Dear James,

How do I manage my time correctly and stop stressing over deadlines?

-Stressed and Mismanaged

Stressed and Mismanaged: I can sometimes have this same problem, so I completely understand. I have a couple of ways that have helped me. If you can find out when everything is due and you have those assignments with you, try breaking them up into days or time blocks. So let’s say you have 4 assignments – 2 due on Monday night and the others due on Tuesday morning. So try and find time on Sunday or Monday afternoon to get these done. It’s all about understanding what you have to get done in the time you have so if you know you take an hour to complete 1 assignment then set an hour out to do that. A way to stop stressing over deadlines is to make them manageable if you know that you won’t be able to complete a task in an hour spread it out. Break up the assignment in the time you have until it’s due. Do half on one day and the other another day. But if you are in extracurriculars like Cheerleading or sports it’s very crucial to add that into your time for work. If you know you have Cheer tomorrow and it’s going to take a long time and you’re going to be tired when you get home then do the work the day before or earlier in the day. 

-James