Ask James: How do I stop letting homework get the best of me?

James Newman, Advice Columnist

Dear James, 

How do I stop letting homework get the best of me?

– Struggling Student

Dear Struggling, 

Thank you for this amazing question. I think this is something that many students struggle with and have a hard time understanding what to do, so that’s where I come in to help. To start, try and plan out your homework for the week and try and understand how long it will take to do each assignment. Then, after that see when it’s due and the last day you can get it done. This is very important because you need to also include breaks, whether that means hours, days, minutes, etc. Please give yourself a break and understand that you can’t constantly be at 100%. Next, start to do the homework and without worrying about it– just jump into it so you can get into the groove of work and start to finish the pile that you have. This is also very important because I know a lot of students who stress about homework and when they finally do it, they realize it was a piece of cake. So please don’t fear homework…take homework down and walk away better. Finally, if you don’t understand a question or how to do x, y, and z, then please ask your teacher. It may be awkward to you but this is what they are here for–to help you learn and understand the material…so if you don’t understand it then let your teacher know.

I hope this helped!, See you again soon XOXO,

-James