The new school year. A fresh start. The final few months of the last academic year fell to pieces, so having this new chance is very exciting! Although it will be scary, re-entering school after 6 months away from it, I am remaining positive. These are 10 simple things you should do before heading into the new school year to help you feel refreshed and ready. Some are more simple than others! Even if you’re not going into education this September/Autumn time, it’s always worth detoxing before a new month begins. Hope you enjoy!
1. Clear out your camera roll
I would like to say I stay on top of this, but I honestly don’t. There is so much random stuff that builds up in my camera roll, both on my iPad and phone. Sorting through this and filing it into albums takes a lot of time but seeing it cluttered stresses me out even more. Put on some tunes and set to it. You’ll feel much better afterwards.
2. Set up your bullet journal/planner for September
Setting up a new month in your planner is such a theraputic process. Translating all the random sticky notes into one place lifts a weight off your shoulders. When it’s just a month I am planning, I can go into detail which is very helpful. I highly recommend this, especially if you are starting back in September!
3. Write in all the events and tasks in your annual calendar
I don’t know about you, but there are some things going on in months to come that I need to jot down (because by the time that month has arrived, I will have forgotten). I have a calendar up on my wall that I like to add all of my events too. It’s similar to what you might do at the start of January! An academic year is a new year too – remember?
4. Plan meal ideas
Quite a lot of us take packed lunches or some sort of transportable meal to work. To avoid last minute ‘unhealthy’ choices, write down a few ideas of things to put in your lunch box. Eg. hummus and salad wrap, vegetarian chilli, leftover pie from the previous night. This saves time and energy when it comes to making your lunch in the morning/night before!
5. Get in touch with friends
I hope you’ve been doing this already! Text your friends, maybe go deeper and ask them how they feel about the new academic year. Most of my friends are anxious, so I do my best to reassure them that everything will be okay. Just check in with them, and maybe help each other out with revision.
6. Make sure your schoolbag is ready
I love doing this! Sharpening pencils, washing out last years pencil case, cleaning my bag. Maybe putting in new organisation systems for the new year! For example, last year I bundled all subjects into one big folder, but this year I will separate them. Find out what works for you.
7. Revise last year’s material
This doesn’t have to be an intimidating thing to complete. I didn’t take my books home this year, because we had to leave because of coronavirus (unannounced!!!). However, I’m going to a new school so I doubt my old things will be that useful. Still, I’ve been revising French and a bit of maths. If you have your books, read through them. To take it a step further, answer questions related to the subjects your struggle with (for me that’s index notation).
8. Sort out your damn sleep schedule
You admit your sleep schedule has been a bit haywire in lockdown! So get it sorted. Two weeks before starting back is ideal, but I’ve not done that. A week before school begins is slightly more reasonable! Wake up at the time you would need to for work.
9. Make your workspace an ideal place to study
Some of you have online school, meaning this is crucial. I would highly recommend watching Ruby Granger’s video on how to make the perfect workspace (linked here). I will be making a variation of this video in a blog format soon, I hope! I’m returning to school full time in September, but I’ll still have masses of homework to complete on my desk at home. That’s why I set mine up with a cute vision board beside it – full of my goals and aspirations. That helps me stay on track with my studying, so then I have in mind what I’m working for.
10. Do nothing
It sounds counter-productive, but doing nothing is the best way to refresh and recharge. After a few days of doing nothing (whatever nothing means to you) you’ll become so bored that you can’t wait to hurtle into tasks again. I also find my best creative ideas come while I am on a break!
I hope, through completing this mini checklist, you feel ready to conquer the next academic year! Let’s try our hardest, fall on our backsides, then pick each other up again and keep going. This year is so different to anything I’ve experienced before. But different doesn’t mean bad. Through lockdown I feel that I have changed a lot, for the better (I hope). And no doubt this coming year will see a lot of personal growth too. I am so excited for you, and us!
What are your goals for September/the coming school year?
