From the Assistant Principal

From the Assistant Principal

Study Skills and Tips for August

How to Stay Positive About Your Schoolwork

It can be difficult to stay positive about your schoolwork at all times, particularly if you are facing challenges – whether they be personal or whether you are grappling with something like online learning. When we allow pressure and stress to build, we can get into bad habits and let go of good habits. As a result, students can feel even more drained and exhausted.

The key to being positive and managing negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression, when faced with pressure in any situation – including schoolwork and exams – is to ‘fuel up’. ‘Fuelling up’ is about boosting wellbeing factors in your life. You need to boost these factors in your BODY, MIND and EMOTIONS.

BODY: Here are some things you can do to boost the energy in your BODY 

  • Get better sleep

Feeling good all starts with getting the right amount and type of sleep. Start with a good night-time routine. Stop doing things that stimulate you, such as drinking caffeine, watching TV, or being on computers, iPads and phone screens, etc. Try a warm drink such as chamomile tea and use essential oils such as lavender oil. Having a soothing bath or shower can also help, along with gentle stretching of tight or tense muscles. If you still feel you are not getting a ‘good’ sleep, be sure to see your doctor.

  • Eat in moderation

Never skip a meal, especially breakfast. Breakfast replenishes your body and helps you start your day full of energy. Eat three main meals and two to three snack meals a day. Eating five to six times in a day keeps your blood sugar levels balanced, giving you an overall sense of wellbeing needed for focusing on your tasks and responsibilities.

  • Exercise regularly

Regular exercise – at least three times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes per session – can ‘soak up’ stress chemicals in your body, help you to relax and even help you sleep better. Brisk walking, aerobic classes, swimming, bike riding or jogging are all great exercises to either start or end your day right with. They help release stress build up and relax your body and mind.

MIND: Here are some things you can do to THINK more positive

  • Change your thinking and perceptions

Write down your top five fears and worries. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Then ask yourself, “Is that true?”. Usually fears and worries are not based on reality but on imagined scenarios that have little to no evidence. If it’s something that can’t be changed, bring acceptance to it. It is what it is for now!

  • Change your focus

Have you noticed that we make what we worry about bigger and keep it closer to us because of the way we think and focus on it? Try this…make your fears and worries SMALL in size (5 cm in height), DARK in brightness and as far away as possible in DISTANCE. When we change the size, brightness and distance of the things that upset us in our minds, it reduces the intensity of the emotion.

EMOTIONS: Here are some things you can do to FEEL more positive

  • Acts of kindness

Make a list of five acts of kindness you can do every day. Make them simple acts of kindness that are easy to do, such as saying thank you, etc. Do these five acts of kindness every day for six weeks. The research shows that people that do this, and think of three good things in their life (as above), have a dramatic positive boost in their mood.

  • Three good things exercise

Every day, at the start and end of your day, think of three good things that happened. Write them down. Then think about either WHY those good things happened or how it MADE YOU FEEL when those good things happened.

  • Start ticking things off your list

Pick something small and achievable to start with that you need to do for school and get it done. You will feel much more positive when you start doing things. Do a few more easy things to get your confidence up, then tackle a more challenging task.

 

Ms Melinda Alvarez, Assistant Principal

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #2, #6 & #8