By Rachel Parks
Features Editor 
 
Obviously, back to school is stressful for almost all students. New teachers, new classrooms, and for freshmen, a whole new school. With all of this, it is easy to get overwhelmed, especially when schoolwork is added to the mix. However, the best way to stop stress is to prevent it from ever occurring.
1. Set aside a specific time each day to relax, even on weekends, but after finishishing all schoolwork. Having a set schedule makes it much easier to stop procrastination. Procrastination leads to stress very easily, especially when it’s 2 a.m. and five assignments are due the next day.
2. Pay attention to what you eat and drink. According to stress.about.com, drinking too much coffee, eating the wrong foods, skipping meals, snacking mindlessly, dieting, eating fast food and dehydration can all lead to increased stress.
3. Use your assignment notebook. It’s very easy to throw it into your locker and forget about it until locker clean out day, but it’s hard to forget about homework and tests when they are all written in one small box.
4. Get organized — don’t keep one folder for every subject. When teachers say which supplies are required for their class, listen to them. They are required for a reason. And when it’s time to study for that big test tomorrow, it’s a lot easier to have everything in one binder than forgotten in your locker.
5. Listen to music. According to psychcentral.com, quiet, classical music can do a variety of things such as slowing heart rate, reducing blood pressure, and lowering the amount of stress hormones. Music can also act as a distraction and help someone who is stressed calm down.
6. Have a relaxing, consistent place to study. Whether it’s the library, your kitchen, or Starbucks, it’s easiest to study when you know where you’re going to do it.
7. Get enough sleep. Everyone says this, but it really does help prevent stress. According to healthday.com, the brain goes through a series of reactions to produce the hormones that make someone feel stressed out. However, sleep blocks this reaction from happening. Teenagers are recommended to get 8-9 hours of sleep per night.
8. Write down different ways to study and go back to those when a big test or quiz is coming up. Everyone has their own techniques to study, whether it is flashcards, Quizlet or with a study buddy. Write all of them down and when it is time to study go through the list until all the methods have been used.
9. Write down goals for the school year, the semester, the month, the week and even the day. When you have a goal, it’s easier to be productive rather than aimlessly going through projects and assigments.
10. Do summer reading! Sparknotes can’t get an A on a test or essay, and struggling to write an essay about a character you don’t know, from a book you’ve never read is definitely stressful. You’ll have to read something eventually, so help yourself out and don’t slack before school even starts.