How to Avoid Doing Homework in the Morning

Waiting until the morning to do your homework can cut into your sleep and be bad for your health. Without enough time to finish up your work, you might also find that your grades suffer. To get homework done earlier, you should design a schedule and stick to it. Cut down on distractions and find the motivation the plow through your assignments.

Part 1
Part 1 of 3:

Developing a Routine

  1. If you have an established routine, you never need to worry about figuring out when you are going to work. A routine will also make you psychologically better prepared to work when the time comes. The two best times to work are immediately after you get home or after dinner.
    • The advantage to finishing your homework as soon as you get home is that you don’t need to worry about school for the rest of the day. The disadvantage is that you might have trouble concentrating without a break. Also, finishing your homework directly after school will interfere with prime playtime.
    • The advantage to working directly after dinner is that you have some time to rest and might be able to concentrate more when you get to work. The disadvantage is that once you start pushing back homework you can be tempted to procrastinate for the rest of the night. If you hold fast to working immediately after dinner, however, this can foster discipline. [1]
  2. You should keep a good record of all your assignments so that you don't forget anything and be forced to rush to finish it in the morning. Purchase a day planner. Record assignments as soon as they are mentioned in class. List all details, including the due date, page numbers, and requirements for the assignment. Review your planner to make sure that you don’t forget any assignments when you sit down to work. [2]
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  3. Draw up a schedule of when you are going to work and how much work you are going to do. Start by blocking out fixed obligations like school and club meetings. Estimate how much time you need to finish all of your assignments and set aside enough time to finish each of them. [3]
    • Write your schedule down and stick it on the fridge or another place you visit daily.
    • Alternatively, use a computer scheduling program that can alert you when you have something to do.
    • If you are having trouble figuring out your schedule, ask your parents if they can help you.
  4. Waiting too long to finish a big assignment will end with you rushing to complete your work in the morning. If you know there is a test coming up, study a little every day. If there is a big paper due, start work on it as soon as you get it. When you draw up a schedule to complete it, be sure that you schedule several extra days, in case the project takes longer to complete than you thought it would. [4]
  5. 5
    Complete assignments over the weekend. If you are too busy to too tired to work on things after school, you can try doing more homework over the weekend. Spend a few hours each weekend day reading, completing assignments, working on projects, or studying for exams. This will free up some time during the week and help you stay on top of things.
    • You might make a plan to work on homework for 2-3 hours as soon as you wake up on both Saturday and Sunday, for instance.
    • You could even ask your teachers to give you assignments ahead of time so you can do them over the weekend rather than throughout the week.
  6. Misplacing your homework assignments will make it hard to finish on time. Keep a homework folder with completed assignments. Keep your notes and incomplete assignments in binders designed for each subject. [5]
    • Finishing a paper several days in advance will also give you time to review it with fresh eyes and better notice things that need to be fixed.
  7. When you don’t start your day with homework, you’ll have time in the morning to take up habits that will give you the energy to finish the next day’s work. Have a breakfast that is heavy in protein and whole grains to give you energy throughout the day. [6]
    • It is good to start your day by squeezing a little bit of lemon into some water and drinking it. The lemon water will help you digest your food, giving you more energy when you eat.
    • Food that can give you energy throughout the day includes oatmeal, yogurt with granola, and eggs.
  8. Some short cardio during the morning can boost your energy and concentration throughout the day, helping you stay on schedule. Try going for a 10 or 15 minute jog in the morning. [7]
  9. You should start your day with a clear head. Stay away from your computer until after you eat breakfast. Spend some time planning your day. Consider meditating for a few minutes after you wake up so that you are calm and ready to begin your day. [8]
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Part 2
Part 2 of 3:

