One of the main things I have seen that stress people and could cause a relapse in your illness is studying. Going to school and keeping up with the pace can be extremely stressful and induce in yourself feelings of anxiety because of overload, or depression because of the feeling of not meeting the standards. But the main point here, and the focus I want to put in, is that you shouldn’t drop out from school, finishing high school will be helpful for your life and you really need that education, but, do I have to sacrifice my mental health for education? Absolutely no! There are ways to succeed in school, or simply learn a lot of stuff, without actually getting stressed.
(disclaimer: I didn’t study in the US and I’m not particularly familiarized with the educational system of there, I will give tips that are mostly universal, if you don’t believe they fit your school or educational program, or can’t be applied, I encourage you to oversee them.)
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| Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash |
- First of all: Grades aren’t the most important thing of all.
In the end, grades become something that people will overlook, your school degree will be more important. More important than grades are knowledge, so studying focusing completely on the grade is not the correct approach. Study trying to learn the material, it’s alright to not be able to recite it perfectly, it’s better to understand what you know and be able analyze it and apply it to a daily basis.
- Manage your time
Time is a valuable and finite resource, meaning that your project due in three days will BE due in those three days and you can do nothing to change that. Mental illnesses take lot of time out of your day, but it IS possible to invest your time, the one you spend in overthinking or reflecting, into time to learn and discover. While you overthink, try to redirect those thoughts to how the West colonized the whole world or how the Middle East is the birthplace of civilization, when you are reflecting redirect those thoughts onto philosophical questions, maybe you can be the next Plato.
PD: learn about the Pomodoro method
- Read, a lot
Reading is an excellent way to get knowledge, and it can be even more fulfilling than attending school, but watch out for the assistance record. Reading can help you understand a lot better about arts in general, biology, history, geography, chemistry, physics, and maybe even math! Also, don’t just stop at books related to school, read stuff that they don’t teach you at school. If you want to do multiple things at once, listen to audiobooks while exercising or doing a different activity than studying.
- Organize your stuff
Organization is really useful, specially to not lose track on your stuff. Keeping everything organized, color-coded or scheduled will be extremely useful to know when your assignments are due, what parts of the lecture are important to know and the such. There are plenty of apps for school organization and tracking purposes.
- Study with somebody
Don’t study alone, if you can study with someone, it doesn’t matter if they’re older, they can help you solve doubts with your work or orientate you. It doesn’t even have to be someone actively studying, you can study while your parents or siblings watch TV, you can form study groups with your friends, too. Also, this kind of activities will improve your relationships!
- Ask your teacher
If you have doubts or problems with any part of your homework or studying material, your teachers will be the best persons to ask to. Just approach assertively and respectfully, they will be willing to respond to your questions, it’s their job anyways. Try not to ask them while their doing heavy work, they are not in their most clear moment, and may even have a mistake while answering. Also, avoid asking them immediately before the test or the day before a due assignment. Thee better timing is instantly after they gave the assignment. This can also give you more chances to get a better grade, since they’ll be aware that you had trouble, but that you are willing to learn and improve.
- Get more sources
Sometimes, materials handed out by the teachers can be confusing and written in a really intricate way, thus confusing you. You can search online and get tons of materials, some more explanative and comprehensive than others. Make sure that they actually stay on subject!
-Ricardo Yague
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