By: Sara Wolf

Here we are, against the difficult, slow-moving, brick wall part of the school year–when the days seem to go by slower than they usually do, and the only thing getting students by is the thought of spring and summer breaks not too far away. As students stress and focus on testing, quarters ending and beginning, and all of their responsibilities in general, sometimes being so overwhelmed can make the days seem to be nothing but bad. Here are a few tips in attempt to help you to make this next week a little better than the last.

• Stay positive

One of the most powerful things you can do to have a better week is to choose to. Having a positive, optimistic mindset throughout the week has been shown to have major impact on the way you will be able to reflect on the week and handle obstacles you face. “Having a positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances, instead of your circumstances having power over you.” As things are thrown at you throughout the week, choosing to be positive will let life’s struggles hit you but not hurt you. So yes, all of the work you have to do and all of the time you don’t have to do it stinks, and yes it was embarrassing when you tripped on the stairs, but you still have air in your lungs and the sun is still going to come up tomorrow. There is so much to life besides these few years of high school. Wait for all of it, and be happy with the experiences you get now.

• Go out of your way to be nice to others

Whether it’s smiling at the person you don’t know all that well in the hallway or encouraging someone you know is having a rough day, building others up is a way to help make your own day better. A study conducted in 2005 concluded that deliberate acts of kindness lead to greater well-being. So give a few extra compliments, say hey to a few more people than you usually would, take time to listen to someone who’s upset about something, and help someone out who needs it; it’ll help you, too.

• Be productive: set and achieve small goals

Managing your time so that work you needs to do can be done is difficult, but an easy way to relieve stress. Everyone has one class where the assignments are more difficult to get to actually completing than other classes’ work. So, do your work for that class first and get it over with, do that thing you just don’t want to do and get it over with too. This means working and turning your work in on time, then feeling better because you aren’t stressing about finishing work in other classes or the fact that your grade might suffer. It’s a great feeling to look back and feel like you’ve accomplished things you needed to, so let yourself have that feeling.

• “Treat. Yo. Self.”

Do what you need to do, but don’t forget to make some time to do what you want to do. Make time to go to one of your favorite places to eat, spend time with a friend, or watch too many episodes of your favorite show right now on Netflix. It’ll give you something to look forward to throughout the school day. You deserve to be rewarded for the little victories you have throughout the week. Go ahead and take a break, and take care of yourself!

• Get some sleep!

Researchers say that high school students need 9½ hours of sleep, which means the average student would have to be asleep by 9 o’clock. Though this is obviously next to impossible for most of us trying to balance extracurriculars, family, friends and homework assignments, it’s so important to remember to get as much sleep as possible. Studies from Harvard show that the more sleep we get, the better our memory and generally our attitudes as well. It also diminishes chances for health consequences that not getting enough sleep increases the risk of. Whether getting enough sleep means taking a nap, spending less time on phones or tweaking your schedule to allow yourself to be a little less busy, in the long run getting more sleep will make your quality of life better and healthier.