Imagine with me: it’s the end of the semester in two weeks, and overdues have piled up. You’re panicking a bit, because there’s just so much work to do! What do you do? Do you talk to teachers? Do you make a plan? Do you just click the first overdue and get to work? One trend I’ve noticed in myself is that course-by-course binge.

The “Two-Week Binge”, as I’ve dubbed it, is when you ignore the amount of overdues (or assignments left at all!) you have, and just focus in on one course till it’s done! Obviously, it’s not the most effective way of doing school year-round, because you wouldn’t be on track with your Live Lessons or have time to study. However, whether you’ve got a million overdues, or just want to buckle down and finish early, the Binge is a highly effective method of accomplishing work. ONce you get into an “Math” mindset, it’s easy to power through assignments without having to switch your brain over to English or Science!

Now, I was curious. I know I do this, and I thought I’d heard mentions of this method briefly before, but I decided to look a little deeper! I contacted 10 high schoolers in advanced classes, and asked about their end-of-the-semester work habits.

Maddie Sears (Junior) told me:

“I’m a stick to the planner person.”

She was the only one! If that’s what works for you, by all means go for it! It’s certainly not a bad plan (ba-dum-tsh). The planner is a great tool to utilize.

Others stated that they worked in a similar fashion to me. Novalee Jadlowski (Junior) wrote back:

“What I like to do is I start working on the classes that I’m behind in/that are my lowest grades, first. And then once I finish those classes, I move onto the classes that are easier for me.”

Enya Ratkic (Sophomore and ever the over-achiever) said:

“Course by course, that’s what I did. And I finished in, like, November.”

Sarah Jagnow (Sophomore) stated:

“I typically work on my lowest grade until it’s no longer my lowest grade that way I even out my understanding of my courses.  I also typically leave my easier classes for last because I get really tired towards the end of the semester.”

And finally on the classic binge, Hannah Faulkner (Senior, great friend, and previous Editor-in-Chief for this lovely publication told me:

“I definitely use a planner and I have found in the past two years that going course by course works best for me when I have a big pile of work. If i’m pretty behind then i definitely talk to my teachers and make a plan. Otherwise, I make a cup of coffee and try to knock everything out! I also like to change my scenery every once in a while. I may work at home for a couple days, then a coffee shop, and then the library.”

Even more of my peers surprised me, sharing with me their own mixes of these two plans, or even a fresh method that I hadn’t heard of! Christopher Slover (Senior) shared:

“Usually in the last few weeks, I like to go into overdrive based on percentage of completion. I will go day by day with the planner while allotting a bit of additional time to get ahead in a specific class. For instance, if I have 5 classes, I try to do all of the lessons required for the day + 1-2 lessons from a specific course (usually the easier courses first, like an extracurricular). From this, I’m able to stay with the planner and also finish that specific class considerably earlier. After I’m down to 4 classes, I do the same thing until by the end of the year, I’m generally done a bit early!”

Kate Stetson (Junior, and owner of @iUPrep Memes (shameless plug check her out friends!)):

“Last week I finished all my class work until I only had finals left, then I started knocking out finals. I should have all mine done by [January 15, 2019].”

Kylie Blas (Senior) shares:

“My go to plan is to write everything out. Overdue and just stuff I have to finish before the semester. I kinda jump around in my courses, but I finished the easier stuff earlier and now I’m almost finished with the harder stuff.”

Maddie Bricout (Senior) wrote:

My go-to plan is completing work course by course with overdues, and after that I stick to the planner with upcoming lessons!”

I even messaged an old friend Savannah Morrison (Senior) who sadly left iUP, but still had some great insights:

I would start the course and work on that course until I got to a hard assignment I needed help with. Usually that would be about 5 or 6 lessons (or more) in and that would take me about a half a day to finish. When I got stuck I would go to tutorials and figure out the problem, but until I got into tutorials I would continue to work on other assignments until I got blocked by harder Assignments again. I would usually stay on task with my planner this way, but finals week and weeks when testing was happening was stressful.

This author is also an AP Student, and I’ve gotta say, the Binge is my way! I will go into my notes app, create a checklist (separated by class) and write down every assignment I still have to do for the semester, overdue or not! I’ll get crackin on one of my harder classes, and that little orange checkmark is one of the most satisfying things I’ve every experienced. Once I’m done with that class, I’ll move on!

Remember guys, it’s never embarrassing to ask for help! Your teachers love you, and it’s literally their job to help you succeed. Beyond that, they’re amazing people who want you to succeed! If you’re behind, reach out. Formulate a plan. You’ve got this! Even if you’re on-pace, or even looking to get ahead, a great plan will set you up for success. You know what they say, kids:

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” -Benjamin Franklin

Note: A big thank you to everyone who participated in my survey! These are all some sharp people who know a thing or two. I hope anyone who reads this can utilize their advice.