If you have a high school student, especially one who is focused on the goal of attending college, your summers aren’t just vacations. Gone are the days when you took the kids to the pool, the library and the park. Gone are the days when your time was consumed with planning the summer family vacation and creating a chore chart for the kids to complete chores before play time.

You (and your teen) have other goals in mind.  You’re thinking about using the summer to take care of some college prep tasks to get ahead of the game. Searching for scholarships, doing some test prep, visiting colleges, and having some serious talks about money will consume your summer days. How do you survive?

Share the tasks

It’s unthinkable in this competitive college market to expect a young teen to handle it on their own. Times have changed since we applied to college and there is much more to do than simply apply. You can help them make decisions, help with scheduling, even do some detective work searching for scholarships they are eligible for. This will ease the burden on them and alleviate the overwhelming stress that most teens feel about college.

Schedule and plan

We all know that we don’t ever have the time for a task if we don’t make the time and schedule it. Use any planning tool that works best for your family: an online calendar, an app for your smartphones, a huge wall calendar or a Google doc. Everyone knows—without a plan, you plan to fail!

Stay organized

I’m a huge fan of a college landing zone—everything in one place. Colleges still send information through the mail, registration forms and receipts need to be printed and saved, and flyers about scholarships need to be catalogued and filed. With everything in one place, it’s easy to find anything related to your student’s college preparation.

Make time to talk…and listen

Conversations are crucial to staying on the same page with your teenager. Make the time to talk, even if it’s driving to sports practice or shopping together at the mall. These small conversations are key moments for you to gauge their temperature and share some encouragement. If stress is present, you can help relieve it. If they feel overwhelmed and need help, you’re there for them. Talking about their future and truly listening prepares you both for senior year when things will proceed at the speed of light.

Of course, you want to have fun this summer; but a little work and some focused preparation will make the next school year seem doable. Use the summer time wisely.