Spring has finally sprung, as I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for. Yet, with the end of the academic calender fast approaching, and the sweet, tempting summer break only a little over a month away, it’s easy to fall into some bad habits. Like so many of us know from past experience, the goal of summer is easier to focus on than, say, keeping up with all your work until the very end. It’s fairly easy, too easy if I’m honest, to simply drop everything and slack off until summer comes and school is no longer all-consuming.

I’m sure the class of 2019 is already well into their senior slide, more than ready to graduate and get on to the next chapter in their lives. However, this bad habit of dropping motivation and slacking off in school work is not ideal. It’s called a bad habit for a reason. Now, more than ever, is the time to really kick it into high gear and finish the year off strong.

I’m sure everyone has heard this already from at least one other person in their life, probably more than one time, and yet it needs to be reiterated constantly. The temptation to slack off is so prominent for so many people, myself included, that these little reminders are good.

Even if it feels like someone is nagging your ear off about it, the more you hear it, the more it’ll stick with you. When you feel that urge to drop your homework in favor of playing a video game or watching television, I hope you hear that nagging voice telling you to keep on track.

Think of it this way, there’s only a little over a month of school work left. Keep a countdown of your classes if that’ll keep you motivated, but there really isn’t that much left to do, so why slack off on it? Save that for the summer, when you don’t need to worry about your performance messing with your grades.

Or, if that’s not working for you, think in the opposite way. “Ignore the end of the year approaching, because the more you focus on summer being right around the corner, the more distracted you get,” Sophomore Henri Santelman suggested. For some people it can be harder to focus on coursework with the constant reminder of summer approaching in their mind. So, forget that there’s only a little more than a month of classes left. Pretend it’s the start of the term still, and focus on the work that you’re given.

There are various ways to ensure that you stay on track. “Having a set time to study is helpful for me. If there’s time in between classes, or just scheduling out time throughout the day to study and do coursework is really helpful for me to keep on track. That way there’s time to do other things later, so long as I stay on task when I need to”, First-year Kellie Humble said.

Personally, I try to make sure I have everything I need done a day or two before it’s due, just to give me some time to breathe. There’s other ways to go about it as well, of course. “I usually make sure that my work is done days before it’s due so that if I need help I can talk to my professor about it. It ensures that you don’t mess up and get a bad grade or misunderstand anything”, Sophomore Jacob Portner informed me.

Everyone has different tricks and tips, finding the best way to keep on track as the academic year comes to end is just as important as figuring out what classes to take next fall or what to do this summer. Procrastination is not your friend, it’s here to hurt you- not to help.