You all know that feeling you get when it’s late at night and you still have a ton of homework to do, knowing that it could have been averted if you had watched one less episode of that Netflix show you’ve been binging for the past week. Walking tired into class the next day, you silently ask yourself: was it worth it? All the while knowing full well that you are likely to do the same thing that night.

Procrastination is an irritating topic. Most of us do it or will do it some time in our short high school careers. As far as I’ve seen,  as busy as we all are, it is nearly impossible to evade. Ironically, I procrastinate all the time, so this isn’t some list of how to be the most productive person in the world (although, if someone finds that, then let me know). Instead, I am going to give you a few tips on how to manage your time in a more efficient manner.

The first step to this process is making a schedule to organize your busy life. It doesn’t matter if you use a planner or a paper calendar; it is your schedule that you can organize how you want. Although, I’ve found the calendar app on my phone works pretty well for me.

Once you’ve spent some time creating your stupendous schedule, stick to it. I’m not saying you have to follow it like the Ten Commandments — plans do change. Yet, the schedule should help remind you that school starts at 7:50 a.m., not 7:55 a.m..

My next bit of advice relates to something that many teenagers’ lives seem to revolve around: our phones. Whenever we are given the slightest bit of free time, it is so easy for us to pick up our phones, scroll through the Twitter feed or check Snapchat for ten minutes. However, it’s not good for our sanity to sit for five minutes and wait for a text from a friend. Phones are great, but it is hard to be productive with your phone’s ringtone blaring every  thirty seconds. Or, just put it in another room. If you’re busy and don’t need your phone, then dig a hole, toss your phone in and cover it up. 

Lastly, the person who always says “yes” is a fool; it takes a true genius to say “no”. There are only 24 hours in a day, and about a third of that should be spent sleeping. That leaves 16 hours to eat, spend time with friends and do all of the work we so desperately try to avoid. If someone asks you to hang out for an hour, consider saying “no” to save yourself a crammed hour of studying for the math test the next day. Learning to say “no” to the unnecessary things in life will help a lot.

It may be difficult, but procrastination is very hard to avoid for us highschoolers. So, don’t waste the time you have now at this very instant. Seriously, stop reading and do something productive.