According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Seven out of ten adults in the United States say that they experience stress or anxiety everyday. One-third of adults report persistent anxiety daily or that they have had an anxiety or panic attack.

  About 80 percent of adults experience some type of sleep-related difficulty as well. 50 percent wake up feeling unrefreshed or have trouble falling asleep, and about 40 percent have trouble staying asleep. Not only do adults struggle with these things, but teenagers deal with this every day and night. Yet we never seem to ask ourselves the question- Is it worth our well-being?

  With the pressure of grades and colleges, students never seem to get a break. I have pushed myself to the very limit many times regarding school, to the point where I am unable to eat, sleep and hang out with friends. I have skipped out on extracurriculars and sports practices. There have been times where I even miss days of school, to catch up on more school.

  A lot is expected of high school students today. With the huge weight known as ‘college’ sitting a top of juniors and seniors heads’, and the weight of a good GPA, which courses to take and who to hang out with, also putting a weight on every student’s shoulders. It truly begins to take a toll on their body, having to lug all that weight around.

  According to Education Week, middle schoolers are only assigned about 3.2 hours of homework a week. On the other hand, high school students are assigned about 3.5 hours of work to do a night. This leaves a lot of adjusting for students to do while transitioning into high school, and not a lot of time to do so.

  Although, many students are procrastinators, just like myself, there are many easy ways to avoid the piles of homework that leave students pulling their hair out at two a.m. It all starts by simply becoming organized. For a student to have one binder for each class, and a planner to write out everything, it will immediately begin to be helpful.

  One of the things that I find most helpful is to plan out what I have to do in time increments. For example, if I know I have a math test at the end of the week, I will study 30 minutes every night leading up to the test. Along with doing another 30 minutes of chemistry, and 20 minutes of newspaper. That leaves you with only one hour and 20 minutes of homework to do, and still time to go to practice, eat dinner, watch your show, and more importantly, get to bed on time.

  While high school and college students spend most of their time at their desk studying for a test or finishing a paper, it only takes some organization and your attention for one to two hours each night for grades to go up and the stress to go down. School is hard, and adding friends, sports, family events and a good night sleep on top of it becomes difficult, but we always have to remember to ask ourselves- is it worth it our well-being?