High school, widely known as the worst four years of your life, can definitely feel overwhelming at times. It's harder than any point in your life so far, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it just as much. With the right habits and the proper attitude, you can tailor your high school experience to be both enjoyable and fufilling.

1. Know Your Limits

The fastest way to ruin your entire school year is to pick the wrong classes. There are so many people who take on more rigor than they can handle, pile up too many activities, and end up miserable. Stop worrying about competing with your classmates and make sure you focus on doing the best you can. Everybody has different capacities for different things and trying to keep up with something you can't handle won't benefit you. Ask yourself what's more important: your health or that one extra AP course you don't actually care about taking?

2. Plan Your Assignments

Maybe you don't need a fancy $30 planner, but you should absolutely make a habit of writing down your homework and upcoming tests in some sort of notebook and/or calendar. By doing this, you will never forget about an upcoming quiz, test, or reading check. This means you can actually go to bed the night before an assessment instead of cramming then, or worse, the morning of. Being well-rested even helps you preform better on your assignments and in class. Even if you're certain that you're able to remember 100% of your assessments, crossing off each piece of homework as you complete it is extremely satisfying and provides a sense of accomplishment.

3. Prioritize!

Once you've got all your assignments for the day down and it's time to start working, take five minutes to decide how you're going to work. Mentally break down your assignments and think- what do I need to finish by tomorrow? What's going to take a longer time? With what will I need to work harder? Where is a good stopping/transition point between assignments or subjects for me to take a break? You don't necessarily need to write down every detail, but having a loose idea of the order in which you complete tasks will make you feel much better. Prioritizing allows you to study for tomorrow's quiz before you spend four hours working on the project due next week. I like to complete things due the next day, then work on the assignments that require the most work so there's less to do in the future.

4. Break Up Large Projects

What's easier to eat: a whole watermelon or a sliced one? Try to apply this mindset to your work and you will find even the biggest project manageable. Make yourself mini-deadlines for different stages of your project so you don't end up rushing it so that you have something to turn in. For example, if you have a presentation due in two weeks, try pretending your research is due in four days, that your script needs to be written and memorized in eight days, and that your visual aspect needs to be completed by day twelve. By following a basic plan, you'll have your project done before it's even due! Planning ahead to finish early allocates you a cushion day to review or to work in case something unexpected or forgotten comes up.

5. Surround Yourself With The Right People

A large aspect of high school is the work, but your life also starts to revolve around being social. It's easy to pick up the habits of the people around you, so it may not be in your best interest to always sit next to your most distracting friends. Know when it's time to work and time to hang out so you have more free time at home. Apart from people from study habits, make sure you surround yourself with people who are encouraging, positive, and give constructive advice when you ask for it. Keeping your self-esteem up can be hard at times, but it's even harder if you don't feel comfortable with your friends or if they don't support you. Above all else, make sure you work hard and make decisions that you feel are right. Stay true to yourself and good luck!