It’s officially back to school season!! So whether you started school a while ago, just started, or will be starting soon, I have compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you survive this school year.

Organization!! 

Being organized is the easiest way to help you improve your grades and make school easier! Having a cluttered workspace just leads to having a cluttered mind so try to clean up your workspace before using it! Put your things back where you get them so you know where they are at all times! Keep all your pens and other writing utensils in a cup or mug so you don’t lose them! Personally, most of my Sundays are easy going days so I try to clean up a bit of the mess that has accumulated during the past week. This allows me to feel refreshed and ready for the next week’s mess and stress!

So now that you have your desk/ workspace organized, it’s time to organize your locker/ backpack! Keep all spare papers in one main folder. Always keep that folder with you so you always have the papers you need with you!

If you have tons of notebooks and composition books, be sure to label each notebook. Highlight the top corners of your composition books so that when you are looking into your backpack you can immediately see the ones you need! For example, my three composition books for Physics are all highlighted pink so I can tell them apart from my English composition books without having to take them out of my bag to read their labels.

Try to invest in a good calendar and planner! Writing things out in a planner and on a calendar really helps you take mental note of when things are due in relation to each other! This way you know what assignments you have due and you can better prioritize! Having a planner is fantastic for making sure you know what homework assignments you have each night. Plus, most of them come with a mini calendar inside!

Lists lists lists!! Writing things out in a list helps you prioritize and not forget anything you need to do for the day!! These are especially helpful for when you need to pack things for after school activities!

Study Tips!!

Highlight!! Highlighters have bright colors for a reason! Highlight only the main parts of a passage and book to make them stand out to you when you are studying! Highlight keywords in your notes so the contrast of the colors versus the white paper keeps allows your brain to remember it easier. Just try not to go too overboard and highlight everything!

Post-It Notes! Post-Its are like little reminders or ways to add information to pages that you either don’t want to write on or don’t have room to write on. These bright squares of sticky paper won’t hesitate to give your notes or books a little pop of color with a reminder of where to study again!

Notecards! (or Quizlet) Notecards are an easy way to test yourself on material you need to learn! These are perfect for vocabulary terms or history facts! Plus they come in awesome colors too! Writing them may be a bit tedious at times, but it will help the information stick in your brain for the day of your exam or test. (Quizlet is an online version of notecards if you’re looking for a more sustainable option)

Food and Sleep!!

With all the information you are putting into your brain everyday and all the work that it is doing, your brain needs food and sleep! Always eat breakfast! Whether it’s a bowl of cereal or cereal bar, your brain needs food to function and recall the information you jammed into it the night before!

Sleep is also a huge part of studying! Studies have shown that sleeping after you have studied really helps the brain move the new information into longer term memory storage! This way you can recall it on the day of your exam! Pulling an all-nighter every one once and a while may seem okay but you need your sleep! Your body and mind need the time to repair themselves so be sure to catch up on sleep on the weekends the best you can or else you could end up falling asleep in class!

Technology!!

Technology is AMAZING! Without it, this blog wouldn’t even exist! It allows us to research everything we need and even have some textbooks online. The only downfall is the effects of too much technology and distractions.

Don’t fall to the distraction of your phone when studying! Put it on silent or somewhere else to avoid the temptation. Setting alarms to take breaks can also be helpful and ensure you don’t miss out on any messages from people looking to contact you.

Music is amazing! It can motivate us into studying but sometimes those lyrics can make us ignore the task at hand and lose concentration. Depending on the subject and difficulty of the assignment, listen to different types of music. For example, some classical covers of today’s top hits would be perfect for Math, while your favorite Ariana Grande song could keep you upbeat as you complete those vocabulary cards for English class.

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So now are you feeling better about school being in session again? These are just some tips I’m trying to implement this school year. I’d love to learn about what helps you, so be sure to leave a comment below. Now stop procrastinating, and go get those top marks!

Good luck!! 🙂

Kasual kook xx