If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout high school, it’s that your biggest enemy is yourself. High school, in short, is four years of stress piled on top of one another and compacted into a huge weight of negative energy just packed upon your shoulders. There is most likely never a moment where your brain will stop worrying about what assignment you have to finish next or what test you have to study for. This may not be completely avoidable, but there is a way to make your four short years in high school more bearable: time management. Every high school kids’ New Years resolution is to improve their time management skills, yet only a handful are sure to follow through. Here are a few key tips to help better your time management skills:

Focus on the Most Important Tasks First: By doing this, you are able to invest all of your time and energy into the most important assignment rather than saving it until the end and running out of energy. That way, if it’s necessary, you can put in half as much effort into the less important assignments.

Don’t Procrastinate! This is easier said than done, but if you wait until the last minute, the amount of stress will triple rather than if you had started the work earlier.

Write Down Everything That Needs to Get Done: By writing down your tasks, it will help your brain process and organize everything that needs be completed and prioritize your tasks in the process.

Focus on One Thing at a Time: If your brain tries to handle multiple things at once, it is likely that your brain will jumble up everything and make it harder for you to progress through your work. Focusing on one thing and having a clear mindset will improve the quality of your work and help you finish in a timely fashion.

Keep Your Work and Desk Organized: By keeping your work organized, you will have an easier time thinking and your thoughts will be less jumbled if the area surrounding you is kept intact.

Take Breaks in Between Each Assignment: Taking breaks in between each assignment will allow your brain to recharge and gain a clear mindset rather than jumping from one topic to the next. It is treated almost as a reward system. If you finish your history homework, then you can take a 15-minute break before starting your English homework. This tricks the brain into feeling as if you’ve accomplished something and will motivate you to complete the rest of your tasks.

By following these tips, your time spent in high school will be much more enjoyable. You will have more time to spend with friends on the weekend and less time to complain about how you only got three hours of sleep last night. High school is tough, but with certain loopholes, you can make it endurable.