By Skylar Boggs ’18, Lifestyle Editor
The time in your life when you are a high school student is one of the most stressful times of your life. You can feel overwhelmed by a test or quiz one day and the next day by the needs of your family. When you are at home it is hard to juggle between homework, studying, or even a simple task such as cleaning your room. It can be stressful. Here are a few tips for keeping a healthy balance between your schoolwork, your family, and your personal life.
Tip #1: When you know that you are going to have a lot of homework or a big quiz, you can map out your time to help relieve some of your stress. You can do this by looking ahead at your portal for the upcoming week to see what you will have for homework that week. This will help you estimate how long each assignment might take. When mapping out your time, make sure you make time for your sports, meals, etc. It will help if you make a timeline for each assignment giving yourself a certain amount of time to finish it.
Tip #2: When your family is asking you to help with dinner or do chores, try to finish them within reason. If you have a lot of homework, try asking your parents to go easy on you because you have a lot on your plate. Utilizing your free bells during the day to complete your homework for the upcoming night can help you create more free time at home that you can spend helping out your family around the house. Updating your parents on your homework load by the week can also help you because then they will know how busy you are going to be and can take a chance to give you a break.
Tip #3: If your friends want to go out and your parents want you to stay home, try making a compromise or explaining why you should be able to. Such as, if you have been getting better grades and have been working harder, try using that as a reason for your being allowed to go out. Alternatively, compromise on the idea that if you go out this time, that you will help your parents out with a certain chore or task the next time that they ask.
Tip #4: There may be a day when you have more than one major test and the night before you have to help your family out. Many teachers understand, and you can try to go and talk to a certain teacher during your free bell to compare other times when you could take the said test. In addition, this can correlate with the mapping out of your week because you will know there is an upcoming test, which can help you begin to prepare earlier. This in turn can lighten the amount of stress you will put on yourself the night before.
Tip #5: If you are struggling at all to keep up with your schoolwork, friends, and family, reach out to your parents or your teachers for help. Your school’s guidance counselor will have many different techniques to help you manage your stress, and can help you find a way to manage your workload. As I stated before, many of your teachers will understand that their class is not your only class, and they are all equally important, but sometimes you need a break and most will understand that.
High school is stressful, and it might be hard to explain what you are feeling. Many people around you understand what you are feeling and as high school progresses, your stress levels will fluctuate. Asking for extensions or any type of help from your friends and family can always help.
Image Source: http://blog.skyo.com/2014/08/26/schoollife-balance-the-basics/
