<p>read books + watch the news.</p>
<p>it gives you a knowledgeable background of the world around you, and thus, a foundation that supports any classwork.</p>
<p>Hmmm I had a lot of hwk, long travelling times to school and back, and lots of activities,but nonetheless I was/am a HUGE procrastinator. 4 things I thought got me the grades anyway:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Come to class, and listen in it. This is especially true of foreign language classes and math/science questions. I think these classes are huge on exposure to many different questions and explanations. Don’t skip class because you’re tired or even if you’re recovering from say, a cold. You will learn infinitely more just sitting there vegetating than skipping class. Your brain adjusts to your class schedule in terms of ‘flicking on’ to your class schedules. If you’re not attending class regularly you’ll be ‘sucking up information’ less readily when you are in class.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t let anything get you down. Hard, difficult classes can get even worse if you don’t force yourself to face up to them. “this topic is hard” –> “i don’t get this material” –> “I hate this class!” –> “I don’t want to go to class / I don’t want to do this homework” –> “I won’t go to class, I won’t do this hwk” –> “I’m failing this class” –> “I hate this subject” –> “I hate school!”. If you’re doing badly, it’s fine; there are so many ways you can do better - one-on-one work with a teacher may be unpleasant but incredible in terms of catching up, asking a parent (preferably one that doesn’t screech : /), asking an older sibling, asking a friend, or just taking one entire Saturday and nailing the damn thing. Don’t let a hard topic, a bad break-up, your parents fighting, your pet dying, be an excuse for creating problems for you academically too. Turn it into motivation.</p></li>
<li><p>Set yourself high standards and believe you can reach them. People getting A’s in the toughest classes don’t let themselves think “you know, screw this last half of the chapter. I’m just aiming to pass” or “Ima go paintball instead of get started on this essay”. At the same time everyone’s known that perpetually unhappy student who gets a 98% and weeps over the last 2%. Test scores never define you. Celebrate what you did learn instead…esp in high school where (hopefully) someone’s working hard for you to get an education.</p></li>
<li><p>Try to respect your teachers. 
haha. Geez I had so many bad teachers I feel all high-horsey for saying this. But it really helps. A good relationship is important, and respecting a teacher is not at all like sucking up. Go to their classes, do their homework, be polite. Not onyl are you going to potentially need their recs for summer school/special programs/college, see them face to face every day, need help with class material, they also deserve respect as professionals and people devoted (again, hopefully) to helping you out.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Lots of good suggestions in this thread.</p>
<p>I personally am a v. emotional person and have extreme mood swings, leading to v. stressful situations when it comes to school. Typically third quarter I slack off and geniunely don’t care…but then I freak out when I have a B in the class and spend the last two weeks of the quarter panicking, stressing, and studying. I’ve gotten straight As throughout highschool, though (one exception of a B+ first quarter freshman year algebra, but I ignore that lol) sometimes by the skin of my teeth. Esp. junior year. in precalculus and spanish honors I had 92.5-93 the entire year, which is v. stressful. Anyway, here’s how I survive:</p>
<ol>
<li>Sleep. I need sleep, as in 7 hours a night. Unfortunately, that means I have to do intensive homework sessions to get it all done. Typically I get home, unwind for about an hour, and try to get math homework done. Another break for dinner, relaxation, and then serious studying from 7-9. Another break, and then 10-11:30. then sleep. </li>
<li>Pay attention and participate in class. This leads to less time spent on studying at home, because you actually learned the information in the first place and only need a quick refresher.</li>
<li>Knowing the teacher really helps. I’ve had a couple situations where a project was sub-par or my grade hovered at the edge of an A but I ended up getting the As because of previous excellence and because the teacher liked me. </li>
<li>Prioritize. for me, that meant not ever bothering to do anything for theology or other easy classes. that frees up time to spend on the harder classes, which require more studying and effort to make the A. </li>
<li>when you just can’t get the homework done, copy from a friend, but make sure to reciprocate in the future.</li>
</ol>
