With only three weeks left in the semester, most of us are desperate to either raise our grades or keep them where they are. Cramming in all of the homework and studying can be challenging, especially when you have extracurricular activities and are trying to squeeze in more than four hours of sleep per night. We all want to finish the semester strong, so here are ten tips to help you stay on top of your work so you can do just that!

1. Create a checklist

Make a To-Do list every day and rank the tasks in order of importance so you can eliminate the most important ones first. The satisfaction of checking things off of the list also gives you encouragement to get things done.

2. Make a schedule

If you have something scheduled for every minute of the day, you're less likely to waste time being idle because it will throw you off schedule. Write down all the things your teachers assign your and find time every day to plan out your evening to determine how you're going to allot your limited amount of time.

3. Spread your work out over time

Don't save assignments until the last minute or you might miss out on sleep and be very stressed on the evening before it's due. Spread out the work on bigger assignments (such as papers or projects) so that even if something comes up on the night before the assignment is due you won't be completely doomed.

4. Sleep 7 to 8 hours per day

This is very important because if you miss out on sleep one night, it will negatively affect your focus on the next day and throw you off balance. The busy work isn't worth losing all your sleep over. If you follow the other steps it should be possible to achieve this.

5. Put your phone somewhere far away

Your phone is one of your greatest distractions, and a lot of the time it's not enough to mute it. To prevent yourself from wasting time on your phone or otherwise getting distracted from your schoolwork, place it in a location far away from your workspace so that it will be more difficult for you to obtain.

6. Start your work as soon as you arrive at home

Instead of lounging on your couch for an hour after you get home in the afternoon, head to your workspace and begin your schoolwork immediately to maximize your work time.

7. Don't involve yourself in drama

It might be hard, but try not to get involved in drama or social conflicts. They will stay in the back of your mind and distract you as you work. If there's a fight between two of your friends, don't involve yourself. If you open up GroupMe and see hundreds of notifications in your squad's group message, save it for another time or just don't read it. No matter how much you want to take a side on the fight and get in on all the juicy gossip, save it for later, because there will always be drama.

8. Eat short meals

Meals often take up more time than necessary. You don't have to start eating all your meals out of the Taco Bell drive-through window, but don't spend too much time on eating. Try to eat food that's already prepared in your home by someone else so you don't have to spend time cooking, or if you have to cook, find short recipes that still offer good nutrition. Shortening your eating time could also help you shed some of the thanksgiving pounds you might've put on, as long as you keep the snacks far from your workspace ;-)

9. Work efficiently in school

Make the most of the time you're given to work in school. Use the time productively so that you'll have less to do at home. If your teacher gives you time to work on an assignment due the next day, don't be idle. If you have free time at lunch or at another time during the school day, use it to work instead of socializing or using your phone.

10. Work on Friday nights

The high school football season is over, so that's no longer an excuse for you to blow off your Friday evenings having a good time with your friends. Even if you're a little tired when you get home from school, try to use your evening efficiently, because after Friday night you only have two days to do your weekend work and that's often not enough.