1) It's silly o'clock in the morning and that dreaded sound of your alarm is blasting through your bedroom. What do you do? You press snooze, turn over and catch five more minutes of shut eye. Well, instead, try placing your phone on the other side of your bedroom, that way, you'll have to get out of bed in order me to turn it off! Something so simple, yet it works really well.


2) Do you always find yourself dawdling whilst getting ready and, before you know it, it's five minutes until the school hell is about to ring and you haven't even got your clothes on? Create a playlist which lasts for the amount of time that you need to get ready, that way, you'll know exactly how long you have and when that final song is playing, you'll soon start to hurry up. It's a good way of ensuring you leave the house on time!


3) Another thing that you can do to force yourself to hurry up in the mornings is to set your watch ten or fifteen minutes ahead. That way, you'll probably always think that you're late when you glance at it and so will be likely to rush around like a crazy person to finish getting ready. It may not work for everyone, however, if you're someone who isn't all that awake during the early hours of the morning, a mini heart attack like this one should work wonders.


4) At the start if the year, memorising your new timetable can be a pain and you may often find yourself walking into the wrong class so, take a photo of your timetable and set it as your phone lockscreen. We all look at our phones more than our timetables anyway so it's a good way of subconsciously learning it and it also means you won't have to dig it out of your bag every time you need to check where you should be.


5) Joining a new class with new people and terrible at remembering names? If you're working with people in a group project, when writing all of your names on your work, simply ask everyone how to spell their name, which will save you the embarrassment of having to ask, "Sorry, what's your name again?" Although, it may be a tad embarrassing if they have a really easy name to spell, so be careful!


6) When writing essays, copy and paste your finished work into Google translate and listen to it being read out loud. We don't always notice our own spelling or grammatical errors when we proof read ourselves but, if someone else does it for you, you just might.


7) Do all of your notebooks look the same and you have to pull each individual one out of your bag before finally getting to the one you need? Use a different coloured pen for each and colour a small square either on the spine or the top of the book so you know which colour is which book. Colour coding can be a life saver at school!


8) Here's a fun one for you. Are you always the target of gum thieves? Well, be sure to keep an empty packet of gum in your back, that way, they'll have no reason not to believe you when you say "Sorry, that was my last piece!" Slightly deceptive, but it's every man for themselves when chewing gum is concerned, right?


9) If you're lucky, or unlucky, enough to go to a school that doesn't require you to wear a uniform yet you find that you waste so much time in the morning deciding what you wear, plan your outfit the night before! It sounds simple, but it could save you half an hour!


10) Even after having plenty of sleep, are you always tired when you wake up? Try drinking a big glass of water when you get out of bed. You could be dehydrated, not sleep deprived.


11) If you're anything like me and feel like the world is ending when you have to give class presentations, if you have to read off of a piece of paper, write each line in a different colour. That way, you'll be less likely to stumble, lose your place on the page and it should just make things go smoother. Personally, if I can do something to make public speaking any less painful, I always will!


12) Do you take a sandwich for your lunch day but find it takes up time to make them every morning? Make a week's worth of sandwiches on Sunday and freeze them in ziplock bags, stick them in your lunchbox in the morning and it'll be ready to eat by lunchtime. This is something that my Mum always did when she made my packed lunches so I've never really known anything different! It saves so much time.


13) When doing homework and research, instead of using google.com, use scholar.google.com. This will ensure that only relevant information comes up when you click 'search,' rather than a bunch of random blog posts or stupid websites which aren't totally accurate!


14) ALWAYS keep an emergency kit in your bag because you never know what could happen during a school day! This may include plasters, paracetamol, hand sanitiser, deodorant, tampons/sanitary towels, hair bobbles, etc... You don't want to end up in a sticky situation with no way out!


15) Keep a journal. Once again, a pretty basic one, but start as you mean to go on and keep a planner from the first day. Write down any outstanding homeworks, extra curricular activities, important dates, things you need to do or just general important notes. This will keep you organised, make life less stressful and it's a lot easier to start keeping one in September than to get to February and think, "Ugh I wish I'd written that down!" Plus, you can tick off homeworks once you've done them, which is always satisfying.


16) Okay, this one just had to be included because it blew my mind. When making a Venn diagram, draw squares, not circles, so you can fit the text in better. I wish I knew this in primary school!


17) Many of carry money with us most places that we go anyway but, if you don't, always keep some emergency money in your bag and replace it if you spend it. You never know when you may need it if you miss the bus, need to get a taxi, have to buy textbooks in school, lunch... Just in case! Plus, when you get get to the end of the year, you can reward yourself by spending that money on whatever you want!


18) Are you famous for writing essays but never quite reaching the required word count? Well, if you aren't far off and have already written everything you could possibly write, to add a couple of extra words in there, simply change words like 'it's' to 'it is,' 'that's' to 'that is' and 'would've' to 'would have' and so on!


19) Are your gym trainers always smelly after you've worn them? Apparently, placing a tea bag in each one and then placing them back into your bag will drown our the stench! (Obviously, not used tea bags...)


20) If you're studying Maths and and you're struggling to remember what number pi is, just count the letters in the words of in the sentence, "May I have a large container of coffee?" which equals 3.1415826 AKA, PI!!


21) When using a new notebook, leave a few blank pages at the beginning so, when the book is full, you can go back and make a contents page so it will be easier to find your information!


22) Do you often get confused with whether or not you should use 'affect' or 'effect?' Instead, use 'Impact!' It works as both the verb and the noun. Although, for future reference, AFFECT is the verb, (the pay will greatly affect their lifestyle) and EFFECT is the both the noun and verb, but more commonly the noun, (the beneficial effects of exercise are well documented). When used as a verb, it is more used in a formal context, (the new policies did little to effect change).


23) Do you wear tights for school but you are prone to getting ladders in them? Before putting them on, spray them with hairspray to minimise the chances of ladders! However, if you do happen to get a ladder, spread a quick layer of clear nail polish over it to prevent it from splitting any more. (Perhaps clear nail polish is something to keep in your emergency kit!)


24) Not got a lot of time in the morning or just can't be bothered to whip out the ironing board? Use hair straighteners on a medium heat and give your clothes a quick once over and the wrinkles should be gone! It's the oldest trick in the book and I think that I, personally, use my hair straighteners to iron my clothes more often than I use them to straighten my hair - oops.


25) Oh no! You've have no deodorant left! Use hand sanitiser instead until you can go and grab a new one as it shall reduce the bacteria, which us what causes the odour.


26) Introduce some more yellow into your life. Yep, you heard me correctly. Yellow has been proven to reduce the production of melatonin, which is a chemical that makes you sleepy so, for example, if you highlight important class notes in yellow, you'll be able to focus better!


27) Do you find it difficult to concentrate in class or find yourself forgetting everything you did as soon as the lesson ends? Record your lecture or what your teacher is saying as a voice memo on your phone. Then, you can go back and listen to it at home and go over what you were supposed to have learnt! Just try not to get caught if you aren't allowed your mobiles in class!


28) On the subject of no mobiles in class, it sounds pathetic, but have your phone on aeroplane mode during lessons to prevent any embarrassing phone calls or text messages maybe coming through!


29) Having spots is never fun but especially not during school time. If you have to go to school the next day and have a spot the size of Mount Everest on your face the night before, put some regular toothpaste on it and it should help to reduce the size and amount of redness on your skin by the morning.


30) Finally, when making notes, it's easier to remember things which are in blue so write in blue ink and it could potentially make life a lot easier!