1. Keep breakfast Easy: Consuming healthy foods to restore your body’s energy in the morning is necessary to have a great start to your busy day at school. Whether its just a bowl of cereal and milk with a banana, or some granola and greek yogurt, it will help you endure the physical and mental challenges at school. Going to class on a empty stomach or while getting ready to do a hard workout is a nightmare, so make sure to always eat a breakfast! A favorite breakfast meal of mine is two slices of toast, with creamy peanut butter and banana slices to top it off, along with a tall glass of milk to wash it down
2. Use your agenda: The planner book that you receive in the beginning of the school year will help you in getting all your homework and projects in on time. Organization is a key factor in being successful in high school. If you forget to do your homework often, then it may be stopping you from reaching your greatest potential. Also, you will be able to keep track of upcoming tests, sports games, or club meetings. People may say that they just memorize their upcoming events and they don’t need a planner, but you are bound to forget with so many different activities and thoughts going through your mind, so it is better to be safe than sorry.
3. Power naps: Naps will be your best friend! There is nothing wrong with taking one or two hours of your day after a long school day to keep your energy up. You will have so much more energy which will allow you to be more productive and learn better. Doing any activity while tired makes everything ten times worse and you will be better off just taking a nap instead. Even a 10 to 20 minute power nap will do, anything to recharge your body will help improve your busy schedule.
4. Eat healthy: Try eating nutritious foods and having a balanced diet to feel good and look good. When I’m studying, I tend to stress eat on candy and chips, and end up feeling bloated and gross. So instead of eating junk food, you should eat something refreshing. Fuits and vegetables are always good options, or you can mix it up (literally) by making a smoothie. You can also try making a smoothie or eating a granola bar to satisfy your hunger. Everything in moderation is okay, so feel free to splurge on desserts once in a while to celebrate yourself after finishing a project or doing a good workout. Make sure you eat a little bit of everything from the food pyramid and your tastes buds and stomach will thank you later.
5. Stay positive: By keeping a positive outlook on life and looking forward to the weekend, you can remain calm and focused on school work. Instead of being negative and hating your life when you do homework, you can do your work with more enthusiasm to be more productive. Attitude is what you make out of life, and can truly influence everything you do. So keep your head up and be optimistic!
6. Don’t procrastinate: As Mr. Martinez says, the big four letter word is LAZY! Don’t be lazy and you will see better results in everything you do. Procrastination is your enemy and at the time, it may seem relaxing and fun to hang out with friends or to chat on Facebook instead of doing your homework, but you’re going to be regretting that when you are staying up super late to finish an assignment that you were holding off till Sunday night. Staying up late to finish up your work begins the terrible cycle of starting the next day off being sleep deprived which could repeat again and again, until you stop procrastinating.
7. Do homework during lunch: Even though socializing with your friends during lunch is fun, doing your homework that will be due the next day will take a load off your back for the rest of the day. Going to the library or staying in a classroom during lunch, once in a while, definitely won’t hurt. Most of the time, there are plenty of people in the tutorial center or in a class room doing retakes or test corrections so you can still socialize with your friends. Especially if you have sports after school, or other extracurricular activities, doing your homework during lunch is a good idea to save time for the rest of the day or before you become too tired to even do your homework.
8. Listen to music: Listening to music can help reduce your stress and benefit your productivity. Whether it’s listening to a soothing ocean waves noise to go to sleep, or getting pumped for your next game, listening to music always helps. When it comes to singing along with Lady Gaga or Katy Perry, it can really help improve your performance in your workout or getting the energy to finish your math homework. You may think that listening to music is a waste of time, but it can have huge effects on your productivity by influencing your mood and giving you motivation.
9. Talk to your teachers: Communication is key in high school. If you inform your teachers about your schedule, they could give you good advice to help cope with your other activities. Teachers are always helpful and want you to do well in school, so dont be afraid to ask for a little help. Also, counselors can help you make good decisions on which classes to take, to keep your academic life balanced with your other activities. It can never hurt to talk to teachers, so try to communicate more and keep them in the loop with your busy life.
10. Don’t fall behind and plan ahead: Try not to get behind in your classes by doing makeup work and retakes all the time. If you know that you are going to have a busy week, do a lot of your homework on the weekend and try to get ahead of all your assignments. Once you are behind, it is really hard to keep up with the class and it can have negative effects on the rest of your classes. Don’t rely too much on retests or test corrections because they can contribute to falling behind in a class. Even though retakes are very helpful, they can also just be another way to procrastinate from studying which could hurt you in the long run. You should try your best on the first test, to do it once and do it right. Overall, time management is a huge part of high school that can make or break your success in grades, sports, or other activities.