Dear Destiny,
It’s only the first month of school, and I already feel overwhelmed. I’m trying to balance harder classes, after school activities, and a part-time job. My friends want to hang out, my parents expect good grades, and I barely have time to sleep. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but I feel like I’m falling apart. How do I keep up without burning out?
Sincerely,
Stressed and Struggling
Dear, Stressed and Struggling,
I understand you! I am feeling very overwhelmed too. Assuming you have AP’s right now, I totally feel you! It is normal to feel overwhelmed especially with your packed schedule. But before we get into your concerns, congratulations! You are a year further into high school! New school year, new opportunities. This is definitely a tricky feat, but we can work through this together
Firstly, school work and after school activities. Try to get as much work as you can done during school hours, like during class, lunch, academic success, or a free period. This will be essential for time management for school work. Doing this will free up your time after your after school activities. Now, after school activities, have fun while doing them! Whether you are doing a sport or club, this is your time to be you! So relax and focus on improving or just have fun during these activities. I know when I am in my clubs or sports I always have a great time.
Ok, now, secondly, balancing between a part time job and friends wanting to hang out with you. Now if you take my advice from the first paragraph, you should be doing just fine on school work management! With this, you hopefully do not need to do work after school as much. This leaves a window open to work after school. When working out a schedule for work, that is your choice! Work however many hours you and your parents think is necessary, but please do not overwork yourself! Now, for friends, I think hanging out with friends on the weekend is the perfect time, just make sure you are not scheduled to come in for work that day.
Lastly, sleep. A growing child needs about eight to ten hours of sleep, but I know all teenagers do not follow that rule, like, at all. Again, this depends on how many hours of sleep YOU need. I can run perfectly fine on three to six hours of sleep. So plan your sleep schedule accordingly, do not underestimate how much sleep you need, we do not want a zombie here at PV now do we?
I hope this helps you a TON! You are doing so great and I am proud of you for pushing on! The year is only going to get harder or easier. You got this, push through and make it to the end. Keep your head up and smiling.
XOXO, Destiny.
