Man oh man, when I was a kid, I loved Back to School time. Getting new pens, colored markers, a new planner…ah, bliss. I was always so excited to see my friends again, maybe get a new hair cut…I don’t know, the possibilities were endless!

Unfortunately, I also always had back-to-school anxiety. You know what I’m talking about—the nightmares leading up to the first day back, the fear of messing up your schedule and being in the wrong class, not knowing WHERE your new classes were, who is going to sit with me at lunch?, am I going to be hungry all day if my lunch isn’t until 1:30?, what if all my teachers are mean?, what if I end up hating my elective and have to drop out?.... Yeah, those questions.

A tool that can really help with back-to-school anxiety is a routine.

Creating routines helps add predictability to our lives when everything else feels like chaos. A routine helps add balance and establishes something we can rely on. If I know my bedtime is at ____, and dinner is at ____, then that leaves me with ____ hours to do homework.

Here’s what I suggest—a bedtime routine AND a morning routine.

The key to creating a routine is to start implementing it BEFORE your first day back at school. When I was a kid, my mother would start getting us into our back-to-school routine at least 2 weeks prior to our first day. This way, the only thing changing the first day of school is… The First Day of School. But by that point, I’ve already learned that it is safe to rely on my routine. Plus, a nighttime routine helps signal to the brain and body that it’s time to go to bed. This generally means less time trying to fall asleep and more time actually sleeping.

I can go into greater detail with the importance of a routine…but I’m already at 340 words and counting.

So to all my teen clients...

You Got This.