The Fun Part of Back-to-School Prep
The receipt is crumpled in the bottom of a Target bag. Three new notebooks are on your bed. Your friend is sending mirror pictures with the words, “First day?” and waiting for a vote.
This is the fun part of back-to-school prep. You get to choose a pen that writes well, find the jeans you forgot you owned, move your desk lamp, and put your favorite snack where you can grab it on the way out.
The serious planning can wait until you have syllabi and real deadlines. For one afternoon, get ready for the parts of school you can see, touch, wear, eat, and share with a friend.
Shop Your Backpack Before You Shop the Store
Empty last year’s backpack onto the floor before you buy anything.
You may find two unopened packs of index cards, a working calculator, six black pens, and the charger you thought was gone. Throw away the gum wrappers. Test every pen on a scrap of paper. Put the supplies you can use again in one pile.
Then make your shopping list from what is missing. Maybe you need one notebook, a folder that closes, and highlighters that are not dry. Maybe your backpack zipper broke in April and you have been pretending it is fine.
Knowing what you already own makes the store more fun because you are choosing things you will use. You are also less likely to come home with twelve cute items and no loose-leaf paper.
Pick colors and patterns you like. School supplies are allowed to be practical and pretty at the same time.
Choose the Notebook You Will Carry
The best notebook is the one you are willing to write in on a regular Tuesday.
Open it in the store. Check whether it lies flat. Make sure the paper works with your favorite pen. Think about whether it fits in the bag you carry. A heavy hardcover notebook can look beautiful on a shelf and still be annoying by the third walk across campus.
The same rule works for pens, planners, water bottles, and pencil cases. Choose the version that feels good in your hand and can handle your normal day.
You do not need matching supplies for every class. One notebook you enjoy using may be more exciting than a cart built for a video. Put your name inside before it disappears under someone else’s desk.
Set Up the Part of Your Desk You Use
Clear enough room for a laptop, a notebook, and a drink.
You do not have to redo the whole bedroom. Move the old cups. Put loose papers in one folder. Plug the charger into the outlet you can reach. Test the lamp at the time of day when you usually study.
Princeton attention research explains that visual clutter competes for the brain’s attention. Your desk can still have photos, color, and objects you love. Keep the working area clear enough that you can find the paper you need without moving a candle, three cups, and a stack of mail.
Add something that makes the space feel like yours. Tape up a photo strip. Set a small dish beside the laptop for your earbuds. Put a blanket on the chair if the room gets cold.
If you want more ideas once school begins, these practical productivity tips for a real student study space can help you adjust the setup after you know what gets in your way.
Build First-Week Outfits From Your Closet
Try on clothes you already own and take mirror pictures of the outfits that work.
Start with the first-day outfit. Choose something that feels like you and still works if the classroom is freezing. Sit down in it. Put on the shoes. Make sure the bag strap does not pull the shirt into a shape you will spend all day fixing.
Then make two easy outfits for the rest of the week. Hang each one together or save the photos in an album called “school outfits.” On a tired Wednesday morning, you can open the album instead of trying on four shirts and leaving them on the bed.
Trade pictures with a friend if you want another opinion. She may remember the jacket you forgot in the back of your closet.
A wardrobe refresh can be a clean pair of sneakers, a shirt you have not worn since spring, and earrings that make a plain outfit feel finished.
Pick the Food You Will Be Glad to See
Choose one breakfast, one snack, and one drink for the first few school days.
Think about what you can eat when you have eight minutes. Put frozen waffles in the freezer. Wash the cup you use for iced coffee. Buy the granola bar you will eat instead of the one that has lived in your bag since March.
If you pack lunch, test the container before the first morning. Make sure the lid closes. Check whether it fits beside your water bottle. Put a fork in the bag now if you are the person who always forgets one.
Pick something you will look forward to finding between classes. It could be grapes, spicy chips, a chocolate bar, or money set aside for coffee on Thursday.
The APA Dictionary calls the enjoyment we get from looking forward to a reward anticipatory pleasure. A favorite snack after a long class is small, but you still get to look forward to it.
Make the Prep Afternoon Fun
Invite a friend over, put on a playlist, and spread the supplies across the floor.
You can label notebooks, trade highlighters, compare class schedules, and vote on first-day outfits. Order fries or make iced coffee. Take a break to walk around the store when you realize neither of you owns a working pencil sharpener.
Give the afternoon a loose ending. When the bags are packed and the empty packaging is in the trash, go do something unrelated to school. Get ice cream. Watch a movie. Sit outside until the mosquitoes win.
Back-to-school prep makes good friend time because your hands have something to do while you talk. You will probably cover class schedules for five minutes and spend the rest of the afternoon discussing everything else.
Put Three Good Things on the Calendar
Add three small plans to the first month of school.
Choose things that are already real or easy to arrange. Coffee with a friend after the first Friday. The home football game. A new episode you will watch with your roommate. Dinner at your favorite place after the first full week.
Keep the plans close enough that you can picture them. You may not know what October will hold, but you can know that you are getting tacos next Thursday.
Looking forward to a plan can add enjoyment before it happens, according to research discussed by UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center in its guide to expectations and everyday happiness.
Write the plans where you will see them. A school calendar can hold more than due dates.
When classes begin and real deadlines arrive, plan your week around the schedule you have.
Pack the Bag and Take the Picture
Put the notebooks in your backpack. Add the charger, water bottle, lip balm, earbuds, and the pen you chose.
Set the first-day outfit where you can find it. Put the snack beside the bag or in the fridge. Take a picture of the desk while it is clean, because by September there will be three cups on it again.
Then close the planner.
You spent an afternoon with new paper, old clothes, a good playlist, and a friend on the floor sorting pens. That was the fun part.
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