Women Wednesday: August 13, 2014

Back-to-School Tips to Help You be Your Best

Hi Guys! I hope you guys have been having a fabulous week! Recently, I've been thinking a lot about school. I'm so depressed about summer ending, but at the same time, I'm getting pre-school jitters. You feel me? I mean, am I the only one who actually gets excited, a tad bit, for school in the last few weeks of summer? If the answer is yes, I'm sorry I'm such a freak, but I can't help it. If your answer is no, then yay! We can be school supplies nerds together!  :P I love getting organized for school, buying new binders, notebooks, school clothes, backpacks, and locker decorations and what not. (The last one doesn't really apply to me since I don't have a locker considering I'm homeschooled...... But still.... XD I would be excited to buy them.) 

Anyway, let me get back on  topic. Whether you're a jittery Freshman or a confident Senior, coming back from the summer to new teachers, new classes, and a new social scene can be stressful! So here are a few back-to-school tips to help you stay at the top of your game throughout the school year! :)

1. SLEEEEEEEP!

Teenagers need around nine hours of sleep per day. In recent studies, scientists have found out that students who get the recommended nine hours tend to do better in their studies versus students who get 5-6 hours of sleep. 

If you are finding it hard to sleep, make sure your room is set up in a comfortable way. It can be easier to fall asleep in a cool and dark room with a comfy bed. Also, if possible, try to associate your room with mainly sleeping. So try to avoid reading, going on your computer, iPod, phone, etc. before bed in your room. Try to do the above activities before bed in a different room. 

Another helpful tool to sleeping peacefully is to have a bedtime routine. Try to have a set time to get ready for bed. By forming this habit, every time you start your evening routine, your brain will know it's time for bed. Sleep is soooooooo important! Really, make an effort to go to bed at a decent time. (Believe me, I know how hard that is!) But it's so worth it in the long run. :) 

2. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

Eating a nutritious and well-balanced breakfast is one of the most important back-to-school tips! By having a good breakfast, you can stay more alert during the day, be more focused and more concentrated, and it can help you have more mental stamina throughout the day. A few really easy and fast breakfast ideas are: yogurt with fruit, whole grain toast with Nutella and juice, cereal and fruit, a whole grain muffin, granola, fruit, or a fruit smoothie. These are just a few ideas, be creative! 

3. Plan Ahead

Being organized is the key to success. There are a few ways you can be organized for the upcoming school year. The first way you can become organized is through planning out your outfits ahead of time. By picking out your outfit the day before school, you have one less thing to think about in the morning. If you wait until the morning of, you'll be scrambling around at the last minute when you realize your forgot to wash your favorite pair of jeans!

Just lay your super cute outfit out on a chair along with any accessories and tada, you have one less thing to think about in the morning. :) 

4. Keep Your Schoolwork Organized

As I previously mentioned, organization is the key to success. By making sure you write down all your assignments that you have for homework and their due dates, you will have a simple way of keeping your assignments organized.

It is so easy to forget about projects until the day before or to procrastinate! (Believe me, I am the queen of procrastination!)  But by having a planner, it is easy to see what work you need to finish, when it's due, and how many days you have to finish it. Never wait for the day before the due date to START the assignment. By using every day leading up to the due date to work on your assignment, you'll do a better job, and it won't feel as stressful and hard! Don't try to eat the whole elephant at once, take it in small bites. ;)  It's so easy to procrastinate and make up excuses, but by doing that, you are only hurting yourself!


I hope that each of you can take away a few points from this post and try to make some goals for the new school year! Tricks like these will help you get stay sane, healthy, and all around happy. No one enjoys stressing about finishing a paper that is due the next day, or feeling grouchy because they only got five hours of sleep because there was a Once Upon A Time marathon on T.V. (So tempting!)
Be the best version of you that you can be. There is nothing more rewarding than the feeling of satisfaction when you achieve something that you worked hard for. Reach high for a certain goal you have, and never give up until you reach that goal! You can do it, never give up. :)



See you guys later!
-Isabelle <3