A Teen Girl's Diary: A Soft Girl's Back to School Guide 💌

----------------౨ৎ------------------

Panicking because school’s about to start and you have no idea what to do? Breathe, babe — I’ve got you.

Welcome to a soft girl’s back‑to‑school guide: a gentle walk‑through of how to get ready, stay organised, and step into the new school year feeling better than ever. I’ll also sprinkle in a few tips and YouTubers to watch for motivation. Grab your pens, open your notebook, sit tight, and let’s get ready together.

----------------౨ৎ------------------

How to get ready

Firstly: Get your essentials. You know what that means — back‑to‑school shopping! This is super important so you have everything you need to feel prepared, but don’t just leave the house and go shopping without proper preparation. Make a list of everything you need — this could be uniform, stationery, revision tools (like flashcards or whiteboards), shoes, etc.

There’s an image at the end of this post that outlines what to get for your bag.

Secondly: Get your room and study space ready. I don’t just mean putting things away — you need to do a proper deep clean and reorganise anything if needed. This will help massively during the first few weeks of school. So this means sorting out your wardrobe, wiping your surfaces and windows, organising shelves, drawers, etc.

Thirdly: Organise your digitals. This includes your phone, playlists, laptop, email, calendar, and if you’re like me, your Notion pages — it’s time to get everything organised. There are pics on my Pinterest of what my Notion looks like for inspo + a whole board dedicated to aesthetic but practical Notion pages. Check it out!

Fourthly: Create a study routine. This is especially important if you’re going into a crucial year, like me going into Year 11. It’s important that your routine is realistic — take this from a girl who used to have incredibly unrealistic routines (like four subjects a day… sheesh, that was bad).

But also, it’s okay to miss a day or two because you feel sick or tired. Put your wellbeing first. Lastly, create a routine that won’t burn you out — trust me, previous routines used to burn me out and I would stop studying for weeks. That is not the goal! Consistency is. A routine that involves breaks, realistic hours, and techniques that work well for you will get you far further than one that wasn’t tailored with your wellbeing in mind.

Lastly: Set goals for this new year so you don’t go in without an objective. Don’t worry if not all your goals are reached — as long as you try your best. Life happens and you don’t know the future. The way I see a goal: it’s something you set so you’re not going through life without purpose. A goal gives you purpose, a mission, and keeps you busy too.

Make sure to tailor your goals for you and you only. Bonus points if you make a vision board — one that you can see often. I keep mine as the background on my laptop, so trust me, I see it a lot. It’s important it’s somewhere you visit often. If you’re like me and use your laptop a lot, make it your background. If you’re not a digital person, print it or frame it and keep it in your room or wardrobe. Seriously, constantly seeing your goals helps you visualise and reminds you of them.

Aesthetic but Practical Notion pages - Pinterest Board

Personal Dashboard ౨ৎ | Notion

----------------౨ৎ------------------

How to Stay organised

Let’s be real — staying organised is so hard. Like genuinely. There’s always drama, or problems, or you just get emotionally tired or energetically drained. Don’t worry girlies, let me help you tackle this.

I honestly think the ultimate way to stay organised is realistic routines + actual consistency. Setting routines that are tailored to your life is going to get you far, and choosing to show up each time — building trust with yourself — will really set you up for success.

I could easily tell you to download apps that help with staying organised like Notion or to keep your calendar tidy, but these will only work for, what, like two weeks? That’s not it. What you really need is to choose, time and time again, to show up — and honestly, lower the bar a little. I find that often we make routines that definitely aren’t realistic. For example: a morning routine where you wake up at 5 a.m. every day even though you know damn well you only ever wake up at 7:30 a.m.

When I say routine, this also includes weekly routines. For example: every Saturday you tidy your room; every Sunday you plan for the next week on your calendar. Or daily routines — for example: at 6 p.m. every day you check your reminders and set new ones for tomorrow. Things like that contribute to an organised life. Remember: be consistent, establish the bare minimum, and do the bare minimum.

----------------౨ৎ------------------

Tips for you!

In no particular order ♡

Playlists go a long way in getting you in a happy mood. Make a playlist and listen to it before school every morning while getting ready or commuting.
Your mental and physical health come first! Stop stressing — sometimes you need to take the back seat, relax, decompress, then show up again stronger than ever.
Friendships can be really hard to navigate. Try your best, be kind, but never let anyone take advantage of that kindness.
Don’t allow disrespect.
Walk away from situations or people that don’t serve you.
Do not lose yourself in all the drama that comes with school.
Remember: a relationship may not last, but that certificate/qualification will last forever.
Use Notion, reminders, notes, calendar, and Outlook to stay organised — I use these.
Reward yourself. You got the grade you wanted, you joined the club you always wanted, you participated in or won something — reward yourself.
You’re still in school — take advantage of that. Make the most of opportunities, but do not (and I repeat, do not) stretch yourself too thin.
Again, you’re still in school. You haven’t even fully experienced the world yet. The drama that’s affecting you right now will not matter in the grand scheme of things.