Coming home from school: There are countless ways on how to use your time after school/classes, but I’ll list some ways I find most productive to finish work and still have time to de-stress.

1. Depending on workload,  adjust how you will start doing homework. 
   1. If I have been stressed out about an assignment the entire day, I go straight home, sit at my desk with the uniform still on, and finish it until it’s done. Then, I can change into comfier clothes and grab a snack. I usually don’t drink water, which I do not recommend, so make sure you are well hydrated. I use this same study routine if I have very little work and feel extra productive. 
   2. I recommend finding the best routine that will make you productive without draining your energy. This could be taking a nap before starting your work, eating a snack and reading a book first, or putting some music on and getting to work. Whatever is best for you, make sure you don’t allocate more time to the other activities than the actual studying.
2. Prioritizing work over scrolling
   1. If you happen to be scrolling through the endless black hole of social media and suddenly remember you have work to do, that is your chance to drop the phone immediately and finish your work. When you get sucked up into a timewaster, ask yourself, “should I be doing my work or keep watching tv?” If you choose the work option every time, procrastination happens less and less.
   2. Don’t prioritize work over your mental health, but don’t convince yourself that doing your work will hurt your health if it doesn’t actually. It’s difficult to differentiate between what actually lowers your mental health and something that you don’t want to do, so you convince yourself it is bad for you. 
3. Environment
   1. Being in a different space than where you watch Netflix (or another streaming service) or relax can be really helpful for getting in the mindset of doing work. A lot of people say to just sit down at your desk, put away your phone, cut out distractions, and start working, but this doesn’t work for me. As a person that binges way too much TV, I can’t even work in my house. I have to go to the library and sit down for a few hours and do everything there. Then when I get home, I don’t have to worry about anything I didn’t do because it’s already done. This method does not in any way work for everyone. Some people only work well at home or at school.
   2. It’s important to understand where you are the most productive and be consistent about studying there. If you want to be dedicated to a schedule each week that works for you, remember to be consistent: don’t study at 11pm on Tuesday and then 2pm on Thursday. Stick to one plan. This is just a suggestion on how to consistently finish your work, but this topic is based purely on personal preference, so don’t feel pressured to make a plan that you think is unrealistic or ties you down too much. In my experience, finding a consistent schedule for doing work not only allows you to finish your work on time productively, but reduces stress significantly.