I don’t know if it’s just me, but I am already starting to feel that universal feeling of the famous “senioritis”. I did not expect the feeling to arrive so soon, but after a long, hard-working junior year, I honestly planned to come into my final year of high school breezing through. Now, I will say that this year, so far, hasn’t been too overbearing with schoolwork. However, combined with the college process, I have been very overwhelmed. With this, I have been getting burnt out much faster than I used to. Yet, the school year is only beginning, and I have come up with a couple ways to prevent my senioritis from getting worse.

First, incentives. If you have taken Psych, you would know that positive reinforcement is the key to success. I never truly utilized this technique until this school year, and it really works! For example, the other night, I had to study for my Human Geography test and also had to do a lab for Environmental Science. With little to no motivation because I had just written a college essay, I needed a way to get myself interested in starting my schoolwork. All I wanted to do was try on my new clothes that had just been delivered and then watch my favorite television show. I used these fun activities as incentives and decided that I would do each of the activities I wanted to do after completing my individual assignments. Although this technique is simple, it really does help me get my work done and I get a great reward afterward.

A second way that I have slowed my senioritis is through another simple, but effective method of time management. Procrastination is everyone’s enemy, and getting home at the end of a long day and knowing that you have work that you could have completed last night is the worst feeling. Like the old saying goes, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can get done today”. This statement is so true, as spacing out your work is the best way to not let it build up. Also, prioritizing the most important assignments will help prevent stress.

Although both of these methods are cliché, they have worked for me and hopefully will assist other seniors in getting through our final year of high school.