For so long I have been extremely excited to start my senior year. When I say that, many people assume I’m just ready to graduate and get out of high school, but I’m actually excited for everything that comes with senior year. I made a vow to myself that this year I would really focus academically and develop better study habits for college. And I have to say, balancing soccer practice, college applications, schoolwork, clubs, and my own hobbies hasn’t been easy. Most nights when I get home from school I’m exhausted. But in the long run, I’ve enjoyed myself more this year than every year before because of the focus that I’m putting on good habits and routines. One way I’ve solidified these habits is through setting goals for myself. I find that setting a goal is usually the best way to motivate myself to get something done.
Academically speaking, my biggest goal is to get my work done the day it’s assigned. If I have free time at the end of a class period after I’ve finished my classwork, in years past, I would usually spend that time reading a random book or simply relaxing. This year, however, I’ve been trying to keep on a working streak to get everything done (homework included) in class if I can. It’s important to me that I maximize the amount of time that I have to complete work in school because I tend to be more focused. This means taking opportunities to stay after school with teachers and ask for help when I can. In addition, by doing this I’m able to maximize my time at home as well.
Another goal I’ve been working on is staying academically focused, which goes along with the goal above. Working on one assignment at a time is a sure-fire way to make sure that I’m doing my best on each assignment. Taking the time to complete my work for one class before moving on to the next assures that I won’t be balancing too many things at once, and that my work won’t seem scatterbrained.
The way that I’m accomplishing this goal specifically is through a sort of tier list system. I look at my to-do list on Google Classroom, taking into account when the due date is, how long it will take me to complete it, and if I actually have all the resources to complete it. Depending on the combination of the circumstances, it helps me to determine which assignments to work on sooner. As a person who finds it hard to remember to use planners, the to-do list in Classroom is a great feature to take advantage of.
Four weeks in, these goals have made balancing all of my activities a lot easier, but of course, we are only four weeks in. This is only the beginning. The most important part of goal setting is keeping those goals, and often reassessing them. Something that works well for me right now might not work well for me in another month or two. But instead of completely throwing said goal away, revising it and turning it into something that will work is the best way to keep pushing yourself. Achieving goals isn’t supposed to be easy, but the hard work always pays off. Establishing good study habits is essential to organization and success for everyone. I encourage you to set at least one goal for this school year, as it can improve your work-life balance to a great extent.
