6 Surprising Activities to Prepare for the School Year
The beginning of the school year can be full of optimism and overwhelm at the same time.
Whether you’re a family beginning another round of first days of school, or you’re embarking on a fresh fall semester of college, here are 6 activities you may not have considered to prepare for this new school year ahead.
6 Surprising Activities to Prepare for the School Year
Doughnut day!
Ok, it doesn’t HAVE to be doughnuts. But the concept of this activity is to do a dry run of the morning routine you expect to have on the first day of school. Wake up on time as if you’re going to school, get ready, pack your bag, and then instead of school, go get doughnuts! It’s a fun way to start first-day-of-school eve, can make a fun memory with family or friends, and can help you prepare for your routine or work out any challenges before the big day.
Bonus: If you or your family are a bit nervous about starting school, or if you are beginning somewhere new (e.g. starting high school, classes in different buildings than usual in college), you might want to do the walk or drive over to make sure you are familiar with your route and have your timing down.
2. Grow your routine piece by piece
It is tempting to have BIG FRESH START energy at the beginning of the school year. This is the year I’ll keep a strict schedule with homework, keep up my fitness, eat healthy, and join a bunch of extracurriculars!
And by the end of September, you’ve run out of team.
A wise writer and podcaster, backed up by motivational and behavioral psychology, has expressed that “routines are grown, not built.” What she means is that you grow a routine piece by piece, building on small successes and figuring out what doesn’t work, rather than trying to do everything new at once.
Consider what routines, habits, or activities you’re trying to start, and then start small. Once you get rolling and feel good, add more! This creates sustainability and resilience over the course of a busy school year filled with ups and downs, rather than crashing and burning at the first obstacle or when you’re exhausted.
If it feels like you must start big against your choice- sports and school and clubs all start at the same time- what can you do now to prepare with small steps? Examples might be going to the gym or playing your sport outside before organized sports begin, going to the library or sitting at your desk to set up your planner or calendar before classes begin, or making some plans with friends before clubs start.
3. Map out your week and build a resilient schedule
Take some time to diagram out your week in your visual system of choice (e.g. paper planner, wall calendar, Google calendar, etc). Put in all your classes, appointments, and scheduled activities, but then also add your predictable other activities, such as meals, travel time, additional exercise if relevant, chores, and homework time. If you’re a parent, you can do this with your kids- have them start, and then help them fill it in with further detail and realistic estimates. Then ask yourself: How does it all fit? What can you learn from this? Is there a lot of blank space, or is it overcrowded? Does it just fit, which is beautiful, but is it resilient to unplanned events, like getting sick, a surprise invitation to a concert, etc?
Then, you’re ready to take action. If you have a lot of blank space, consider how you might use it. You don’t need to fill in every moment with something scheduled, but some intentionality around your activities can help you ensure that you use your free time in a way that aligns with your values. If your schedule is overcrowded, what changes can you make? If it just fits, perhaps thinking about adding some back up slots for when unexpected things happen.
4. SLOWLY adjust your sleep schedule
This one may or may not be surprising, but sleep plays such a vital role in our physical and emotional health that it deserves space and consideration. Often, our summer sleep schedules look different than what they need to be for the school year. One recipe for possible disaster is to suddenly expect your brain and body to adjust to a whole new schedule immediately (have you ever experienced jet lag? Not so fun). Do the simple math of finding the difference between your current bedtime and wake times from what you want them to be come the first day of school, think about how much time you have between now and then, and make some incremental changes. Your first days of school will probably go a lot more smoothly and your body and brain will thank past you for being so smart and kind to your future self.
5. Gather your support system
The school year is hard, no matter what stage of life you’re in! Hopefully, it’s meant to challenge us and help us learn and grow. However, that doesn’t mean you need to do it all alone. Before you get too busy or far deep into the school year, now is a great time to consider what social support you might want or need to help you get through this time.
Even in the days of virtual and recorded classes, a study group can be a great asset to helping you get through a tough college course, and be a lot more fun and motivating. Parents of kids in multiple schools might look around their neighborhood for carpools or meal sharing. Everyone can think of plans to reach out to friends, family, tutors, school counselors, and licensed psychologists for support in navigating this important time.
If you or your child is navigating a chronic health condition or chronic pain as the school year begins, now is a good time to reach out to support from a pediatric pain and health psychologist, rather than waiting until absences have accumulated, grades have fallen, and it’s nearing the holidays. It’s never too late to ask for help, but being proactive can help you and your child start strong. If you ever need some more support for your child or family, no matter the season, help is close at hand. Just click the Get Started button at the top right of your page for a free consultation.
6. Set your goals like a psychologist
You may have heard of SMART goals, and that’s a good start. That involves setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals. But here are a few guidelines you may not have thought of:
Think about your why: the more your reasons are autonomously motivated, the more likely you are to work hard and even feel like it’s easier! This means your goals feel freely chosen, they involve personal will, and a sense of inner agreement. This can involve fully intrinsic goals, but also extrinsic goals that you fully accept (e.g. working hard on this assignment, even if you don’t personally want to, but because you accept that this is what it takes to learn and do well in school).
Think about process and outcome goals: This means that don’t just think about the grades or awards you want to achieve, but what goals you can set around the journey and the way you achieve them. For instance, you might set a goal for a certain GPA. Great! Go for it! But what will you be doing to achieve that? Hoping and dreaming, or perhaps sticking with a study schedule? Setting goals around behaviors you can measure and control honors the effort that it takes to achieve your goals, and is usually more SMART anyway.
Steer away from absolutes: I’ll get all 100% on everything! I’ll never look at my phone! I’ll win every race! It’s great to aim high, but setting your goal this way might set yourself up for disappointment, and worse, giving up when something even small doesn’t go your way. Instead think about framing your goal in a way that balances pushing you with helping you bounce back if needed.
Support & Guidance
I hope some of these tips resonated and help you and your family enjoy the exciting back to school season. If you ever need some more support for your child or family, no matter the season, help is close at hand. Just click the Get Started button at the top right of your page for a free consultation.