Keeping up with schoolwork may at times be difficult, and it feels even more difficult at the end of a quarter. We often feel overwhelmed with the vast amount of assignments, essays, and tests that are assigned to us every day. In addition to our academic lives, we also have personal lives to manage filled with sports, hobbies, jobs, and many other responsibilities.
With so much to deal with, it’s easy to become lost. So the big question is, how do we balance school life with our personal life? Here are my top 3 most strategies.
Create a Schedule
If you find it hard to organize your activities and stay on top of deadlines, a schedule is a great place to start. A schedule makes it easier to plan things out, which is essential for juggling your personal and academic lives. Having a schedule allows you to keep track of all your deadlines and other obligations in a singular place. Creating a schedule for you may look like planning on a calendar or creating a to-do list. These can be very effective. Make sure to highlight if a task is more urgent than another due to the time span to complete and the point value of the assignment. Maybe try a scheduling app to set a reminder about deadlines.
Minimize Distraction
Procrastination is a mental block which delays starting a task, which ends up wasting time. Many students struggle with procrastination, which makes it difficult to stay on top of tasks. The majority of us procrastinate by sitting down with our phones, scrolling through social media and playing online games.
So how do you overcome procrastination? Minimizing distractions.
Minimizing distractions may look like silencing your social media, or putting your phone on do not disturb, or even leaving it in another room can be very efficient. It could also look like finding a quiet place with no disturbances such as traffic noises from outside.
Communication
Completing school assignments on time helps with the balance. It’s easy to avoid assignments which we are confused about or find difficult to understand. If you don’t already, try to communicate with your teachers and fellow students when stuck on assigned work. To help complete tasks on time, learn to be more comfortable with asking for help when in need. There is no shame in asking for clarification with an assignment you don’t understand. Sometimes we get so busy with our personal lives that we forget about a deadline. When this happens, reach out to teachers.
Actually, the best thing is to always reach out to teachers. Our teachers have been through what we’re going through and understand more than we know.