Eliminating Distractions

  1. When you associate a place with work, your mind becomes primed to work when you sit down. Create a designated workspace where you won’t need to worry about distractions. Pick a place with no TVs or phones. It might help to have a computer around, in case you need it for research, but maybe not so close that you are likely to be distracted by the Internet. Be sure that the space is far from noisy siblings or parents. [9]
    • Make your workspace your own with decorations that make you happy. You are more likely to be productive when you decorate your workspace to your taste.
    • The colors in your workspace have been shown to affect your performance. Red creates greater attention to detail, which is a good skill for a subject like math. Green and blue tend to encourage creativity, meaning they might be useful when you are working on creative writing.
  2. When you design a schedule, you might find that there isn’t enough time in the day. In that case, you will need to figure out what is most important. You might need to cut some extracurricular activities, like sport or club obligations, that distract you from your school work. If your school work itself is too much, consider dropping some AP or honors classes. Be leery of obligations that require you to wake up earlier in the morning, cutting into your sleep. [10]
    • Consider preparing for the SAT and ACT over the summer or winter break, so that they don’t interfere with your school year work. [11]
    • Ask friends who are also in your extracurricular groups how they manage their schedule. They might be able to give suggestions.
  3. Break bad habits . Modern electronics like TVs, cellphones, and computers can be addictive. When you sit down to work, you are often distracted by these addictions. That not only makes it more difficult to finish homework promptly, it can affect your ability to remember material, or concentrate for long periods of time. You should take some time away from these devices, even when you aren’t working, to break bad habits.
    • For example, consider going a couple of days without using any technology.
    • Alternatively, promise not to use any technology after a certain hour of the day. This can also make it easier to sleep, because the light from screens causes insomnia.
    • Consider spending more time on activities that build your attention span. These include reading books and meditating.
    • Consider downloading an app for your cellphone or computer that blocks distracting websites.
  4. Your siblings and parents can be part of the problem if they are loud when you are work. Let them know what time of the day you plan to work so that they will give you quiet space and help keep you on task. [12]
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Part 3
Part 3 of 3:

Finding Your Motivation

  1. Ask your parents for help by giving you incentives for doing well in school. Alternatively, reward yourself when you do a good job, and punish yourself when you fall short. You should try, for example, to make the most out of your newfound time at the beginning of the day, so in the future you won’t be tempted to push your work off until the morning. [13]
    • Make yourself a big breakfast in return for finishing up your work on time. Watch a show that you enjoy. Go for a jog.
    • You could also ask your parents to pay you or give you gifts if you get an A on your report card. This can help motivate you to get to work. [14]
    • For more immediate reward, you could go out with your friends to a movie when you finish a big assignment.
  2. You are more likely to be motivated if you are in a friend group that reinforces academic goals. You can also learn things, even when you aren't trying, by spending time with intelligent people. You might even want to try taking summer courses at a college, so you can see how college students motivate themselves. [15]
  3. Your parents know you better than most people so they might be able to help explain why you are having trouble. They can also help enforce your homework time. Similarly, you can ask your friends how they manage their schedule. If you don't understand an assignment, ask them to explain how to complete the work. [16]
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      Tips

      • If you’ve gotten into the habit of setting an early alarm so you can finish your homework in the morning, ask a family member or roommate to wake you up on time instead. This will force you to finish your homework the night before since you won’t have time to do it the day of.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://gunnoracle.com/2012/03/19/studying-at-night-provides-more-benefits/
      2. ↑ http://mom.me/parenting/6133-ideas-kids-not-forget-homework-school/
      3. ↑ http://www.studypoint.com/ed/school-stres/
      4. ↑ http://www.studypoint.com/ed/school-stres/
      5. ↑ http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/5951-2.html
      6. ↑ http://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/11-tweaks-to-your-morning-routine-will-make-your-entire-day-more-productive.html
      7. ↑ http://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/11-tweaks-to-your-morning-routine-will-make-your-entire-day-more-productive.html
      8. ↑ http://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/11-tweaks-to-your-morning-routine-will-make-your-entire-day-more-productive.html
      9. ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/procrastination/
      1. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/coping-school-stress?page=2
      2. ↑ http://www.studypoint.com/ed/school-stres/
      3. ↑ http://psychcentral.com/lib/lets-talk-about-homework/
      4. ↑ http://psychcentral.com/lib/lets-talk-about-homework/
      5. ↑ http://mom.me/parenting/5940-tips-kids-remember-turn-their-homework/?p=2
      6. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2013/03/13/motivation-matters-40-of-high-school-students-chronically-disengaged-from-school/#2bfaea7251b9
      7. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/11/12/should-parents-help-their-children-with-homework

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