My high-school life is a perpetual merry-go-round, with little time to devote to schoolwork. I get good grades, but it's becoming increasingly difficult with having to devote so much time to sports and wanting to have fun with friends and probably watching too much TV. Don't tell me to give up sports, as I am on the road to getting a college scholarship in soccer. How can I fit in everything that I want to do? -- Too Little Time
Answer: You can probably manage your time better and be able to do most of what you want to do. It should be fairly obvious to you that your TV time needs to be limited. Select the few shows that you really love, and record them for later viewing on the weekend with friends. Do not watch TV during the week.
Make your studying time more efficient. Use our Web site's homework contract to make a contract with yourself about when you will study. Then if you finish your assignments during your designated study time, work ahead on future assignments.
You can have more time with your friends if you devote some time to studying with them. Your work can go much faster if you seriously work together on routine assignments. Of course, each of you needs to do the work. And collaborating on test preparation often pays dividends.