As great as it sounds, you should try not to make these things a habit this summer:

• -Taking 3-hour naps at 4pm, resulting in falling asleep at 4am that night -Scrolling aimlessly through TLs, forgetting that a world exists outside your bedroom -Not reading SPURblogs

Yes, there are the typical ways of staying mentally active this summer: internships, summer class, being an apprentice for a shoe maker...

But if you aren’t doing those things, here are several interesting ways you can continue exercising your noggin!

1. Summer jobs- Even the simplest dog sitting job will give you the satisfactions of playing with pups, practicing organization skills, or even sparking a new business idea!
2. Summer camps- Whether you are a staff member or planning to attend, social events are a great way to network and gain experience.
3. Start your business- If this seems like it’s impossible to do, I bet you you’re wrong. Our site has tons of useful blog posts up about the problems you may run into an a community that can answer any question you have.
4. Traveling- Check out this link on why traveling is an important thing to do when starting a business
5. Do your own research- Take it upon yourself to find what markets are growing in your city or scour the internet for crazy unknown products. This could spark interest or inspiration in a field and, you guessed it, lead to a new business idea!
6. Try to get social media famous- Pick a platform and make a cool profile whether it's about your fashion sense, the foodie within, or photo-shopping yourself into pics with celebrities (and yes that's a thing). Since it’s summer you probably have more time to shoot and post to grow a following!

via GIPHY

If none of these are things you plan to do, at least challenge yourself to try something completely new. Take kickboxing classes, learn a new language, take a stab at a form of art, even if you're bad at it...

Whatever it is, keep your mind pumping. Your brain is like a car in that if it does nothing for a long period of time, the insides wear and there is much to do to get it running like normal the next time you need it

Be aware that you don’t need the traditional ways to feel like you gained something. The key is being proactive and doing what you say you will, and there is usually always something to take away from the experience.