If you're reading this post, hopefully you're on winter break, or at least close to it! I was freed from school almost a week ago, and I'm still not entirely sure what to do with this newfound free time. (The other day a coworker asked me what I was going to do after I got off work, and my instinctive response was "study.") This, of course, doesn't come from having nothing to do-I'm just so unused to having so little to do, I have no idea where to start.

But time is ticking. And if I want to make the best of this break, I can't waffle forever. I have to come up with something to do, fast.

And I have seven suggestions as to what that will be.

1) Reading for pleasure.

I love reading for fun, but when you have to read about thirty chapters for school, it's hard to justify reading a novel instead. And when I do finally get the chance to read for fun, I'm usually too burned out to do so and would rather watch some dumb TV or sleep. Now that I don't have any homework to do, I can kick back and dive into that massive pile of books I've collected from the library I work at.

2) Spending time with my old friends from high school.

I'm still good friends with people I went to high school with, but since we're all going to different colleges now, it's obviously a lot harder to meet up with them. Now that most of us are back in town, we'll be able to get together

3) Spending time with family.

I spend a lot of time with my family, considering that I live with them, but did I really spend time with them? Most of my interactions with my family during the school year are eating dinner together and perfunctory conversations about chores-"Can you wash the dishes?" "Are my orange jeans clean?" et cetera. But during the break, I'll be able to spend more free time with them, so perhaps we'll be able to try having a game night or watching a movie.

4) Write.

I've posted several times about forcing myself to write my novel, but the fact is, it's always harder to write when school is in. Like reading for pleasure, it's hard to justify spending hours writing a novel when you have to write a paper. But with the break ahead, I have no excuse much more time to charge through my novel, including a vital restructuring to the plot line that's been ignored for weeks now because "school."

5) Watch YouTube guilt-free.

Every time I watched an excess of YouTube videos, knowing that I had something to study for, I would feel this twinge of guilt: Wow, maybe I should be doing my homework. It kind of ruined the viewing experience. Now that I'm on break, I can binge watch to my heart's content. (But not, of course, to the exclusion of items 1-4 and 6-7 on my list.)

6) Get my room clean.

This is the exact opposite of #5-this is something I haven't been doing, without guilt, because I've had schoolwork. Now that I'm on break, I don't have any more excuses to keep my room looking like a war zone. At this point, I need to suck it up and clean it. It's not going to get any neater, and everyone will be better off for it (save the stuff I throw out).

7) Sleep.

Now that it's break, there's no excuse for me to not get eight hours of sleep a night, except maybe on New Year's Eve. Not that this is a challenge for me...!

What do you plan on doing for winter break?