Now that it is September, the realization that summer is out and school is in has hit students. No matter if you are in Middle School or Graduate School, the feelings are generally the same. Who really wants to let go of awesome vacations, summer camps, ice cream and snowballs, and the best part of summer, sleeping in! Just because we have to trade in our swimsuits and flip flops for school clothes and backpacks doesn’t mean that exciting new adventures cease. I know, I know. You’re thinking to yourself “This girl is crazy!” Just stay with me for a moment.

Starting a new semester or school year is kind of like the real New Year for students. Essentially, we are embarking on a new chapter in our lives, even if it is in the middle of the year. This is the perfect time for us to revamp our habits and make the changes we promised ourselves we would make last year. This could be anything from wanting to stay more organized, turning in all of your homework in on time, exercising more, being more social in school, or my personal favorite, ending procrastination. Now, just like the regular New Year, we often lose sight of our goals about a month in. I will be the first to admit that I have vowed to start my work early and not wait until the last minute, and then ended up pulling an all nighter writing a 5 page paper due the next day. So let’s talk about how you and I both can make these changes stick. First, we need to realize why we are procrastinating, or waiting until the last minute to do our work. Then we can go over way to overcome these reasons.

It’s overwhelming! When you have a long term paper or what seems to be a super in-depth

project, it can seem like an unbearable amount of work and cause a shut down. (Do you ever have so much work to do that you just lay down and take a nap instead? Oh, no? It’s just me? –I wouldn’t suggest it)

What can we do? Break the task down into smaller, easier to handle tasks. It is much easier to stomach researching topics, outlining your ideas and writing a rough draft as three different assignments than it is to try to do all of these steps and a final draft in one setting.

I don’t know where to start! Believe it or not, simply starting the work can be the hardest part. This is called Task Initiation. Whether you don’t know where to start or you just don’t feel like starting, this can be a real pain.

What can we do? Make a plan and stick to it. Also, you can draw from the first reason we talked about and pick a simple task to begin with. Something as simple as picking your topic, or view point, for a paper is a great start and it will get you moving on the rest of the task.

I have so much other work to do! Sometimes we have a lot of work to do for other classes. That doesn’t mean we should put off an assignment until the last minute.

What can we do? When we have a ton of work to do it can seem like there aren’t enough hour in the day, but it all depends on what you do with the 24 hours you are given. The best way to handle this is to make a realistic schedule for you and stick to it. If something comes up and throws off your schedule, it’s okay be flexible, just make sure you have a backup plan and follow it.

I hope these tips help! Let’s have a great school year ÔÇôFrom beginning to end!