and how much you got done.