Mind4Youth Weekly Newsletter!

   

Navigating High School 

By: Sanvi Sharma, Zainab Syeda, Maanya Gontla 

8/28/2026

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    Sometimes navigating high school requires you to juggle multiple activities at once, like clubs, academics, sports, and other commitments. No matter how much of a workload you have, it is easy to fall for the productivity trap. The productivity trap is a toxic mindset where you believe that your worth is defined by your academic performance and how busy your schedule looks. Over time you might start to feel a sense of urgency, and feel guilty for taking breaks. 
        When you constantly push yourself to your limit without breaks, a lot of stress factors from school start to compound up. This pressure is not just your tests and projects. There’s also an invisible workload of social expectations and comparing yourself to other people on social media who seem to effortlessly balance everything. But in reality, everyone is silently managing their own stress and workload, no matter how easy they make it seem.
        Ignoring this ongoing pressure will often lead to burnout. It is crucial to recognize the warning signs early. These signals often include fatigue, drops in motivation, mood swings, or trouble focusing. If you experience any of these, remember that it is never a sign that you are failing. Stress is your mind’s way of signaling that your current workload needs adjustment. 

        Time management plays a significant role in reducing stress. Part of that is prioritizing tasks that are more important than others. This doesn’t mean that ignoring less relevant tasks is okay; it only organizes the order of doing them. For example, if you have math homework due tomorrow, but an essay due today, the essay would be the more important thing to complete first. Writing down what you need to do can help you remember to do them. Using a planner or a calendar can be beneficial towards organizing and completing assignments. You don’t need to finish everything in one day; spreading out work can give relief and some well-deserved free time. 

         For the assignments that need to be completed throughout a day, there are a few methods to sort them out.  A common time management method is called the Pomodoro technique. The technique requires you to choose a task to finish, and focus on it for 25-30 minutes with a set timer. When the timer goes off, take a short five-minute break; it can be anything from a walk, to talking to a friend. Be sure to not go on your phone! Continue to use this process until you’ve finished all your tasks for the day. This method is great for people who think creatively and experience burnout. Another method, compatible with those who work well under pressure and those who struggle with procrastination, is Parkinson’s Law. There is no set way to use Parkinson’s Law, it’s more of a concept. The idea of it is to give yourself a time limit. Therefore, if cleaning your room is something you’ve been putting off, restrict the amount of time you’re using to clean it by placing a timer. Or, work on the essay due today until your laptop’s battery runs out! 

        Stress management is just as important as time management. Stress is something that is part of all our lives, and especially for high school students who struggle to find a healthy balance between sports, academics, and self-care. While some types of stress can motivate us to try harder and find a balance, too much stress can also take a negative toll on one’s mental health and lead to mental burnout. To help find a balance between all types of priorities, there are a couple of ways to manage our workload. For example, active rest and passive rest are two different ways people can handle their stress. Active rest is when we involve ourselves in a relaxing activity such as taking a walk, moving, drawing, listening to music, and etc. Passive rest is where we allow our bodies to completely rest such as sleeping or sitting down and blocking all sorts of distractions. Active rest can refresh our minds while passive rest allows us to completely reset and recover. 

        Another effective way we can reduce stress is by controlling our breathing. Our breathing patterns are extremely important because it controls your heart rate. Slow breathing can slow your heart rate down and activate the parasympathetic nervous system and help move our bodies to a peaceful state of mind. Breathing can also help shift our attention away from the future and focus on what is currently happening. An efficient breathing technique is  box breathing. Box breathing is where we inhale for four seconds, holding for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds, and lastly holding again for four seconds. This breathing technique helps us control our heart rate and makes it easier to be calm and focused.