With the start of term fast approaching, it’s so important that you stay organised if you want to minimise/manage your stress levels. Feeling stressed just thinking about it? Fear not! Here’s our guide to keeping on top of everything this year:

Write it down

As much as we like to think we can remember the important stuff, this just isn’t practical. We have so much going on in our

lives that trying to remember it all puts unnecessary strain on our brains and there’s nothing worse than getting a low grade because you’ve forgotten a homework deadline.

Write down everything you need to do for the day. If you’re super-organised, you’ll make a start on this the night before. You can then add to this list throughout the day, remembering to record the due date for homework tasks.

When we say write down everything, we do mean everything, including extra-curricular activities. Even if you know you won’t forget that you have tennis club after school on a Tuesday, it’s still worth recording this so that you can plan your homework around it. You won’t have as much time to work on days when you have after-school activities so by writing it all down, you’ll be able to see which days are best for you to complete certain tasks.

Prioritise

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So you’ve written down all your tasks for the day. Chances are, they’ll be in no particular order because you’ve written them down as you’ve gone along. We can’t stress enough how important it is to prioritise your homework tasks. So at the end of the school day, look through your school planner and number each task in order of importance.

When you’re numbering, think about both the deadline and the size of the task. So even though a history essay may not be due for a week, bear in mind that you’ll need to spend time researching, writing and proofing it so it will probably need to be quite high up on the priority list.

Always try to be one step ahead when possible. This means trying not to leave homework until the day before it’s due…

Be methodical

One of the best parts about being organised with your homework, is being able to cross off tasks once you complete them. Not only is it incredibly satisfying but it also trains your brain to think methodically, steadily working through and crossing off your tasks until everything is done.

Don’t worry if you don’t manage to complete absolutely everything (it’s not realistic to expect to finish a week’s worth of homework in a day), just write it out again underneath the next day in your school planner.

Chill

Take breaks in between homework tasks. Give yourself a little treat after you cross off a couple of items in your homework diary – you deserve it 🙂

What next?

At the end of the week, look through your planner and give yourself a mini-review: did you manage to complete everything you set out to complete?

If you didn’t quite get there, what could you do differently next week to ensure you meet all of your deadlines?

Once you feel like you’re on top of your homework, you can make a start on sorting out that school bag because you don’t really need to be carrying around a week’s worth of subject books and folders every day of the week.

Take this guide one step at a time. If you’ve made it to the end of this post, you’re already one step closer to a new, organised you!