Smart Summer Habits Can Fuel Future Success
Being intentional with your downtime can help you return to work and education refreshed and ready
Is your brain already in vacation mode? Summertime can feel like an in-between period for many adult learners who are balancing work, travel, and family demands, but there’s good news: you can use this time to your advantage.
“Learning scientists have found that taking short breaks can help our brains learn new skills,” says Ronnie Godshalk, associate dean of learning systems for the College of Lifetime Learning. “While we are ‘resting,’ or not involved in learning, our brain replays the new skills it has learned. Mixing periods of study with rest not only enhances learning, it also reduces stress and cognitive performance deficits.”
Godshalk and her Georgia Tech Professional Education colleagues agree that using summer break intentionally — not just for preparation, but also to pause — can help learners return to their educational goals confident, rested, and ready to learn.
Be Aware of the “Summer Slump”
The summer slump isn’t just for elementary-aged children. In adults, it can show up as a feeling of lost momentum, forgetting key skills, or letting self-doubt creep in. However, with a few intentional habits, you can keep your mind sharp while enjoying your downtime.
“Summer is a great opportunity for adult learners to recharge while also preparing for academic success,” agrees Warren Goetzel, the Center for 21st Century Universities’ director of external and faculty engagement. “Adult learners can use the summer to hone foundational skills, explore new learning tools, and set clear academic goals for the fall.”
It's also a time to think more intentionally about your future. Giving yourself time and space can be a catalyst for change, according to Chris Carter, academic program director for project management, who suggests that learners can use summer to reflect on their gifts, dreams, and goals.
“Be aspirational in your thinking,” he says. “The curiosity around how you might achieve your ideas often leads to the need to learn something new.”
Take Advantage of Screen Time
Low-stakes learning is more accessible than ever, and chances are you already have a great tool available — your phone or tablet.
For people hoping to keep their language skills polished, “most learners already have many of those tools literally in their hands — language apps are a great way to review and expand vocabulary and grammar skills in bite-sized chunks,” says Katherine Samford, director of Georgia Tech’s Language Institute. “For more extensive review and practice, YouTube channels, podcasts, and TED Talks are a great interest-driven way to engage English language content. Another fun way to engage is through audiobooks.”
Beyond language learning, smartphones also offer a variety of applications designed to enhance cognitive functioning. Apps that focus on memory, attention, and problem-solving skills can be a convenient way to stimulate your brain, and research shows that purposeful interaction with digital devices can have a positive effect on your brain's health and potentially reduce cognitive decline.
Connect Through Strategic Social Opportunities
Staying mentally sharp doesn’t mean you have to stay home and plugged into a device all summer. Learners can also be strategic with their social activities and let their brains stay active by finding opportunities to connect with their communities or by picking up a new hobby or skill.
“Connecting with peers or mentors and maintaining a balanced routine supports both academic readiness and personal well-being,” Goetzel says. In fact, research shows that “activating social capital,” or maintaining relationships with classmates or mentors, can be beneficial to learners of all ages in multiple ways by offering support, creating connections, and providing access to information and resources.
In addition to maintaining relationships with fellow professionals, finding low-pressure activities to participate in with friends and family can build confidence and help you keep your brain energetic.
Samford notes that daily life offers organic chances for light learning. Taking advantage of opportunities in your routine can be the “most important and natural approach” to staying connected to your knowledge. For example, if you want to maintain language skills, you could write emails to friends or family. Other ways to stretch skills could be trying something like a dancing class or book club — by yourself or as part of a group.
By mixing both intentional connections and laid-back family time, you can keep yourself engaged while enjoying the casual opportunities often found during school breaks.
Take Time to Rekindle Your Curiosity
While preparation for the return to the classroom is important, so is pressing pause. Summer can also give you time to refocus your energies in quiet ways.
“Breaks have been associated with decreased stress, lower physical exhaustion, and increased life satisfaction,” Godshalk says. “Spend time during the summer outdoors engaging in relaxing activities such as walking, doing yoga, or listening to music. Learners respond better after these activities since health and sleep are often improved, and energy for learning is restored.”
By resetting yourself, you can engage in activities that can keep your brain active, but are also fun.
“The best kind of summer brain activity should feel like curiosity, not work,” Samford says, noting that “light, playful engagement” and low-stress activities can keep your instincts sharp and skills active. As an example, she notes that, “when I was learning Spanish, I would practice rolling my ‘r’ while I was driving — private, targeted practice. I also practice Portuguese by counting sheep in Portuguese as I fall asleep.”
Goetzel agrees with that sentiment.
“Even when not formally on the job, learners can help keep active by engaging in activities that challenge their thinking in enjoyable ways like reading thought-provoking articles, listening to educational podcasts, or exploring new technologies,” he says. “I also enjoy reflecting on recent projects or ideas and brainstorming ways to improve or expand them. These small, intentional mental breaks help keep the mind sharp and ready for the academic demands of the fall.”
And sometimes, research shows, there is a benefit that comes in the quiet moments.
“Utilize downtime to ‘research yourself,’” Carter says, “especially during vacations or during small breaks away from the daily grind. This time can often be utilized for self-reflection, mindfulness, or deep retrospective. We all need time to just to stop and think!”
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