It's your first big step towards teenage-hood—middle school. That's right, girls! Your days at elementary school are over. Your days will now be filled with time management for teens: homeroom, three minutes between classes, and carrying around a bag full of textbooks. Does life get any better? I think not.

Your first year at middle school is no doubt a very exciting event. All these years you've been in the confines of one room all school day. Now your day will have a mix of different classes and different teachers. The experience can be overwhelming and you might want to learn about time management for teens.

You are not alone—your peers are going through the same thing. No one can find their 5th period science class and everyone's a little scared and intimidated.

Once you get over the first week jitters, you'll see that middle school is a lot of hard work AND fun. The most important thing is to know time management for teens.

The first step to time management for teens is being realistic about the commitments you want to and are able to make. Middle school is full of great activities, whether it is sports, the debate team, or the orchestra. It's hard not to join everything! Sports can hold practice up to two hours a day—that's a huge commitment! Most clubs meet twice a week and even on the weekends. If you're not willing to make the commitment or you don't think you'll be able to attend every practice or meeting, don't join.

Here's a time management for teens tip: To figure out how much time you have for everything, make a grid with 7 boxes across (Monday–Sunday) and 24 boxes down (unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day!). In the boxes, write down everything you do in a typical week. Don't forget the time you spend with your friends or when you're on the computer. It might scare you to see how busy, busy, busy you are! You may even see that you need to cut back on a few activities.

Prioritize your responsibilities. Schoolwork and family is number one. After the first couple of weeks of the new school year, you'll get a sense of how much time you need each night for homework and studying. Sleep should be high on your list of priorities. If you don't get enough sleep each night, you will be grumpier and more tired throughout the day. You won't be able to fully concentrate in class. How can you squeeze in more sleep? If you're spending three hours a night chatting over IM with your friends, and you don't feel like you're getting enough sleep, cut down on chat time!

Time management tips for teens: Don't spread yourself too thin. It's nice to be involved with everything, but it will only make you forget about yourself! You need time to just lie around and watch a movie or read a book. This is called relaxation. Say it with me all of you busy bodies! Relaxation! You need to relax every once in awhile so you can revive your body and mind. Sometimes your parents pressure you to take on too many activities. If you feel super stressed out, sit them down and tell them how you feel. Suggest that you only do two or three activities, instead of 300! They may have thought that you wanted to do all of these activities. Be honest with them and they'll admire your maturity.

A great time management tip for teens idea is keeping a calendar. Write EVERYTHING down. You'll never have another, "I didn't know there was a math test today," moment ever again! You'll also never overbook yourself. Whenever someone wants to make plans, you can pull out your handy dandy calendar! Each quarter or semester, sit down with a new grid. Write down everything that's going on during the week. If you're overwhelmed, cut back!