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Let’s just say that as a senior, I already feel benevolently inclined enough to start lecturing the young’uns on how to intelligently yet entertainingly survive their high school years. Call me a preacher if you must (although I’d prefer not to be connected with the connotation of a religious leader), but the truth is that there -is- a strategy to getting past high school efficiently, just like there -are- tricks to standardized testing, college applications, and science fair interviews.

So today we’re going to talk about a bit of lifehacking - more specifically, time management.

I have a lot of friends both online and offline ask how I can possibly handle a full platter of eight AP classes in addition to web designing, participating in the performing arts, full-time running a singing organization, and participating in general friendly socializing with my fellow friends and classmates. Now I will admit I don’t have perfect time management, but that’s not what you need to make it through. What you need is good focus, motivation, and - when the situation calls for them - excellent last-minute skills.

1) Do what you feel like doing at the moment

I know this totally destroys everything that your parents and teachers have told you. They always told you to do what is most pertinent and then work your way through your classes in order. No. Don’t force yourself. For example, I hate doing French until the morning. If I start French at 8pm the day before, chances are I’m going to sit there and stare at the text in my novel until it’s time for me to go to bed. I simply can’t focus that way - I’d prefer to work on things like calculus or physics during the evening and leave the liberal arts for the early hours. If you aren’t doing something that you feel like doing, you’re just forcing yourself. And then eventually you’ll just run out of motivation, energy, focus, or worse… all three.

2) It’s okay to leave IM windows or e-mails open -only- if you have the self-control

Personally, I love bouncing ideas off my select classmates and friends over IM when I’m doing homework (especially CS2 programs). I’m also addicted to e-mail like a drug and rely on it to get updates from my teachers, singing organization members, colleges, or anything else important. So no, it’s not a terrible vice to want to have IM windows or e-mail inboxes displayed on the taskbar while you’re working as long as you have the self-control to be able to multitask. And speaking of multitask…

3) Multitasking: it works, and you can do it too

So, multitasking. It’s not magic that some of us are born with. Anyone can multitask if they practice hard enough. Basically, this constitutes doing two things at the same time. In reality, though, it’s kind of hard to do that, so I partake in psuedo-multitasking: where you switch off between items to create the impression that you’re working on both of them. For example, I’ll do a page of biology, type a paragraph of my English essay, go back to the biology, wash-rinse-repeat. Not only does it keep your mind constantly refreshed and stimulated, you’ll find that the monotony of homework goes away.

4) Get the large projects over with first

My mother insists that I do it the opposite - get all the little stuff done with first and then work on the large project. She claims that if I get all the small items done, I will feel more relaxed to do the large project because I’ll know that I won’t have smaller items to deal with later. Perhaps you’re that way, but to me, I feel as if the opposite should be true. I always tackle the large projects first; once I’m done with them, then I can happily and relaxingly finish my minor assignments. And you know what the cool thing is? After you’re done with your large project, those minor assignments will seem like nothing at all, and you’ll be able to breeze through them!

5) To-do lists and planners are your friends

I would not have survived through high school if I didn’t have a planner. I’ve been diligently using one since I started my freshman year. I stopped using one this semester of high school because (clumsy me) I spilled juice on it and ruined the pages. By this time, though, I’ve already gotten into the habit of writing everything down, so I keep an electronic to-do list on my PDA and on my laptop. Doesn’t matter where you put it; just write down EVERYTHING you have to do, even if it’s petty stuff like “get parent to sign permission slip”. Once you complete the item, either highlight, cross it out, or delete it from your electronic document. It makes you feel good inside =) makes you feel like you’ve actually accomplished something, even if it was small, and that’s what creates motivation for you to continue on and get more done.

6) Never sacrifice efficiency for quality

All the teachers are going to come shoot me now, but it’s true. If there isn’t time, then don’t spend freaking forever doing an assignment. Scribble down the answers. BS a response to an essay. Get the answers off a friend and then look back at them later. Brute force the dictionary (no, not really). You get the idea. Don’t be a stupid perfectionist - they don’t get anywhere in the world because they take fifty-thousand years to finish something that could easily be accomplished in 30 minutes. Do what you need to do, and do it efficiently and quickly.

7) Learn to move and work fast

There is nothing I hate more than people who are slow. (Hey, my mother and I -do- have things in common!) There is no reason why I should have had to sit in that AP pre-registration session for nearly an hour to bubble in two pages worth of crap. I could have VERY easily done that in 5 minutes, but no. People have to be slow. They have to be stupid. They have to wait for the instructions to be handed to them on a silver platter. Come on guys. Don’t be like the stupid people. Learn how to move fast, write fast, and think fast. And then learn how to read instructions so you don’t have to wait for the teacher to tell you that it’s okay to proceed even though you finished 5 minutes before she decided it was about time to continue.

8) Develop a system

Kind of ambiguous, but that’s exactly why. -YOU- have to develop a system that works for whatever you’re doing, and then you have to use it. For example, in SnM I created a page listing out all the projects that are currently in the works. Each project receives its own individual ID for easy identification, and each also displays the status of the project: signups, colour-coding, waiting for files, mixing, or ready for release. In addition, each of the project pages themselves clearly state the link to the lyrics, the deadline, and also list out each track and the files that have been received or are needed for each. It’s a bit confusing to those on the outside, but it works wonders for me and has really helped SnM get more organized. Once you find a system that works, use it, and don’t worry about what others say. They aren’t you, they don’t know what works for YOU. So all those teachers that are trying to force you to take notes THEIR way and organize binders THEIR way, just say a sincere, “No, thank you” and stop following their stupid methods. Seriously. What the majority of American high school students need to be organized may not be what you need, so stop conforming like a brainless fish and think for yourself.

