Lauren Kim, Entertainment Writer
Summer has officially passed and we are already in our second month of school! However, many of our habits from our summer vacation lifestyle still remain, such as sleeping late and rising in the late afternoon, or looking at our phones and watching Netflix for the whole day. It can be very hard to get out of these habits after a long and comfortable break, especially when you get bombarded with homework the moment you walk into the school. If you are also a victim of procrastination and last-minute all-nighters, below are some useful tips and habits that are never too late for you to implement into your school life!
1. You don’t need ONE workspace
If you find yourself getting distracted easily in your current workspace, such as your room, it may be a good idea for you to change the location of where you do your studies. When you are an environment where it is hard to stay focused and away from your phone, places such as libraries, cafés or even just a different room in your house, can positively impact the way you study. Libraries and cafés are normally the best options because many go there for the same reason – to study – and therefore, the working environment will motivate you to study.
2. Keep track of homework and deadlines in a planner
If you have not received a planner from school, it may be beneficial to invest in one! Having many different classes and 
assignments due every day can make it confusing and hard to memorize when something needs to be done by a certain time. Having everything you need to do written out helps you to keep track and stay on top of things.
3. Organize your notes every day
Are you the kind of person who has stacks of mixed paper in your bag that still have yet to be put in their respective binders? Rather than leaving it all to one day, organize your notes right when you get home if it is too difficult to do right away at school. Spending at most 10 minutes every day to do so is better than doing it for an hour on a Sunday night.
4. Write down in your notes what your teachers tell you in class
As you advance into higher levels of education, teachers expect you to not just learn from the notes they give you, but what they tell you during their lessons as well. Listen attentively and write down relevant information along with your notes, rather than trying to learn solely from the teacher’s notes later during the night before a test.
5. Use class time wisely
While the information you just learned is still fresh in your head, it is actually much easier to stay focused and complete work in class, rather than doing it by yourself later when you feel lazier and don’t remember what you learned, and as a result, have to look over the notes yet again. Use your class time wisely and it will save up more free time for you later!
6. Study and look over your notes for at least 10 minutes the day you learn them
For subjects such as math and sciences, it helps to refresh your memory every time you come home. We tend to forget what we learn at school, so it is important to reinforce these concepts by yourself on the day you learn them.
7. Read over your notes before you do textbook work, assignments, etc.
While it helps to read over your notes every day, reading your notes before doing your homework is also a more effective way of learning, rather than jumping straight into your work and having to read 
your notes every time you’re met with a question you don’t recall how to solve. Reading beforehand keeps the ideas flowing faster.
8. Set times for your homework and studying, create a specific schedule and layout for the day
Before you start doing your homework, it helps to estimate how long it will take and to be realistic about what and how much you want to accomplish for that day. For example, take note if your math and science homework takes two hours each to do, and see how much time that leaves for your other subjects. It is also beneficial for your mind to set break times when you can take a short walk or have a quick snack, as a reward after studying or completing a certain piece of homework.
It is not too late to start developing good studying habits now! These tips can be very beneficial for school and even your own personal life. However, it is also a matter of self-control and initiation: you must push through your distractions to have a successful result. Good luck and happy studying!
