I’ve been at school for 14 years – here’s my back to school advice

Student

August 18, 2019

In a couple of weeks I’m heading back to school for the last time – wow that sounds weird to say. I’m going to be a high school senior this year, and after spending fourteen years in school, I think I have some worthwhile advice to share with you.

I’m a little bit of a nerd and I actually really like school, but that doesn’t stop me from disliking the back to school season. I hate seeing the summer come to an end and I don’t like saying goodbye to family who I don’t see during the school year. However, once the school year is in full swing, I end up loving it. So, in this post, I want to share some of my top tips on how to make the back to school season a little less sad, and a tad more enjoyable.

Also, before I get into the rest of this post I wanted to share a few announcements. Even if you are not a student heading back to school, this post will still be relevant for you! I share lots of organizational techniques here and I even created a free day planner which you can download at the end of this post. Also, starting from next week, I’m moving away from the boring ‘back to school’ content and taking a different approach to it in an exciting and highly relevant way, so keep your eyes peeled for that! So, without further ado, here’s the back to school advice I’ve got for you!

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Break it down into manageable chunks – At the end of summer it can be so easy to look ahead at the entire school year you’re about to plunge into and get overwhelmed, we all feel it sometimes! But one thing I’ve learned is that by breaking everything down into manageable chunks, it doesn’t seem as bad. You don’t need to worry about everything you have to get done from September until June, all the studying to do, things to plan, and tests to take. Instead, focus on a smaller time period, look at September until say, October on focus on what you have to get done this month, and once you’ve moved past this month you can look at the next one. This helps you avoid that overwhelming feeling and it means that you can focus on present tasks better!

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It’s all about the routine – Summer means lying in until whenever you feel like it, going out when you want to, and basically running by your own schedule, but going back to school means it’s time to adjust back to those early mornings and jam-packed days. I always find the first week of school hard because I’m usually still jet-lagged and my timing is all off; I always find it hard to get up at 6am and by the time I get to that first weekend, I’m ready to pass out. But it shouldn’t be that hard! If I could give one piece of advice to my younger self so that I didn’t always find the first week of school such a startling difference, it would be to set up a routine throughout summer. This means setting up a loose schedule for myself as the school season approaches; it can be as simple as waking up at 8, doing something active, studying in the morning, and then having the afternoon free to spend with family. The point is, that it gets you used to having a routine. I can not express how much of a difference this makes; when you finally get back to the work/school schedule you’ll have eased yourself into the early mornings and busy days, and you won’t be startled and struggling.

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Have a cut off time – when school starts again I find I sometimes feel like there’s just so much to do, and I have a hard time re-establishing my schedule and knowing when to stop working, take a break, or go to sleep. Something that I find really useful is setting myself a cut off time. I am definitely not one of those people who can pull an all-nighter, I need my sleep! I can be working in the evening, and I know that once it’s my cut off time, I need to stop working and chill out before going to sleep. My cut off time also means that I begin my nighttime routine, which just means putting on some music, brushing my teeth, and washing my face, pretty simple. But, by stopping work at a certain time and then doing something that is relaxing, you can go to sleep with a peaceful mind, instead of constantly stressing about work you didn’t finish and how late it is.

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Stay on track at the beginning of the year – this is so important! If you don’t start the year staying organized and on top of all your assignments, then how do you expect to do it at any point in the year? Make sure you’re focusing in class, doing tasks on time, and try not to procrastinate! Easier said than done right? Well, I created a free downloadable day planner for you here to try and keep your days a little more organized and to keep you on track; I hope it’s useful to you! Click here to find your free downloadable day planner!

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Here’s a little preview of what it looks like. Click here to download your own.

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Also, this back to school season I challenge you to use sustainable packaging for your snacks and water!

I hope some of my advice on how to make the back to school season a little better was useful! And stay up to date with my posts, as I mentioned that I’m going to be taking a different approach to the back to school season soon (expect some cool resources!) Let me know if you use my day planner ( you can find me @Little.Miss.Expat)

See you next week 🙂

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  1. Zebua says:

    The tips are very useful .. I like the pictures !!

  2. […] week I shared some of my back to school advice here, and I mentioned that I was going to take a different approach to the whole back to school season […]

  3. […] the liberty of looking through some of my old posts from senior year which you can find here: “I’ve been at school for 14 years, here’s my back to school advice”, “A little food for thought – change”, “Five things I love about my expatriate […]

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