this is not another back to school article (okay maybe)

Amalia Medina Ceballos
travel lover, bookworm, curious to death, and always willing to meet new people and try new stuff!

sorry, but I could not help but joining all these people who are just as excited to get back at school as I am.

excited?
yes, excited.

come on! I can't be the only one missing waking up with an objective, being successful, and having a routine (let's forget about the other side of the coin where anxiety and stress become normal feelings for now).

in Spain we don't get back until September 15, so while I enjoy my last two weeks of summer, I wanted to write an article about my most successful ways to get perfect grades without dying trying :)

· OR-GA-NI-ZA-TION

Image removed — pretty obvious, but nobody really does it, or sticks to it all year round, and it's the key to success.

Organization can have a broad meaning, so here's what I mean by it:

clean desk -have everything you are going to need close to you
plan everything - make sure you write down what you want to get done through the day -or week- and have it in a visible spot to keep reminding yourself. For example, you can write it in the notes of your phone and set it as your back screen. If you achieve these little daily challenges, you'll feel much more encouraged to keep going.
your notes - you need to take notes, and having them color coded will help you out to retain information. If it takes you too long to write nice and clean as you keep up with the class (like me) just write on another sheet of paper what's important and then organize them at home where you'll have more time.

· outside of the books

bottle and vodka image — there's a lot of things that can influence your grades outside of the class and books

food, strawberry, and fruit image — there's a lot of things that can influence your grades outside of the class and books

healthy life - eat healthy, do some exercise; then when it's time to sit on that desk your mind will feel clear and ready to learn

chill out - spend time with your friends, find something that relaxes you: cooking, netflix, reading... anything

· inspire yourself

study, harry potter, and motivation image — this website works great for that

gossip girl, bass, and waldorf image — this website works great for that

quotes, studyblrs, blogs, channels... there's millions of resources where you can find inspiration

IMPORTANT keep these two things in mind:

1. do this on your free time, not when you're supposed to be studying - that's useless. when it's study time, you need to turn off your phone and focus.
2. this is not an art class - what I mean is that I know a lot of people who get inspired and spend hours doing drawings, coloring and highlighting their notes to make them look gorgeous, but what's the point of having such wonderful notes if you don't even read them afterwards? it happens guys, you're done with your notes and it's almost midnight, and you end up not studying a thing, so be careful with that.

friendship, teen wolf, and stiles image — also another great way to get inspired is by surrounding yourself with people with similar goals to you, people who inspire and encourage you to be better, instead of people who put you down

friendship, teen wolf, and tyler posey image — also another great way to get inspired is by surrounding yourself with people with similar goals to you, people who inspire and encourage you to be better, instead of people who put you down

· Rome was not built in one day, so set small goals everyday, take baby steps, appreciate a slow but constant progress, don't expect too much in too little time

· the most important one,

quotes, success, and words image — **NEVER GIVE UP** don't stop trying after the first month, don't procrastinate, don't surrender after not achieving what you wanted once, keep trying

background, confidence, and laptop image

also another tip that helps a lot is to keep a positive attitude. look at things from the brighter side.

when studying, find a way to make it fun, give yourself a reward afterwards. we are used to the thought of studying being torture, but we should be willing to learn, to feel smart, we should be hungry for knowledge

change your thoughts, and the reality changes

so if you made it all the way to here I hope this helps you, and you have an amazing day and school year, you deserve it! and feel free to send a postcard if you want to make a new friend or just have a conversation :) see you soon!