You have nothing to do - what now?

So in a lot of my previous posts, I have been sharing with you guys about tips in order to manage your time as well as balancing your academic life and social life. But today, I am going to discuss the opposite thing, which is: what to do when you have nothing to do? I know that this sounds a bit absurd, but whereas there are times when you have a lot of work to do, there are other times that you have absolutely nothing to do! Because of this, in case this is happening to you, today let’s look at some things that you can do in case you are feeling bored!

The first thing to realize is that there are actually a lot of things where you can start early, even if you realize it or not. For example, if you are a freshman or a sophomore, you may not have started with your SAT preparation yet. But hey, that is a very important factor when it comes to applying to college (I know that a lot of US universities are test-optional, but the inclusion of SAT scores, especially higher ones, will make you a very competitive applicant for college), so technically there is nothing called “being earlier to prepare for the SAT. Start by understanding the different sections of the test, or try a full-length practice exam online! Another example is in regards to the AP exam! You may still be in the school year, but certainly you can start preparing for the exam now! And that is not only through doing some mock exams, but you can also revise what you have learned as well as learning the unit after the unit you are currently studying! I am pretty sure that there are going to be a lot of resources available to you - Watch the daily videos in the AP Classroom, or scroll through Khan Academy to look at the videos regarding different AP subjects there! Basically, start preparing for things to come, because no one wants to cram a lot of information when it is near testing day, right?

Additionally, you can use your free time to enhance your extracurricular activities background. If you have watched different videos of students talking about how they get into top universities, the things that you may notice the most is that they have done a lot of extraordinary things - and you may wonder how they are able to achieve that. But again, at the end of the day, they are only humans like us, so you can definitely achieve those milestones too, and that starts by utilizing your free time in order to build your extracurricular activities background. If you are a person who likes STEM, see what topics interest you, and reach out to a college professor in order to do research with them. Do you like to do philanthropic work and volunteer for a good cause? Great, then reach out to places nearby that want to volunteer, or start your own non-governmental organization. I know that these things may sound very grand and impressive - and they ate indeed - but bear in mind that nothing is impossible, and all it takes, really, is a big ambition.

However, with that being said, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to spend all your time doing work - you can relax as well! Walk somewhere, watch a movie, bake some cakes, take a bath, read a book, play with your pet, hang out with your friends, go to the movie, paint a painting, clean your room, chat with people online, create a YouTube video, basically do whatever you want! There are a lot of resources that you can use to aid you in this process, so if you want to do different things, feel free to pursue them! And please don’t feel that by doing this you are doing effective work - I believe that as long as you are learning something or producing some results, then it is definitely worth the time and effort.

Free time can also be dedicated towards learning new skills as well! This is the time when you can start exploring your interests - try to bake a cake, for example! Personally, I find baking a very fun activity that you can do, not only since you can get messy and work different things, but that at the end of the day, you are going to have a cake, even if it tastes good or not. Or you can start to learn to crochet! The internet is a place where it holds a great number of resources, so I would encourage you to explore it! I know that by learning new skills you may not be able to perfect them at first, but always be determined and never give up! I know that you can do it!