We all have some kind of pressure on us as teenagers from a handful of people. Exam season is the worst for pressure. You're trying to revise and keep the information in your head until after the exam while simultaneously keeping on top of chores and whatever is in our watch later list and still spending time with your friends and family so your social life and relationships are healthy. And quite frankly all this pressure makes you want to flop and sleep.

We all say at the start of every term how we will do the homework as soon as it's set. Revise in every free period and do the chores as soon as we get in so we can spend the rest of the day doing, well nothing much at all. But lets face it we don't, and we end up rushing it all last minute. I'm literally rushing this right now so I can do the washing up before dad gets home and then put my clothes away before my friends come round so we can go to town and mEET CARRIE FRICKIN FLETCHER...

Ahem, yes, so we are all rushing our tasks and then it doesn't really get done properly and we haven't been enjoying ourselves because while we are procrastinating on the internet or watch a film or reading a book or doing every thing but what we are supposed to be doing, we are thinking about doing the work, saying "okay, just one more" or "when it's 5pm I will start" and when we look at the clock its 5:02 and we've broken our promise so we set another one to start at 6.

You can relieve some pressure by just bloody doing the thing! and then doing everything else later. Granted there are never enough hours in the day but make the most of the ones you have but never sacrifice sleep for anything, no matter who you might upset. If you're tired and it's way past your bedtime (can you tell i'm excited to meet Carrie omg) then sleep my dears sleep! you can finish it tomorrow at some point and if not, then "I needed my sleep" should really be a reasonable excuse shouldn't it?

Okay now I'm off to do some of my chores so I can relax and enjoy meeting Miss Fletcher (I am fangirling so hard inside right now)

If there's one thing that every teenager has in common, it's stress. Stress from having to please fifty different people all at once, with only 24 hours in one day. People like your parents, teachers, friends, cousins, idols and most importantly yourself. In the end whatever you do pleases you because you're glad you're finished with one task, even though there's another one waiting around the corner. When you're a teen, you're old enough to be doing things for yourself without supervision but also still young enough to be told what to do and when to do it and get told off when it's not done. (And I swear to God deadlines will be the death of me)

We have to do homework if we want to get out of school when it ends and not have to stay behind in a dreaded detention doing it then. We have to do it if we want to do well in school to bring pride to ourselves, our families and our teachers, or even just to graduate successfully as a big "hahaa fuck you I'm knowledgeable" to some arrogant cock who denied you that wisdom. We have to do chores to make our homes a nice place for us to want to hang around in doing said homework or even just living in. And we do it for our parents most of all because they finance the thing and are caught up in their own work to wash the dishes they fed you with or hoover the floor or tidy away some... shit. We have to socialise to connect with people which is beneficial to our health because it's enjoyable (if you're with the right kind of people of course and you like them). We have to live in our hobbies as well, if that's using the internet, making things or reading/watching something. Whatever it may be, we have to work hard and play hard and eat and sleep inbetween otherwise we couldn't function happily.

When we get the work done then we feel proud for doing it and others will be pleased of you for doing it too, even if they may not necessarily have asked you. And once we've worked hard we can relax and indulge in the "play". In the end we do things to benefit ourselves, it's a bit selfish really but whatever we accomplish, we feel better about ourselves for it. That's all we really need to do, keep ourselves happy and content by organising our lives into 24 hours a day so we don't go insane! And when you are happy, you can pass it on to those around you. So don't slack off because you can "do it later" because if you do it now, it's done and you can move on without it niggling at the back of your mind. Don't forget to take breaks either - research says work for 50-60 minutes at a time with 10 minute breaks.

Think, is it really worth never doing? If I do it now, I can forget about it and get on with something more fun. Never sacrifice sleep for any work, no matter who asked you to do it or when it has to be finished by, sleep and you have the energy to finish it at some point the next day. An even split of work and play is best - guilt free.

What I'm saying is, figure out some sort of routine and when motivation is absent, force yourself to stick to it so you can be over with the burdens of chores and work and get on with being a human, having fun and feeling free. You'll feel much better when you have the afternoon/evening to yourself to do anything or nothing.