As the holiday break approaches and you’re gearing up to spend time with friends and family and thinking of things to do over the holidays, the last thing you might want to think about is the future. Then again, if you’ve got lots of family dinners coming up perhaps any sort of distraction is the way to go! Either way, the Christmas break can actually be a really good time to get ahead for next term or for life after university. There are lots of things to do over the holidays that can help you get just a bit ahead of the game, and since you’ve not got any deadlines for these things, they can be done without any deadline pressure.

If you’re looking for things to do over the holidays, you could think about how to get ahead for next term. One suggestion is to start on your reading lists for your upcoming classes and modules. This may not sound particularly exciting, and by no means are we suggesting that you read everything, but getting a little bit read ahead of time will help you to understand the course and its structure when it does begin, allowing you to enjoy it more. Getting a head start also means you’ll be in a much better position for your coursework and exams, as you’ll have done a good chunk of reading already and will just need to revise that material. If you’ve not got a reading list yet, why not check out what your lecturer has published? This material can give you some extra insight into what to expect in the course. Don’t forget to check their bibliography as there might be some relevant material here too.

Another suggestion for things to do over the holidays is to start thinking about what you’ll do post-studies if you’re in your final year of school (and aren’t planning to go to university or do other further studies) or of university. You can start checking out the job market to see what kind of opportunities are available and what you might be interested in doing. It could well be too early to actually apply for any of these positions, but you can start working on your CV so that you’ll be ready to go when it is time to apply. Again, there’s no pressure to get this done now but it’ll make your life that much easier down the line.

It goes without saying that if you have exams coming in January, you’ll probably be revising for them. But even if you don’t, you can take inspiration for things to do over the holidays. Organising your notes (and yes, this does mean some revision) can help reinforce the material that you’ve learned, some of which you may have been forgotten. If you’ve not got exams, you might think that there’s no point in doing this, but often there’s a lot of overlap between the various modules in a given programme. Doing this can help remind you of interesting points that maybe you had thought were worth looking into further, or of material that might be particularly relevant for another class.

And of course, when thinking of things to do over the holidays, remember to have some down time. Chances are the last few weeks have been fairly stressful. It’s definitely a great idea to get ahead a bit, but you should also take some time just to enjoy being free of work for at least a short time.