1. Keep your school supplies organized.
Near the end of the year, it’s easy to find yourself shoving papers in folders and pockets of your bag, never to be seen again. Clean out all the papers you don’t need from your binders and notebooks and organize the ones you will need. This way, everything will be where you need to be when studying for finals, your life will be a little less cluttered and you’ll feel a little more at ease.
2. Make the most of your downtime.
Rather than letting the hours fly by while you scroll through various social media sites, get up and enjoy yourself when you have some free time. If you absolutely need to check your Instagram feed, do it before you start your homework or wait until after. Set aside the technology to focus and get your work done.
3. Save the Netflix marathons for summer.
Of course everyone’s dying to know what happens in the next episode, which is why Netflix has made it so easy to get pulled into a marathon vortex. However, instead of putting off work you have to do and clicking on the next episode, save it for a day when you have nothing to do.
4. Count down the days left, but don’t dwell on them.
It’s important to get excited for summer and all the fun and lazy things you will be able to do. No matter how many countdown apps you download, the days will continue to pass at the same speed. Focus on getting things done rather than procrastinating and the time will feel like it is flying by.
5. Keep up with your homework.
All teachers set dates at the end of the semester as limits for turning in any late work. The further behind you get in homework, the more stress you’re putting on yourself right before the year ends. Finish it now and the end of the year won’t be as chaotic.
6. Prepare for end-of-year tests.
Similar to your homework, the more you study for your tests collectively as the end of the year gets closer, the less work and stress you’ll put on yourself during dead week. No matter how long you wait to study, finals, AP tests, SATs and ACTs aren’t going anywhere, so start on them now.
7. Set incentives for getting things done.
Everyone would much rather go to the beach on a nice day than sit inside and finish a huge project. But instead of putting off the project and going to the beach, create rewards for yourself for completing assignments. This makes doing the work a bit more bearable and you’ll be able to enjoy yourself rather than stressing about the work you’re not doing.
8. Work outdoors.
If it’s a sunny day and all you can do is find yourself dreaming of laying outside instead of working on the physics packet in front of you, work outside somewhere. As long as you’re not distracted by the things going on around you, you can enjoy yourself and get some vitamin D at the same time.
9. Make a schedule to manage your time.
If you know you have a lot going on at the end of the year, such as preparing for prom, create a schedule to manage your time so you can both get things done that you need to do and still have time for the things you want to do.
10. Remember, you’re almost there.
Although these next couple of months may feel like they will never come to an end, just keep reminding yourself that they’re closer than you think. Although powering through and getting everything done that you need to get done seems awful and never-ending at the moment, in the end, it will be much more rewarding than slacking off through your last months or weeks of the year.