- Get organized. To set yourself up for success, it’s time organize and de-clutter. Spend some time NOW organizing your personal life first, then your school life.
If you have a family, create a list of monthly meals and shopping lists that you can mix and match. If you’re Type A, go ahead and cook and freeze some meals.
If the kids need car pooling and homework help, create those schedules now–at least it’ll be a place to start.
It also helps to organize the space you’ll use to study. Claim it and clean it up now, not the first day of school. Ensure you have a good lamp and plenty of highlighters, of course, but more important is making sure you have a study plan. Research ahead of time how you plan to study.
Do you know how you’ll read your textbooks? Do you know how to manage your study time?
2. Set boundaries and expectations with your family. Explain that you’ll need time to study and, sometimes, time to nap. Asking for their support and understanding ahead of time will avoid those high-stress moments when you barely had time to shower that day but your family is waiting on you to start supper.
Explain that you’ll need them to step up and help in all areas: housework, cooking, and childcare. It might be a hard conversation for some of you to have, but it’s best to do it now BEFORE school starts.
3. Get all the rest you can now. Sure nursing school is hard, but it’s doable!! You’ll forsake some sleep, so now’s the time to rest. You can sleep again when you graduate….jk.
You’ll be studying hard, listening to lectures while you drive, reading textbooks while you eat, and quizzing yourself on mnemonics in the shower so now is the time to chill. Remember, you’ll graduate soon enough — this is not forever!
4. Learn to take care of yourself. Nursing school is hard but that’s because nursing is a tough profession. Learn now how to take good care of YOU so that throughout school and your career, you can put yourself, your health, and your mental health first.
Decide right now (before nursing school) how you plan on relaxing when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Figure out right now how you’ll respond to the pressures of test deadlines and mounting homework.
Will you need a five-minute power walk? A hot shower? A chat with your bestie? Make your plans now so you know exactly what to do when the time comes.
Create a positive mantra for that moment when your grade is a D instead of the A you were expecting.
“I am doing my best. I am a great student. I got this.”
“Today I take advantage of my academic opportunities.”
5. Get your health in order. You’re going to need an updated vaccination record and possibly lab titers for MMR, chickenpox, Hep B series. If you haven’t in a while, call your doctor and get a physical now. While you’re at it, make an eye appointment and update your glasses or contacts. Might as well get that dentist appointment out of the way too.
6. F**k the haters. This is what I had to tell my youngest daughter every morning as she walked out the door during her junior and senior years of high school. Things were so stressful for her, we had to have numerous talks about separating the voices in our heads from those of the haters. And f**k the haters became her mantra.
Before you start school, it’s time to make up your mind to ignore the people pouring negativity your way and to let go of the stress of your classmates when they spew their pessimism your way. Don’t absorb their negative energy. Shake your head and acknowledge their tough situation, but refuse to internalize the bad mo-jo!!
You may even have people in your life who don’t believe you can do this. F**k the haters and do it anyway.
Remember, nursing school is hard and the best way to be ready is to prepare mentally ahead of time.
Decide NOW what your reactions will be when you aren’t feeling supported, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, or when you feel like quitting.
Write these responses down so when those days come, you already know what to do and don’t have to figure that out too.
YOU GOT THIS!
