The magical time of back to school season is upon us once again! Okay, it’s pretty exciting for the couple weeks leading up to the start of the school year when all you’re waiting for is to get your schedule and see who’s in your classes. And then you know, after that, the excitement dies down and you’re faced with the reality of having to grind for nine more months until the days of endless free time come back again. Kind of cynical, but this is an annual cycle for all of us. When you’re reading this, I’m less than a week out from the start of my (online) school year, so I decided to take you all along for some of the ways I prepared for going back to school again. Happy reading (and back to school prepping)!
1. Planner
If you’ve noticed from my day in the life posts, I used the Reminders app on my computer to make to-do lists for each day during quarantine. However, for school, I like to use a planner because I can write down the tasks for each subject in a separate section and get a better look at my week in advance. I actually switched from my planner to Reminders at the start of quarantine because I marked my planner too far in advance, and I found it too annoying to cross out all of the cancelled dates (kinda sad). So, I bought myself a new planner for this school year (linked here) and got started labeling all of my friends’ birthdays, some important dates, and my schedule for the first quarter. I also set up my color coding system -- I highlight one type of day (test, birthday, event, etc) in a certain color and know from the highlights what my week will look like.
2. Clean out old papers
I never actually cleaned out my binders and folders at the end of last year; I just stuck them in a drawer and left them to gather dust over the summer. Since I’ll be using the same binders for this year, I took out all of the papers and figured out which ones I wanted to keep and which ones I wanted to recycle. The ones I thought I’d use for reference in the coming years, I kept in storage; the ones I didn’t think I’d need, I sadly recycled. My tryhard self is crying. My Marie Kondo wannabe self is overjoyed.
3. Clean out computer + phone
Not only did I have to clean out my physical space, but I also needed to clean out my digital space. I backed up and deleted photos, notes, and other files I didn’t need from my phone and computer. I also reorganized and cleaned out my Google Drive because there were many random folders and files sitting in there that I haven’t touched in years. Especially since I’ll be doing online school, I need to make space for the additional files that I’ll be downloading and using this year. There were many accidental screenshots that were deleted.
4. Buy new school supplies
I’m definitely not one of those people that buys new stuff every year. If something of mine is still in good condition by the end of the year, I’ll continue using it for next year. I swear, I’ve been using the same pair of scissors for seven years and counting. Most of my school supplies were in good condition, but I needed to buy some notebooks because I only had a couple empty ones left. I also discovered this year that I hate taking notes on loose leaf paper because I can never keep track of it all and I always find pencil imprints on the back side of the paper. So, notebooks > loose leaf. I didn’t buy anything too fancy, just these standard college-ruled notebooks (because wide-ruled is criminal). Can I just say how freaking cute these notebooks are because wow look at those colors. Whichever subject gets that light blue one better be feeling lucky. I also have a surplus of #2 pencils and paper two-pocket folders so please take them from me. I’m begging you.
5. Set up paper/notes organization system
Now that I have clean binders and new notebooks, I had to figure out how to use them. Based on the classes that I’m taking this year, I figured out which ones I would need binders for and which ones I would need to take notes for. I am going to be online for school, but I will probably still need to print out notes packets and take physical notes for my classes. This is also a precaution for the case that we go back to school in person in the winter; if I take notes a certain way during the beginning of the school year, then I’ll want to continue that system into the rest of the year. In case we go back in-person, some of my teachers might not let me take online notes, so I stuck with physical notes for most of my classes. I just labeled each of my supplies with the subject, teacher, period, and my name. Also, please excuse the crappy handwriting. If you're wondering, the whole binder/folder thing is because last year when I was on crutches, my backpack was way too overpacked and heavy with my big binders, so midway through the year I switched to folders that only contained relevant papers. Saved my back some work, so if we end up going back to school, I'll adopt the folder system aga
6. Organize desk space
In my online school tips post, I mentioned the importance of having separate working and relaxing spaces. For the summer, I was working in the basement, but the supplies I had there were pretty disorganized and didn’t include a lot of the things that I’d need for the school year. I moved my newly organized binders, folders, and notebooks into my desk in the basement and organized my pencil case/other school supplies so I’d be able to access them easily. I made sure my space was clutter-free and ready for the school year. I also charged my school computer because I have not touched that thing in a good four months.
7. Reset sleep schedule
My least favorite part of this post (mornings, ew). Since quarantine started, I’ve been maintaining a relatively good sleep schedule. On weekdays, I wake up at 8:30 am and on weekends, I wake up at 9:30 am. I try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night, but that can sometimes turn into something more like 7.5 hours if I can’t fall asleep or my book is particularly good that night. My school used to start at 8:40 am, which meant I had to get up at around 7:10 to catch the 7:45 am bus. However, the school moved our start time to 8:10 am for this year, so I have to get up around 7:40 am (no commute yay). I really don’t know what I’m going to do if I go to school in person (*cries*). But, for now I’m making it a goal to sleep before midnight each night and not go to bed right after finishing working because then it’ll be impossible for me to fall asleep. Wish me luck.
8. Get ahead on blog posts
Since I won’t have as much time during the school year to blog, I probably won’t be able to keep up with posting 3 days a week. Starting the second week of September (9/7), I’m planning on posting Mondays and Fridays at 8am EST. To make sure that I won’t get behind on posting after school starts, I got ahead on whatever posts I could and scheduled them. Hopefully I’ll be able to maintain posting twice a week, but we’ll see how busy I am with school. However, for the month of September, the twice a week posting will be here to stay. Mondays and Fridays at 8am Eastern, y’all!
9. Eliminate distractions
I also mentioned this in my online school tips post, but it’s really important to eliminate distractions when you’re working. I usually don’t have a problem with checking my phone during class because I put it on airplane mode, but I’m tempted to check social media or do other work on my computer. I installed the browser extension Forest, in which you can plant a tree and set a timer for how long you want to eliminate distractions for. You can also build up a list of sites you want to block during that productive time. If you go to one of those sites while your timer is going, your tree will die. I’ve tried this a few times before, and it’s really helped me stop checking Instagram and Facebook when I’m supposed to be paying attention.
10. Glowing up
Before vs after!
I’ve been putting off cutting my hair throughout the entirety of quarantine (oops). My hair is really thick, so last June I got it cut and thinned as well so it wasn’t horrendous to deal with (in middle school I had hella short hair because when it got long, it was too thick to manage). I haven’t cut my hair since June 2019, so a part of me didn’t want my mom to cut my hair for fear that it would get thick again and a part of me didn’t want to get a haircut in general because my hair was so nice and long. But, I convinced myself to cut off a few inches. Nothing too wild, but it was nice to have a fresh start for the year.
Good luck and have a good school year, everyone! Expect a first day of school post soon!
Cover photo: Hong Kong
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