The beginning of the school year is always difficult for high schoolers of any grade level. Whether that is because of not wanting to let go of summer, or because of nerves, it is an adjustment period for everybody. Since I am a senior this fall, this is a familiar feeling for me by now.

The best way to start off any school year on the right foot is to stay productive. In order to be productive, time-management is essential. After my past three years of high school, I can confidently say that I have determined various successful strategies to make this possible for myself and others.

As exciting as social media is, it has proven time and time again to be distracting. Like many others, I too have fallen down the rabbit hole of sitting at my desk, scrolling through TikTok, while I should be doing homework. After enough episodes of procrastination, I decided to try removing my phone from my area completely. This is a lot more effective than you might think.

In addition to limiting phone access while studying or doing homework, putting your phone on ‘do not disturb’ is also helpful. This way, you won’t get distracted by people messaging you. However, in order to properly discipline yourself, you also need to allow yourself phone breaks in order to refresh. 

A serious domino-effect of procrastination is reducing sleep time. I used to think my parents were just being annoying when they would tell me to go to sleep when I was younger, but I’ve realized over time that not sleeping enough seriously ruins my day. Even if you may not always feel physically tired after not getting enough sleep, your brain is still struggling to keep up. 

Create a schedule for yourself. Schedules don’t always have to be 100% the same everyday, but it is important to have a rough idea of what your week consists of at the start of each one. Plan out which days you will do which assignments, note which days you have commitments or practices to be at, and allow yourself enough time to breathe throughout all of it. 

My secret weapon when it comes to planning is my physical paper planner. As corny as it may feel to write things down in a planner, being able to visually see what you need to do as well as being able to check them off as you do them is a game changer. It is really hard to miss things or waste time when you have a daily visual. 

Having backup plans is also a key aspect of time management. Not everything is always going to work out perfectly, so it is important to not get flustered or sidetracked when you have to adjust accordingly. 

Overall, organization in general is a really important thing to practice in highschool. You can easily fall behind just as quickly as you can get ahead, so it is important to manage your time well.