The main problems I have encountered as a student-athlete is time management for assignments and the stress of multi-tasking, so here are ten tips I have to help.
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- Recognize that being a student comes first. Yes, athletics are important, but you have to value your academics more. This can be hard, but once you establish your values your life becomes a little easier.
- Get your body the energy it deserves. This one is pretty obvious, but in order to be healthy, you have to be giving your body the proper amount of food and liquid. When you are healthy it is much easier to concentrate in school and participate in your sports.
- Get enough sleep. This is one of the most important things to be a successful student-athlete, but is one of the hardest to do. Time management is very hard and people will cut into their sleep time to finish homework. However, you need to be well-rested.
- Communication with teachers and coaches. This is key to being a student-athlete, you must tell/email your teachers if you have to miss class, so you can make up the work. The same goes for your coaches if you have to miss anything.
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- Create strong connections between teammates, and classmates. Your classmates can be very helpful if you have to miss class. If you miss the same class as your teammate, work together and go over the things you missed, so it is more like class and you can help each other out.
- While you are playing your sport, that should be the only thing you focus on. Use the time at sports to be a break from academics. This will help you with your athletic performance, and when you start your school work you will have more “brain power”.
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- Have a planner or schedule with all your homework assignments and practices/ games. Having a planner will help you stay organized, which is very important when you have multiple things going on.
- Know a schedule that works for you. Find a time that you work best at. For example, if you are a morning person try to go to bed early and then wake up earlier to finish an assignment.
- Homework heavy days. These are pretty self-explanatory, but using your planner, if you see that you have a game/match/meet that runs late, then plan on doing more homework on a different day. This helps with stress so you can really focus on your athletics.
- Use time in school wisely. Throughout the week there is a lot of school work time, which you should use. It is much easier to get an assignment done in school than at 10:30 PM when you are tired.
