Tips for High School Students
Organization and time management… You’ve heard these words a lot. But what do they mean? Here are some tips to help you stay organized and reduce your stress.
Organize!
After a day at school, you might be in the habit of throwing your books on the floor, grabbing a snack and going outside. Not a bad idea. You do need a break! But if you take just a few minutes to go over the day’s notes, handouts and other material, you’ll be giving yourself a head start on test preparation. And you’ll be sparing yourself the headache of reorganizing pages and pages of notes before exams.
So — come home, grab a snack and sort through the day’s work. As you’re putting papers away, you can also review what you’ve learned and take notes about what you still don’t understand. You can use these notes to ask questions in class.
Time!
To avoid being overwhelmed by tests and homework it’s a good idea to work ahead. This means doing more than just your nightly homework, more than cramming for tests. If you work ahead, you’ll feel in control and maybe even relaxed!
Scheduling your time helps you to find the time to work ahead. Instead of a daily planner, try an hourly planner! This seems crazy at first, but it works. For one week, write down what you’ll be doing in the hours between coming home and going to bed. Follow your schedule and see how much more you accomplish! Here’s an example:
Monday
3:30-4:00 – Math HW
4:00-4:15 – break
4:15 – 5:00 – English vocab hw
5:00-6:00 – review science notes and make flashcards
6:00-7:00 – dinner!
7:00 – 8:00 – French HW and practice verb conjugation
8:00 – 9:30 – TV!
9:30 – 10:00 – read and go to bed