INPUT ARTICLE: Article: It may seem straightforward, but try to simply be where you are supposed to be without worrying about the other facets of your life. If you’ve made a good study schedule that addresses your academic needs, you’ll feel much more at ease on a free night hanging out with your friends.  Try not to overdo alcohol, which can leave you with a hangover and cut into your productivity the following day. It is difficult to catch up. Especially if you are in graduate school—often at a job during the day and taking classes at night—it is critical to use your time as you have allotted it. You will start to fall short professionally if you’re always finishing your grad school homework on your lunch break. Similarly, your academic performance will suffer if you’re working on a PowerPoint while you’re supposed to be listening to a lecture. It may be helpful to schedule the hours of your workday just as you schedule your study time to keep yourself on track. Try to break the day into tasks that will happen before lunch and tasks that will happen after. In the later years of college and especially in graduate school, you’ll be focusing more on your major rather than fulfilling course requirements. As you focus more intently on the subject you came to school for, it is the right time to let go of perfectionism. Focus on getting the most out of your lessons rather than a perfect score. Absorbing more information that interests you will serve you better as you make career decisions going forward.  This doesn’t mean that you should check out of classes that don’t interest you, but rather, that you should devote more of your time to what really piques your interest. You may find that in doing so, the social and academic aspects of your life can enhance one another. For example, if you love not just writing, but specifically play writing, use could use your social time to see performances. Both parts of your life will benefit. If you find you’re having trouble getting everything you want done, take an honest look at how you’re using your work or study time. If you’re spending 10 minutes of every hour refreshing your email browser or playing an internet game, you’re not getting the most out of your attention span. Having to begin tasks many times over will disrupt your social, academic and work schedules. If you find that despite your best efforts, you are falling behind, it might make sense to reassess your commitments. Dropping a class or activity can buy back some critical time if you’re already maximizing your attention and organizational scheduling. Whether you have your own room or you share a room, keep what you can clean. Get in the habit of tidying your living area everyday before you sit down and do your homework. This will keep your head clear so you can focus on your work. Don't bring all your favorite knickknacks and old yearbooks to college, you will most likely have limited room and having a clutter free space is key to staying organized.  Don't bring anything you won't use often to college, the less stuff you have the more organized you can be. If you can't focus in your room, study in the library or a similar space. Use a backpack to hold only the textbooks and notebooks you need for the classes you have that day. Don't try to fit all your books into your bag if you do not need them. Get in the habit of emptying out your backpack every night, tossing out any trash, and putting only the textbooks and notebooks in it you'll need for the next day.

SUMMARY: Work when you need to work and play when it’s time to play. Prioritize learning rather than a given grade. Assess wasted time. Keep your room clean and clutter free. Keep your backpack clean.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Your child should know that they can come to you at any time to talk. You might think your child already knows this, but reminding them on occasion may be helpful. This should be done with no pressure, not after a room search or questioning.  Simply say "I understand that you may be going through things that are confusing or troubling. Growing up can be hard. You can always come and talk to me about anything — no matter how small." When your child does open up, reinforce this behavior by affirming it: "I know that must have been hard for you to talk about. I really appreciate you trusting me to tell me about what's going on with you." Parents are often juggling a dozen tasks at once, which means you may miss opportunities to have meaningful conversations with your child. When your child decides to talk to you, aim to listen.  Monitor your nonverbal body language to ensure that it is open (i.e. arms and legs uncrossed), that you are oriented towards them, that you make regular eye contact, and that you make expressions to show you are listening, such as nodding. When you fail to attend to your child when they are trying to talk to you, you send the message that what they to say isn't important. This may cause them to keep things to themselves in the future. When your child has the need to talk to you, try to make yourself available as soon as possible. You've learned that your body language can signal a disinterest in what your child has to say. This is also true when you miss conversation openers.  Consider this scenario: Your teenage daughter comes home upset. You ask what's wrong and she starts talking about a fight with her best friend. You realize that she is only upset about "teenage drama" and you slowly tune her out or half-listen. If she notices that you are not engaging in the conversation, she will shut down. Use even the simplest conversations as a way to connect with and get closer to your child. If they feel like they can talk to you about the little things, they may be more confident that you'll listen to the big things.

SUMMARY:
Keep your door open. Attend to your child. Look for conversation openers.