The routines you establish at the beginning of the school year will generally stay in place throughout the year with a little persistance on your part, so start out strong with good routines like...
*Getting enough sleep
*Not procrastinating
*Taking pride in your work
*Being organized
*Making time for your family
*Making time for God
Because school can be so demanding and so much stress is put on school work, homework, and extra curricular activities that spending time with your family and spending time with God are the two things that most people struggle to "fit" into their schedules. My advice to you is don't make those two things optional - make it as important and as mandatory as you do with your school work, sports, band, etc.
How can you do this???
Prepare ahead
- each weekend pick a passage of scripture that you want to read throughout the week. This doesn't have to be long. It might be 7 verses and you can read one a day - Any time with God is better than no time with Him!
- each weekend figure out, as a family, when you all have time to spend together and then don't let other things get in the way of that time. Again, this doesn't have to be an all day event - just long enough to "catch up," create some memories, and have a little fun together.
Finally, as you start to struggle with the stress that school can bring - both academically and socially, remember this passage:
Philippians 4:6-8
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