Sending you all the best,
catherine x
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The Ecolytical 
Love this post Catherine!! So much to do to prepare! I’m honestly really excited to set up my planner and bullet journal! I’ve yet to look over last year’s notes, but I’m sure it will be foreign, as my summer work is so hard!! It’ll also be helpful to get ahead, which is new for me- all of these UK bloggers rubbing off on me! Can’t wait to do nothing! Its vital to getting a fresh start, Speaking of fresh starts… goals! This year I want to dedicate time to studying and pay attention in class! I’m also thinking about getting up stupid early this year! You wake up early if I remember correctly. How is it? That’s something that I dread doing, but also get pretty excited for, you know? Anyway, I’m rambling- that’s what happens when I love a post lol! Happy early birthday ❤
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Thank you for your long and thoughtful comment – I really appreciate it. I’ve set up my bullet journal now and it’s really motivated me with studies and other habits too. Haha, although I’ve planned ahead I haven’t written the posts yet! I really need to do that. And the photos too… But posting only 2x a week is going to be much less stressful. I’m sure you can reach those goals Meghan! I’ve never not woken up early, but those few days where I may I have lie-ins just make me feel demotivated and ‘slumpy’. Cliche to mention, but it does genuinely change your life. That me time in the morning is unbeatable! I think I’ll be writing a ‘how to wake up early’ post soon. Stay tuned! x
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So excited for that post!!💓
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Some gorgeous pictures here Catherine! Lovely tips as always. Your blog posts are written with such care and love which makes them all the more enjoyable. At the moment I’m closer to finishing school than I am to starting it but all of what you’ve said here can be applied to a new month or term of school! I’m pretty much at the end of traditional Kindy to Year 12 school and will be starting TAFE next year which is beyond exciting. It’ll be a whole new ball game though, that’s for sure!
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Thank you Maryam! Taking and editing photos is my weakest point when it comes to blogging. I either take them super last minute, or not at all haha. I never really considered how it works differently in Australia! I’m glad they’re helpful nonetheless, good luck for September 🙂 x
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Thank you so much! x
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One more question: what is TAFE and how does it work? x
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Okay! TAFE is the Australian equivalent of what Americans would call college. The difference between tafe and university is that uni is selective. They look at your grades and it’s a big deal to be accepted into certain schools whereas tafe is just for anybody looking to further what skills they may have. Just a community resource really. Less pressure ☺️ I’m not sure what the equivalent for the UK would be though. Hope this makes sense!
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Omg, so you could go back to school physically to study? That is great! We are stuck with online classes for the next 3 more months at least over here☹
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That’s exactly right! I haven’t had ‘online school’ as such in lockdown. They just sent us work to submit, there was no Zoom meetings or anything like that. It’s going to be strange re-entering school after 6 months away. I’m looking forward to a fresh start though. What about you? What are your goals for the new academic year? x
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I love this post Catherine! I’ve been doing some of these things to help me prepare for the upcoming school year, especially sorting out my sleep schedule! It’s gotten messed up as soon as school got closed but I’m glad that I’m starting to get back into the routine of waking up early again. 💗
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I’m trying with exactly the same thing. I just need to get INTO bed earlier. Waking up early is not the biggest problem, it’s having enough sleep. Good luck to both of us! Thank you so much for reading ❤ x
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This is such a helpful post! Thank you soo much for this! I definitely need to sort out my sleep schedule because it is a mess right now and to freaking clear my camera roll (there are 1000+ photos on my phone now… oops).
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This post was so helpful! I’ll definitely be using at least half of the tips that you gave. Now that school is online, its going to be extra hard to learn and keep track of things, having a nice set routine and writing things down will make such a difference in my life!
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Well, I am in love with your blog and posts. As for getting back to college or university, I kept going to lab for my research so I don’t have much difficulty in going there except for migraine and the fact that I stay awake all night.
P.s: I’ll check out your Bookstagram. I’m a Bookstagrammer too.
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These are great tips, and I’m very excited to see your blog post on creating a good workplace! I’m going back to school soon too, but my classes only start in October. I still have no idea what my schedule looks like, I haven’t chosen my optional courses (and I have no idea when the University will allow us to do so), I don’t know which textbooks I’ll need, etc etc. I’m going to a new University, to a different city, and I can’t lie, that’s stressing me out a lot. Also, I’m scared because it’s a Master’s now, and it’s supposed to be more “serious”. I’m going to visit the city and Uni next week with some friends who will also study there, and that’s reassuring – to know I’m not alone. But everything will be fine ❤
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That’s the attitude I like to hear! Everything will be fine, if not amazing. A new city is a new opportunity and it’s natural to be a bit scared. Everything will work out. So good you’ve got friends their too! So many blog posts I’ve promised to write but not got around too… oops. Have a lovely new year 🥰
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I took a small hiatus on WordPress because of my computer not functioning so sorry I’ve been gone and sorry for all the notifications your about to receive! Missed reading your posts ❤️
Great post and omg, honestly I need to start getting ready for the new school year😂 Great advice, thx for sharing !!
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Oh dear – I’m glad your computer is back up and running now. That must have been a pain! Ahh you missed reading my posts? Ajakskkdjsjs my heart is melting right here. Thank you so much for your support x
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❤️💖 I really did, so glad to be back:)
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Very informative!!!!😀
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Thank you for reading 🙂 x
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