8 Back to College/School Tips
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Every year, September brings the dread and somewhat excitement of
starting back to school. In some cases, you might be excited to go back and see
your friends, get back into a routine and have something to focus on. Or, you
straight up hate the early mornings and studying and just not want to go back
altogether. Me? I’m a bit of both. I love to have a little bit of routine and
see my friends more often and just know I’m those few steps closer to uni every
day. But at the same time, waking up at 6:30am is a ball ache and a half
especially in the winter when it’s STILL DARK and I’m in lesson at 9am.
Every year I try and be really organised and have everything under
control, do my homework as soon as I get it and study in my frees – this
usually lasts a week or two at most then I get stressed and want to drop out.
Only kidding, but really I don’t stay organised for long. But this year I’m
going to try and be different. I’m going to make my everyday lifestyle better
so that I can interpret it into my college life. If that makes no sense, I’m
basically going to try and be healthier, happier and just be in a better place
so that I maybe don’t stress about college as much.
So I’ve also decided to put any tips that I’m going to live by
into a little blog post as something I can refer back to as well as anyone else
who struggles with back to school stress. Hopefully some or all of these help
you and if not, different things help different people – go by whatever helps
you best!
If you’d like some back to school tips, just carry on reading!
↠ Sleep
Sleep is honestly so so
important and is something I definitely need to get better at. I’m stuck
between loving sleep when I have to wake up and staying up on YouTube at 1am in
the morning. I believe it’s around 8-9 hours of sleep you should get a night
and is at least what you should aim for. For me, I know that if I EVER go to
sleep after 11pm I can’t wake up for shit in the morning. Sleep is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood
vessels, sleep allows your body to rest and ultimately have more energy the
next day. Sleep also sharpens your attention – which means, in those boring
lessons when your teacher is droning on and on, you’ll be awake (depending on
how boring they are) and not dosing off. I can say dosing off in lesson has
happened a lot of times for me because I just want to stay up at night. Another
problem may be working late if you have a part time job. If this is the case,
speak to your managers and tell them your availability. Fair enough, you’re earning
money but just try and pick up more hours on the weekend opposed to letting
yourself become more and more sleep deprived with long days at college and
school. Your health is what matters the most.
↠ Drink water
Is it just me or
does anybody else feel so much better when they drink more water? I’ve grown to
love water rather than fizzy drinks over the last few months and it makes me
feel insanely healthier and better. Not only is it healthier for your body, it
also helps a ton when it comes to acne. As teenagers, we’re all prone to acne
aka planets growing on our faces. Whether they’re caused by stress, bad dieting
or you’re just someone who has acne, water will definitely help get your skin
get into better condition. Even if it doesn’t help much, it should do at least
a little! Water will keep you hydrated throughout the day without harming your
teeth or providing too much energy. If you find water boring, add some fruit
like strawberries or lemon, this will give you a detox water that will help
flush your body of impurities and is pretty healthy for you!
↠ Planner
If you have a planner,
I guarantee you will feel a lot more organised even if you aren’t haha. I
recently brought one from Typo.com and I am absolutely in love with it (the
diary in the left of the photo) not only is it pretty but it also has
everything in it that a 17-year-old needs to stay organised. I’ve wrote my
timetable for college down in it, there’s room for study notes, contacts, a map
and enough room on each date to write whatever you need. I write down my shifts
at work, to driving lessons, concerts and open days I’m going to. It just
allows me to have something to look at and see everything I have on rather than
keeping it all stored in my head, stressing me out even more! I also have a
calendar hung up in my room that I can quickly look at and check off every day
– trust me, it will make your life more organised and less stressful.
↠ Breakfast
I’m sure you’ve heard
time and time again about breakfast being the most important meal of the day
and although it may not be your favourite, it is pretty important. It will give
you energy for the day and ultimately put you in a better, more ready mood for
whatever you face throughout the day. Also, it means you won’t have that
embarrassing moment in first period where you remember you haven’t eaten and
your stomach rumbles louder than a volcano :)
↠ Homework
As annoying as
homework or coursework is, it is really important to get it done. Not only will
it mean your teacher won’t have a go at you, it essentially is there to help
you learn more and do extra work out of lesson for your benefit. Something I
need to work on is doing homework as soon as I get it rather than leaving it
till the night before it’s due and stressing like mad.
↠ Free Periods
I had soo many
free periods last year and I do as well this year, the only problem is that
most of them are at the end of the day meaning I’ll just be tempted to go home
at lunch. If you have a lot of frees, use them wisely. Even if that means just
reading through a text book or making some notes. The time is there for you to
get extra revision and work in. Fair enough, you’re not going to do this every
free period, I definitely didn’t. But it is definitely something I need to use
more wisely rather than sitting playing subway surfer on my phone. Or, if
you’re feeling a bit stressed out and anxious about all the work you have to
do, just take a breather. The free is there and you can use it to your benefit,
whether that’s relaxing for doing work – whatever will help you.
↠ Talk to People
Depending on how
you are as a person, try talking to people more. Fair enough, some people might
hate talking to others and prefer to keep to themselves. But, if you find
yourself in the position where you’re confused or just need someone to talk to,
go and do it. If it’s to do with school work, I imiagine most schools have
tutors, go and talk to them, that is literally their job, they are there to
help you through the school year and be there for you. Or, if you’re feeling
alone and anxious, talk to your friends – plan a night together or a day at the
weekend. Try not to bottle everything up to the point where you have a break
down. If you’re reading this wondering who you’d have to talk to at this point
or thinking you have no one, talk to me! Comment below or dm me on twitter,
I’ll be more than happy to be there for anyone who feels like they’re in a
place where they have no one or just need someone to listen to them.
↠ Balance
Balance is important
when it comes to school, work and social life. Often or not, too much of one
will stress you out. Try and find that balance between finding enough time to
study and do college work, along with working shifts that won’t make you
exhausted as well as being social and hanging out with your friends. Along with
this, you may just need some alone time to yourself to do nothing. I know for a
fact, every so often I need to just be by myself before I bite someone’s head
off. During these times I’ll just read a book, listen to music, watch a film or TV show and just have plain old me time. Finding that balance will enable you
to be almost content in a lot of aspects in your life.
They are just a few back to school tips that I could muster up and
put into a post. I’m sure there are sooo many more that either just you or
anyone can interpret into their own lives! If you have any other back to school
tips, let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for reading!
Phoebe
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2 comments
The book in the picture saying 'you got this', is it a normal note book? Love reading your articles btw! X
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Yeah it is, it's a lined notebook from Typo.com! X
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