School can be extremely mentally taxing but make your year more relaxed by following these tips:
1- Get lots of sleep
Sleep is probably the most important factor when it comes to your health. Sleep affects everything and a lack of it can be extremely detrimental. The average person should get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. According to Healthline a lack of sleep can lead to memory issues, mood changes, poor balance, etc. When it comes to school you want to come in with a fresh mind each day so you retain the information. When you sleep you just generally feel better and move about your day better. Since the school season is starting back up soon you should practice going to bed and waking up at a certain time so when school starts you’re not so tired and it's not such a jurassic change. To learn more about sleep, see our Sleep info packet.
2- Create a clear space to be productive
It's hard enough to sit down and do your work but make your life easier by finding a space without distractions. Try to steer clear of doing your work on your bed if possible because being on your bed can trick you into thinking that you're preparing to relax or go to sleep so you won't be as productive. I understand if you can't find a private place where you live, so going to your local library can also help. You can rent a room for free for at least 3 hours
Once you have a quiet place make sure you keep your working station as organized as possible so you can be as efficient as possible without distractions.
3- Create a routine
Creating a routine can help with productivity, stress, and reduced anxiety. A routine can generally take about 18 days for it to become like a second skin so I would recommend that you plan what you want your school routine to be a few days before school starts or the 1st week since it's usually the easiest week. When creating your routine make sure you give yourself time to relax and decompress to allow your brain to rest. Your routine doesn’t have to be like the ones you see on social media and you don't have to map out every second of your day but the important stuff should be a reminder. You should also include a bedtime so you can get the appropriate amount of sleep each night.
4- Become more organized with planners and to-do lists
Having a planner can make you more organized when it comes to everything. For the purpose of school, you should have a planner to write down your homework and any other important information you need to succeed. The same thing applies to making to-do lists. It is said in an article by The Guardian that lists do three things: dampen anxiety about the chaos of life; they give us a structure, a plan that we can stick to; and they are proof of what we have achieved that day, week, or month. Often people will write what they need to do and include a big project with other small assignments and do the small ones while virtually ignoring the bigger assignment and that is when to-do lists get complicated. A way to combat that is taking the bigger task and breaking it up into smaller tasks so you can digest it better.
There are so many tips that you can receive about preparing for school but I think these are the biggest ones that people should focus on which would lead you to successfully tackling school. The most important part is balance. Balance is something that you have to continuously work on because it's not easy but with these tips, I hope you create some balance in your life so that when it's time to focus on school, you can do it to your best ability and when it's time to put school aside you can do that as well.
If you'd like to print out this info packet, the easiest way is to print this google doc! FYI: It doesn't have all the links and related info that are on the online versions:
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