For some of us the new school year has begun, which means new notebooks, fresh paper and shiny new pens. If your anything like me the new-school-year excitement is likely to soon fade into stress and exhaustion. Its easy to let reading assignments, papers and general school anxiety bury us and become overwhelming… unless we do something to avoid it.

1. Map out your semester.

A little bit of organization can go a long way. Take a hour or so to sit down with all of your class syllabi and your calendar. Mark every due date on your calendar so you can see how your semester will look overall. If you do you’ll be able to see which weeks will have heavier work loads and which ones will be more free. If you map out your schedule now you’re less likely to wake up one morning and realize that you have a major paper due the next day.

2. Don’t over-commit yourself.

There are so many cool student groups and events on campus that you might want to get involved in. Try signing-up for maybe one or two now and then add more a little further down the line. I’ve learned from experience that its better to add commitments to your schedule as time goes on than to over-commit now and burn out in the first few weeks of the semester.

Happy learning!

Do you have any tips on how to be on your A-game this semester? If so let me know!