Ting a ling! After a summer of sleeping in and playing video games, it’s almost time to return to school. Whether you are in high school or college, it’s not only important to get the new academic year off to a strong start but to also to stay ahead.

To help you keep on top of the books and your class, OBSERVER ONLINE shares some tips below.

1.Use Divided Folders

Use divided folders to organise handouts by subject, making such resources more readily accessible. This allows a less chaotic and more time efficient environment.

2.Study Guides (Especially for CXC)

Study more concise information/explanations on concepts which helps especially when it’s time for revision. It will improve your time management for tests/examinations as it helps students to focus on the main points and minimises over explanations in answers.

3.Proper Sleep Schedule

Avoid working on a ‘tired’ brain. Work is less likely to be completed accurately and efficiently when you’re tired. Try to maintain a strict sleep schedule.

4.Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination will induce laziness, which leads to inefficiency. Later you will be filled with regrets and stress when everything is piled up, which will in turn alter other aspects of your work structure, like your sleep schedule.

5.Choose Proper Company

Surround yourself with people who will push you. “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”

6.Use Time-Efficient/Reliable Resources

It may seem minor, but everything adds up! The use of a number of inefficient resources can be an overall drag on your studies. Try to use more efficient tools such as tape white vs pen whiteouts as they don’t need to dry. Avoid using notebooks with perforated pages for note keeping – pages can accidentally be torn out, making it easier to lose information. Try mechanical pencils, which maintains its sharpness, as opposed to wooden ones that need to be sharpened often.

7.Store notes in a secure, accessible place

Store notes online on apps that are linked to accounts and can be accessible on any device. E.g. Google Docs (If our device malfunctions, your notes are still easily accessible).

8.Always read ahead if possible

Never rely on your teacher’s timeline. Familiarise yourself on the topic in advance; this will facilitate easier understanding of the lesson.

9.Find out your best study time

We are all different when it comes to our personal schedule for maximum performance – some of us are more attentive early in the morning, when most of the household are asleep; other, after lunch etc. Find out when you are at your best and schedule your study times accordingly.

10.Get the syllabus/curriculum

Use the syllabus for each subject as a guide to know what specifically to focus on for your exams. Though reading beyond the required is good, it may also be very time consuming and cause information overload.