When I was attending school, I was always so stressed. I had so much work to do at all times. It felt like it was never-ending. All that work made for a draining year. There are a few back-to-school habits I wish I would have put into consideration before my school experience to make it easier.
Going back to school can be fun if you are properly organized! There are a few back-to-school habits you should be tracking to keep yourself on schedule with your work and to keep you healthy. Before you go back, consider picking up a few of these hobbies so that you can have the best year possible!
1. Studying
This one is obvious. You need to study in school! There is no way around it (unless you are a genius, which most of us are not).
Tracking your studying is one way to motivate you to continue working on it. In university, they tell you to study for a couple of hours for each of your lectures. High school is laxer when it comes to studying (because of homework and other things), but you should still look over your notes and learn the material. You can see how often you are studying and how much more you need to learn by tracking this habit.
This kind of tracking is also beneficial because you get to see what time of day you study the most: when you are most productive. Studying is one of the worst things about school, in my opinion. So if you can find the best time for you to study, it would make your life so much easier!
2. Completed Readings/Homework
Whether it is homework or chapter readings, you will always have work to do in school. I was constantly swamped with school work. It can be overwhelming!
Keeping track of your school habits, like completed readings and homework can really help you handle your workload and your schedule. When you have multiple chapters to read every week and hours of homework to do every night, you need to make your work schedule as efficient as possible.
By tracking which chapters and homework you have already completed, you can easily schedule what you still need to do. You can always do your work on time by tracking your completed readings and homework!
3. Working on Projects
Working on projects is different from studying or doing homework. Projects last for a longer period of time. Sometimes you have an entire semester to work on it but you end up doing it the week before it is due. Even worse, the paper has to be 10 pages long and you have other projects due at the same time. But all of that can be avoided!
As far as back-to-school habits go, this one can make your life so much easier! When you are tracking your projects, you can plan out goals for yourself. You can start with brainstorming at the beginning of the semester. Then you can plan out your outline. By starting early, you will have lots of time to plan, research, write, and finally review.
By tracking all of these steps, you can get your projects done with minimal stress! It is the best way to get all of your assignments done on time.
4. Sleeping
Sleeping isn’t always on every students’ mind. They have so much more to deal with: deadlines, friends, relationships, etc. The problem is that there is only so much time in a day and you need a good chunk of it for sleeping. Yet, other priorities can make it hard to get the right amount of sleep.
Tracking your sleep is one way to make sure you get enough rest every night. It provides you with the awareness of how often and how much you sleep. With that knowledge, you can finally start to find the best sleep schedule for you!
Sleeping is also a necessary thing. You need it to function. Sorry to say, but you just do. When you are getting enough sleep, you can finally get all the stuff done you wanted to do that day. Instead of feeling tired all day and getting nothing done, track your sleep and get the rest you need and deserve!
5. Water Intake
Just like sleep, water is a necessity, and we don’t drink enough of it. Dehydration can cause headaches and other symptoms that are very disruptive to studying and everything else you need to do.
You may not realize how much water you are actually drinking during the day. It might be one glass or eight. Either way, tracking your water intake is a great idea. You become more aware of how much water you drink and how much more you need to consume daily.
It might not seem like much but drinking the right amount of water can be a lifesaver for school. You need to stay healthy and hydrated!
6. Stretching
Sitting at a desk for hours on end is terrible! Your back starts to cramp up. You can’t find a comfortable position anymore. You feel like pulling your hair out because you are so frustrated. Here is where stretching comes in handy.
Try stretching every hour! You might find that you feel so much better afterward. Take a short break from working and your back gets to move if even just for a minute. You can have a tracker in your journal to designate stretching once a day or multiple times a day. As long as you are stretching, it doesn’t matter what you choose.
Stretching is good for you too, so you are doing your body and mind a service by taking a short break and moving around.
7. Eating Out
We all know the stereotype of the broke college student. It isn’t always true, but it isn’t always false either. College students don’t necessarily have huge amounts of money to spend on eating out every day. If you fit into this category, you should keep track of how often you eat out and how often you cook. By tracking your eating habits, you can more easily manage your finances.
Even if you are in high school, it isn’t always easy (or cool) to pack a lunch every day. But you probably don’t have that much money to spend on buying a lunch either. Save your money and bring your own food!
Eating out can be a health issue. I know you probably don’t want to hear it but no matter what you eat when you are eating out, there is always the risk of it being unhealthy. Cooking at home is much better for you and your wallet, so why not keep track of it?
8. Spending Money
Again, money can be tight as a student. You are paying for books, transportation, tuition, and every other expense your school throws at you. And you might not have the mindset to be able to manage all of your money just yet. Keeping track of your expenses and finances can be a great way to keep yourself out of debt (or at least as little as possible) and to learn how to manage your money.
If you have a monthly budget, just write that down in your journal and stick to it. By keeping track of your money, you can save so much more of it than you realize.
9. 15 Minute Clean-Up
It doesn’t matter if you are in high school or university, your desk will always be a mess. You have every book from every class on your studying space and those ramen noodle packages from last night. Whatever it is, your desk is probably in need of a little clean-up. Therefore, a 15-minute clean-up is a great back-to-school habit to start!
The 15-minute clean-up is intended to keep your space clean but not to make it overwhelming. You only need to clean for 15 minutes every day. That is perfectly manageable and should keep your space clean for you to continue working. Set a timer and just clean! You’ll have a clean space in (practically) no time!
10. Something You Love
Just because you are a student doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have time to do the things you love. If you love to read, you should find time for it. If you love to hang out with your friends, you should be doing that too. Just because you are busy with homework and readings does NOT mean you should abandon what you like to do.
You should keep track of the activities you love to do to ensure that you are not letting school and work run your life. It can be a bit of a wake-up call to see just how much you have been neglecting yourself because you have so much going on. Take some time for yourself! It is important too! If you are looking for some great hobbies to try to spend some quality time with yourself, check out these back-to-school hobbies! You might just find exactly what you need.
There you have it! 10 terrific back-to-school habits that you need to track to make sure you are balancing your work and your self-care. Be safe and have fun! Just remember that school is important but your mental and physical health count for so much more! Tell us which back-to-school habits you like to track in the comments!