9) Take your own damn notes

I used to be the perfect student; I used to listen to exactly what the teachers said and I used to take their notes and do their organizational methods. However, in 8th grade, my social studies teacher was doing notes on the overhead, and I decided to deviate from her setup. I wrote in some extra words and condensed some text. And then she decided to be an asshole and gave us a quiz stating “What is the first word of the Constitution notes?” Lucky me, I hadn’t copied down her version of the notes so needless to say I got the question wrong and a low grade on the quiz overall. Now after this I could done two things: I could have conformed to her ridiculous style, or I could have just said “screw this.” I chose the latter and have been very happy since. For some students, like me, I learn best by not taking notes at all and listening to the lecture. Some others need to write extra notes. Some need to write fewer notes. I don’t believe teachers have the ability to dictate what you should be writing down, and if your teacher does, then go argue until you can have your way. Take notes the way YOU need them, not how the teacher says you need them. Notes are for YOU, not the feel-good of the teacher. If they are so stupid they aren’t helping you (*cough*Cornell notetaking in AP Stat*cough*) then don’t do them. Unless your teacher is an uber-asshole and decides to grade them. Then perhaps you should grudgingly do them while complaining the entire time so the teachers realize how stupid it is.

10) Authority isn’t everything

You heard me. Authority isn’t everything. Teachers can be more stupid than students. They can be unreasonable; they can be annoying and retarded. I’m not saying you should stage a mass rebellion, but I’m saying if you don’t agree with something, you don’t always have to comply. Of course, you should also be equipped with a decent amount of intelligence to realize when you’re going too far, but for the most part, a bit of refusal isn’t all that bad. Take this tip as you will.

11) Learn to work under pressure, and learn to use this to your advantage

This is the crux of everything. If you can write elegant, refined, but really last-minute essays, you have high school down pat. If you can quickly and easily find answers in a textbook, or can do some really fast Googling, you are set. In fact, if you can do this well enough, you can probably end up doing homework for an hour or two in the evening and then finishing everything in the morning. My best essays were written in 30-40 minutes each on the morning they were due. My government essays this year were all written 15 minutes before class. Mid-90s to full 100’s on every single one. (Interestingly, the French essay I spent 3 hours on received a mere 80). I’m not promoting the idea of procrastination (or am I? =D) but learn how to use pressure to your advantage. Pressure causes the mind to focus, to tune out distraction, and invokes a nervous and hormonal response that channels energy to the body processes that need it most. So yes. Pressure can be good.

12) Take breaks and reward yourself

My parents don’t believe in this, I’m supposing. But I fully believe that you need to take breaks and do something enjoyable. In fact, this is probably what motivates me most. Set little goals and then reward yourself. For example, “Okay, if I can finish this biology packet in 20 minutes, I’ll get to play Stepmania for another 10 minutes and then go back to my physics homework.” Now that I’ve set this plan up, I’ll feel more encouraged to finish biology on time, be able to enjoy myself with Stepmania (excellent game BTW; go download it - it helps enhance mind-eye-ear coordination), and then I’m also able to come back to physics refreshed and happy. Especially with nerds like me, where the idea of “having fun” usually means Photoshopping, working with SnM stuff, programming, cleaning out my hard drive, or messing around with Linux distros… well, I’m double as productive =D which brings me to my last tip…

13) Make it fun; colleges like it

Find something nerdy that you like to do and then do it. Seriously. No one’s going to know that you secretly enjoy learning Perl and Ruby and C++ in your spare time (*cough*) or that you find pleasure in reading Slashdot every spare moment you get (*double cough*) or that you read books about astrophysics (*cough hack choke*). Not only are you learning something and doubling your productivity while doing something fun… well, when you report this to colleges, they’ll find you interesting and dedicated. And we all know high school is geared towards college, right?

The answer: NOT REALLY.

Yeah, you get a bonus tip. High school claims to prepare you for college. To some extent it does. For the most part, it doesn’t. The only way you can prepare for college is to stop relying on teachers to make the agenda for you. DO IT YOURSELF. Stop asking classmates silly questions that a simple search on Google can’t answer. Stop complaining that you “don’t get it” and FIGURE IT OUT. Stop whining when something doesn’t go right and then give up. That wastes time. Just GROW UP and LEARN IT YOURSELF.

Remember, -YOU- (not the teachers, not the admins, not your parents, not your friends) have control of yourself and your future. YOU. So stop listening to BS that caters towards the general population and start listen to YOUR needs and wants. I’m not saying be selfish. I’m saying be reasonable and smart and do what you need to do in order to learn and develop to the person that you want to be.

And for heaven’s sakes (excuse my theism), STOP BEING A BUNCH OF IGNORANT TEENAGERS. I hate people who are immature and stupid. In particular, I hate girls who say they’re emo and depressive and they have no control over their emotions… and then use this as an EXCUSE to be bitchy and whiny. Well, you know what? Quit your whining. We mature people don’t want to be tainted by your emo tears. Grow up, learn to deal with it, stop being so offended, and take control of your own life.

I think I need to make a new article ranting about emo children. I think I shall. Tomorrow. When I’m not terribly tired.