<p>Pay attention in classes I think are important and do homework in classes that I deem less important.</p>
<p>Do any other homework between 12 and 2 AM</p>
<p>All other homework is done during lunch with the help of a friend or two.</p>
<p>this is really a “trick” because it is simple and tricks yourself into doing something or changing your behavior. An art teacher told me this when I went to a really rigorous art summer school. As soon as the assignment is given, start it immediately. just start it…even if you stop and pick it up again a couple of days later. at least assess it, get the supplies you’ll need , start a plan. starting it immediately short circuits the desire to procrastinate… this works well when you have something due in a few days. for regular studying just study every day no matter what. every night go over what you did that day if you don’t have an assignment from that class. its really a simple plan. make rules for yourself to avoid anxiety.</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>also, set small goals and give yourself rewards…
even on friday night, say “I’ll read two chapters of history until 7pm, then I can go see a movie with friends. If i don’t finish, i won’t be able to.”</p>
<p>Believe me, spending three hours on a friday night is WAY better sleeping at 12 sunday night rather than 3.</p>
<p>bump it up</p>
<p>This may sound weird, but I actually do a lot of my studying on my bathroom floor–
I close the door and sit in my bathroom and just open books and study. It’s the perfect place, because I feel so comfortable and the bathroom fan blocks out all other noise, so I can concentrate with the soothing humming of the fan. Heh…</p>
<p>lol KRabble88… I kind of have done that before. I have really thick long hair that takes forever to dry. I’ve definitely brought in my homework, sat on the bathroom floor, and blowdried my hair at the same time. Multitasking at it’s best.</p>
<p>That’s only if I’m short on time, though. Usually I’ll shower, study/read/do whatever for two hours around the house (it’ll be damp by the end of this), and then my hair will blowdry in like 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Never ever study on your bed, though… even if it’s just reading! It doesn’t ever work for me, even if I like what I’m reading/working on. I’ll always fall asleep. Guarenteed.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t try the Uberman sleep schedule, as all scientific logic would suggest that depriving yourself of 4 of the sleep cycles that we know very little about probably isn’t a great idea.</p>
<p>What I do is take a 1-2 hour nap when I get home from school. Wake up, have dinner, play around until bedtime. I usually go to bed sometime between 10 and 12, and then I wake up between 5 and 6, depending on how much homework I have.</p>
<p>I personally do much better at homework in the morning. I roll out of bed, make a pot of coffee, and just get to work. I’ll work until 7:00, and anything I don’t get done I do in class. But what would take me 4 hours at night I can do in 45 minutes in the morning, I’m very very productive in this time period.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this often means that I’m not too alert during class. But I just can’t force myself to do homework at night, so I really don’t have many other choices.</p>
<p>I write all papers and labs on Sunday, even if they’re not due until Friday. I always keep a calendar, and anything that requires more effort than just hw or studying I’ll do on Sunday. This is my freshest day.</p>
<p>For exams, I start two weekends ahead of time and get all my notes and stuff organized. I figure out what I need to study, and then I do a few minutes of the most important subjects starting the week before exams. An example:</p>
<p>MONDAY EXAMS - Math AM; History PM
TUESDAY EXAMS - Arts AM; English PM
WEDNESDAY EXAMS - Science AM; French PM</p>
<p>So the ones I need to review most for are history and science. I’ll start reviewing those on Tuesday or Wednesday the week before, re-reading, highlighting and reviewing notes. Make a checklist of each topic to review.</p>
<p>For French, I just need to make vocab flashcards and a chart of tenses. All of this I can review for about 2 hours on the weekend before, and do a final review in the 2 hours between the AM and PM exam.</p>
<p>For the art exam, I’m not going to study. The only arts exam I’ve ever studied for was AP Music Theory. I’ll probably work at AP Art History this year too.</p>
<p>For math, I need to make a chart of the important concepts and review them the weekend before and morning of.</p>
<p>For English, all I need to do is make an outline of the essay. I’ll do this well in advance and just memorize it the weekend before.</p>
<p>The key here is to only study what you need to, and use retained info and aptitude to fake your way through the rest of it.</p>