By the time I get home from school, I’m done. My brain is fried, my ears are ringing from all the hallway noise and I feel like I’ve been going nonstop since 7 a.m. Between class discussions, constant instructions, group work, crowded hallways and social pressure, it’s like my nervous system is in overdrive.
And the idea of sitting right back down and starting homework immediately? It’s not just unrealistic, it’s actually counterproductive.
Knowing myself, trying to force schoolwork right after school is not gonna be my best. I’ll read the same paragraph five times. I’ll stare at a blank google doc. My answers will be rushed and my writing will be dull. It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s that my brain hasn’t had a chance to breathe.
That’s why I like to give myself 45 minutes after school to decompress. No guilt, no apologies. Some days I lie in silence and just exist. Other days, I scroll through TikTok. This screen time isn’t wasting my life, but it’s letting my mind reset so I can actually focus later.
But I won’t let it drag on forever. I literally have to cut myself off after 45 minutes because the academic clock is always ticking. I have club volleyball practice from 7 to 9:30 p.m. most nights, and once I get home, it’s a rush just to eat dinner and shower. By the time all that’s done, it’s already 11 p.m. I can’t leave all my homework for after practice. I’d be up all night.
That’s why that small break after school is so important. It lets me hit reset, so when I start my homework , I’m alert, calm and way more productive. I’ve learned it’s better to take a short break and then work efficiently than to sit down right away, and just go through the motions.
People love to throw around the term “time management”, but real time management also includes managing your energy. I know that without that 45-minute reset, the quality of my work tanks. So yeah, homework can wait. Not forever. Just long enough for me to come back to myself.
