Embedded Files
By: Ezri Watt '32
You are walking home from school, imagining the things you could do once you get home. You just got off the bus, officially ending the school day. It’s a Friday, so there are so many possibilities. You could have your friends over for a movie night. You could play a game. Maybe you could just sleep, too. Then you realize that you have a mountain of homework to complete.
Maybe it isn’t exactly like this for you, but if it is, this article is for you. If your situation is fairly similar, or not at all, you might still want to read this. Then, you could stop your future self from struggling with work.
If you made a mistake, and have not done your work for the week as soon as it had been assigned, your Friday and weekend could be free. You should do your homework when you get home from school, and make a plan to stop this from happening next week. Here is where this article comes in.
Start by making a list of everything that you're doing on Monday. Write approximately what time each of these activities will take place. Here’s an example list:
5:00 AM: Wake up and get ready for the school day with your daily routine
6:30 AM: Get out the door and walk to your bus stop
7:15 AM: Get off of the school bus and go to your homeroom (have breakfast first if that’s your routine)
7:20 AM - 2:20 PM: School day
2:35 PM: The bus gets you to your stop
2:40 PM: You get home
2:45 PM: You eat a snack
2:55 PM: You play games
4:00 PM: Your parents come home from work, and you have a dinner
5:00 PM: Sports practice
9:30 PM: You go to sleep
Let’s see… there are two perfectly large time gaps. The first is 2:55 PM to 4:00 PM. This is a good time to get any homework done. Even if you expect to have the next time gap to do your homework, getting it out of the way will make you happier, less stressed, and give you more freedom. In the case that you don’t finish in the first time gap, use the second one. The sooner you get your work done, the better. (The second time gap is when sports practice ends to 9:30 PM.)
For most people, there will be some time or another that they can get their work in after school. If not, some things on the schedule for fun could be better replaced by homework. For example, maybe playing games should be switched, because while it is fun, playing games is not educational, and your school should be your first priority. Also, maybe you could do work while eating a snack.
If there just isn’t any time in your Monday, and you need to get weekly homework done, Tuesday is a fine second choice. Make a Tuesday list, and find the gaps, if there aren’t any gaps, replace some recreational activities. Once your homework is done, you will have plenty of time to do things you really enjoy.
Another time gap that students at our school should really think about is the built-in ninth period. After you do your iReady or Lexia, and as long as you don’t owe any work, ninth period is the perfect time to do work without taking away from your time away from school. Ninth period is free time to do homework while not missing out on anything. You might not finish it all, but starting your homework is never a bad thing. If you do some of your work in ninth period, but you can’t find any time gaps in the time after school that Monday, don’t worry! After you already have most of your homework completed, you can look for smaller time gaps to finish it up.
Once you get your weekly work done on Monday and Tuesday, the rest of the week is yours! You can meet up with your friends, sleep, or participate in afterschool activities without worrying about work.
If the list doesn’t work, though, there are plenty of other ways you can get your work down and have time for fun. Think of your school day. A model list won’t help much, because we all have different schedules. Do you have any teachers who often let you take a few minutes either at the beginning or the end of class to work on homework or owed work? Use that time! Do you ever have a time where most of your classmates are still working on classwork (maybe completing a worksheet, finishing a test, getting three clocks on Lexia, etc.)? Take advantage of that moment! Get your work done! And if you are really struggling to find time in your week after school, then maybe ask to go to the library during lunch to get it done.
Imagine this scenario:
You are on the bus, and you get a text from a friend. You're invited over for a sleepover. You immediately text back that you plan on coming, but you have to ask your parents for permission first.
When you get home, you and your friend text each other back and forth about how fun the sleepover will be, and what you’re going to do. When your mom gets back from work, you run over to ask her.
“Mom, I got invited to a sleepover this weekend. Can I go to it?” You say hopefully.
“Umm… Is your homework all done?” your Mom asks doubtful.
Suddenly, you remember that you have a big project due on Monday. It won’t get as good of a grade if you do it all Sunday night after you come home from the sleepover.
“Yes.” You lie.
The sleepover is lots of fun, and you are glad you went. When you turn in the project, however, you get a C-. Your grade plummets, and you wish you hadn’t procrastinated. Your mom is mad that you got a low grade and knows that you lied about the project being finished. You aren’t allowed to go to your best friend’s birthday party the next week, and your friend gets really mad at you. All of this happened because you procrastinated.
Let’s rewind, and try this again.
Today, you are assigned a project. You get to work right away after school, and finish it up the next day. Your trifold is beautiful, with lots of details about everything and careful drawings.
On Friday, you get the sleepover text.
When your mom asks you if all of your homework is done, you proudly tell her the truth, knowing that you worked hard.
The sleepover is more fun than it would have been if you had been worrying about finishing your trifold the whole time, and when you turn it in, you get an A. The next week, you celebrate your friend’s birthday, and invite her to come to your house next time.
Which person do you think is happier? The procrastinator or the hard worker? The liar or the honest person? The one who got to go to the birthday party, or the one who was stuck staying home?
Use your answer to decide which one you want to be. Only you can choose if you are a hard worker. Even if your parents encourage you, they have other things to do and can’t always be watching. So it’s up to you to make the right choice for yourself. Think back to the scenario in the beginning, where you were imagining the possibilities for Friday and then realised homework ruined it all. Get your homework done. Have time on Fridays. If you’re sitting here reading this, thinking I don’t want to, ask yourself why. Getting your homework done is a reward for future you.
I think you have to go now. Don’t you have some homework to get done? And a weekend to make free?
Report abuse