A Vicious Cycle

12-9-10 8:20AM Not relationships, or violence, AIDS, or lack of education. No, I'm talking about high school.

Procrastination seems to be programmed into the teenage genome. Every single one of us has these moments. The busier we are, the less we want to work, and the more likely we will procrastinate, using up our precious time, leaving less time for work, making us busier. The worst time for this to happen is, at New Trier, Junior AP English. With the essays to write and the books to read independent of each other, if you don't keep up, you've pretty much sunk.

Another common problem is sleep. I don't know how much sleep the teachers expect us to get. With all that homework, extracurricular activities, and (I don't know how some people fit this in) sports. On a day with (a) test(s) the next day, or a meet, or, in my case, a math team competition, you will inevitably have less time to sleep. Then you are tired the next day - we see people asleep or dozing in class all the time, in which case you don't get as much out of the class as you can. Then you feel like you have to make up that work and learn the material at home, taking up more of your time, leaving less time for sleep.

There's a solution to this second one. Tell yourself that your sleep is more important than your grades. Failing to study for a test is not the end of the world - try to use the daytime hours rather than studying late into the night. If you aren't sleep deprived, you can learn the material during class time, when you're supposed to, and sleep at night. That more efficient use of class time will reduce your need to study, because you'll know the stuff better than if you slept in class.