5 Life Hacks for Back-to-School Season

August is often a month with a note of sadness. Summer is close to its end, and swimsuits and sunglasses displayed in shop windows are replaced with backpacks, planners, and organizers. The last weeks of summer feel like preparation for a new school year, which can cause some anxiety for many students. But you can make this a more relaxing time, and plenty of positive emotions are possible with my easy recommendations. Plus, if you follow them, you’ll start a new season more energetic and organised.

Spend less time with summer reading

There's no shame in not getting around to reading all the books that you planned to read in summer. Good weather, walks, meeting with friends, and opportunities to relax are limited. If you didn't feel like picking up a book to improve your knowledge of history or something else, and preferred to do nothing, there's nothing wrong with that at all. But you can try to catch the main ideas and thoughts from planned books with the help of AI chatbots. Ask ChatGPT or ChatOn to summarize a book and discuss its interesting aspects with a chatbot. You’ll definitely save time and may discover more important insights than you would through the usual ways.

Use AI assistants to refresh old study topics

Summer can not only recharge your batteries but also delete a lot of curriculum-related information from your mind. In the first days after vacation, memory works like an old mechanism and needs more time to recall things that you studied last year. If you want to start going to your classes with a fresh mind and not spend a lot of time repeating educational materials, you can ask your AI assistant to remind you of the key points of the most difficult topics. Some AI chatbots like ChatOn offer follow-up questions that help you make the process smoother.

Create lo-fi or instrumental playlists to focus

Creating a good atmosphere for your studies is a helpful way to boost your productivity and to stimulate your brain work. Music can support your mood, help you focus on study tasks, and reduce stress caused by environmental noise. You can create playlists now, as it’s a relaxed activity. Listen to music, add tunes you love to playlists on Spotify or YouTube, and think about the best summer moments. Such playlists will trigger positive emotions from your memory when you start using them for studying.

Maintain a clutter-free desk

Piles of paper or jumbles of supplies on your desk make the process of studying harder. Invest the last days of summer in a new habit that helps you to reduce the amount of paper on your desk. Digitize your handwritten notes and stickers with important things — all of which can be helpful for you in the future. When you have all your papers in the cloud, you can put all that unnecessary paper in the recycling bin. You don’t even need a stationary scanner. You can digitize papers with the help of mobile applications like iScanner, which has a convenient system of file management and features that ensure that everything is private and secure.

Set up a bedtime routine

One of the most difficult things after vacation is to go to sleep and wake up on time. After summer, a lot of us need time to start again to follow a schedule and have difficulties with getting sleep. If this sounds like you, you need to set up a bedtime routine to help your brain and body relax before going to bed. I don’t want to be annoying, but you can ask your AI assistant about personal recommendations, from what food to eat in the evening to what exercises to do to relax. The way you spend your time preparing for bed has a significant impact on how quickly you fall asleep. Start your new routine at the end of your vacation and the first days of study will go easier.

When I was writing this text, I felt a strong desire to start studying. My light sadness turned into an anticipation of new discoveries and acquaintances. How many new things does autumn have in store for me? I hope you’ll also find positives in this back-to-school season.