Keeping Momentum During Winter Break

It can be difficult to stay on track with your career goals and school during a break as long as winter break. However, it’s easy to keep your brain engaged and active while you don’t have to stress over homework or finals. Here’s some tips on how to keep your momentum going during winter break.

Start Reading the Books for your Spring Classes

At this point, you know what classes you’re going to be taking in the spring. Why not look up the books that are required and get a head start on the class by looking through them? It will save you a ton of time when you get back from school and are constantly busy again. Even simply skimming over a few pages can help you get a better understanding of the material that the course will cover.

Learn a New Skill

It can be difficult to make time for hobbies during the school year when you’re busy with classes, extracurriculars, or an internship. Use your time off to learn a new skill that you have always wanted to try, like learning some basic phrases in Spanish or brushing up on a musical instrument.

Search for Summer Internships

Winter break is probably the best time to search for summer internships, since there will most likely be time to devote to perfecting your application. Searching for summer internships at your dream company can be a fun way to spend a dreary winter day, and get yourself excited about your future.

Get a Job

Many mall stores hire extra help for the busy holiday season and are looking for temporary employees. It might not be what you want to do for your career, but it’s a good opportunity to develop work experience and earn extra money before you go back to school. If you had a job in high school, now is the perfect opportunity to check back in to see if they need someone to help out during the holidays.

In following these tips, you will have a productive winter break instead of sitting at home and feeling overwhelmed with work once you get back to work. Winter break is a chance to catch up on everything you didn’t have to accomplish over the school year, or start a new activity.

Kaitlyn Lannan is a sophomore at Northwestern University. She is majoring in economics and communication and plans on attending business school. Her dream job is becoming Chief Marketing Officer at a Fortune 500 company. You can find Kaitlyn on Twitter at @KaitlynLannan.