Many students participate in extracurriculars, me included. The hours of practice we participate in per week is extremely tolling on us. On top of our many relentless hours of practice, sporting events, shows, and other extra events, many of us participate in advanced and AP classes.

As a band member, I had to go to sporting events, pep rallies, and hour-long practices three times a week. I also participate in multiple advanced classes and one AP class.

The first week of freshman year I had marching practice, as well as my already stressful  amount of work for AP Human Geography. I  have always been a really big procrastinator – like waiting until a day before the assignment was due to even look at the grading rubric.

Hours of practice turned into late night games and all day shows, my workload for my classes wasn’t getting lighter. I had longer packets, more quizzes and harder tests.

I started getting late points piling up on assignments, but it was never too much. My workload kept building; the amount I had while lacking time management was getting bigger. I had to find an organization system.

I had my first all day show at the beginning of October called US Bands. I had so much homework for AP Human Geography that was not started. The competition was a grueling all-day process from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. It was mentally and physically draining, performing our show twice and waiting for the retreats.

I got home after a long day past midnight and was exhausted. The next day I lacked all motivation to do my notes, video questions, quizzes and writing assignments, which made me fall farther behind. I had two free days before afternoon practices started again and we had a football game.

I was so drained that I didn’t even start my work. It sat in my backpack haunting me all break. We had another competition. It was shorter- only a morning long, but it made me tired. The next day, I woke up with no desire to do my homework, but knowing I had school the next day, I reluctantly started.

I barely grazed the top of the pile. I got about two pages done.

I came back and the next unit, I started my work right away. As marching season started to fade, I started to have more time in the afternoon. I started to form a strong routine, bought a planner, and hung a large calendar on my bedroom wall. I started writing out all of my homework on a weekly calendar with the due date and the projected amount of time it would take me. 

My slower evenings with only short practices for the Sweeney Todd orchestra pit, wind ensemble practice, and occasional other things, I have had much less to manage. I started procrastinating less, doing my homework more efficiently, and having time for more leisure activities.

I have managed keeping up with all of my extracurriculars and looser band schedule, but when my schedule gets tight again, I have a method that works well for me. I am no longer as tired from staying up so late to do homework and have become more productive.

I am not perfect at meeting deadlines. I definitely forget small things, but I have gotten so much better at time management.