As the summer starts to wind down and school starts to creep up planning ahead is a smart idea. Luckily Ned Bigby (Devon Werkheiser) from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide has the perfect tips for navigating school-related dilemmas. Not only do his tips involve academic help, but he also helps to guide his peers through tough situations between friends and budding relationships.
Whether school time is emanating or not, work or other social situations affect everyone. Applying some of Ned's general tips can prove to be beneficial in alleviating awkwardness and rough situations for all.
Just relax, be yourself, and don't panic!
Starting a new school year or even a job can be intimidating because the pressures of being perfect can be heavy. But, remembering to relax and just be true to oneself can help to ease the stress. Ned reminds us that relaxing and letting expectations go can help make meeting new friends easy.
Plus, when people are true to who they are finding friends is also easier because people who like the same things will gravitate toward others who like those things. So people will accept each other for who they really are not just for the mask they are putting on.
Focus on the teaching, not the teacher
When in school or even a presentation being hyper-focused on the teacher can be an easy habit to fall into. Especially if the person is prone to distractions like a mix-matched outfit or a funny voice. But, Ned's advice is to focus on the intent of the presentation and take-away knowledge.
Also by practicing this tip, negative thoughts about someone can start to disappear. Instead of someone spending a lot of their important time criticizing or making fun of the presenter in their head. They can instead learn and become more of a positive person overall.
Have fun, don't have super-high expectations, and go with the flow
When going into a high-profile event or even a party that has been planned ahead of time, stress can easily begin to form. But, it is important to remember to just let go of the high expectations and have fun. High expectations only lead to disappointment, because real life is never like the shows. Which can ruin a person's mood or even the party's tone.
Parties are so often balanced on top of the tone of the people who attend. Remembering to have fun, as Ned says, and practicing it at the party will make others follow along. This kind of chain effect can keep the party going all night.
It's okay to practice your smile
This nostalgic Nickelodeon show probably wasn't accounting for the future when he wrote this tip down. But, now that Tik Tok, Instagram, and Facebook dominate our social lives it's almost expected that everyone has their own model face. Ned reminds everyone that it is okay to practice smiles before picture day.
Practicing poses, smiles, or dances helps to ensure that the photo ends up great. Especially for people who are having trouble feeling satisfied with their photos. Although the ego might make people feel silly or ashamed for practicing, it's a good idea, and professionals do it all the time.
It doesn't matter if you are not popular, you can still hang out with friends.
Although middle school culture convinces its students that popularity is a life or death situation it really isn't. Ned reminds students that having friends is all that truly matters. Once a good group of friends is made the outside world goes out of focus a bit because the people who are really important are at the forefront.
Additionally, making a "family" through friends helps to make people feel less lonely and popular in their own network of friends. Finding friends that align with the same values and traits ends up being more satisfactory than forcing a relationship because one person is popular.
Get to know them first then, ask them out
Navigating the dating world can be difficult because of the tiny nuances and social cues it involves. A lot of the time in the early stages of having a crush on someone, people can tend to over imagine who their crush actually is. Which can often lead to disappointment once dating starts as the person starts to reveal who they really are.
People can also build their crush up as almost a celebrity if they don't take the chance to get to know them first. Either way, Ned's advice about getting to know someone before committing is always the best option.
Don't let stress vision get the best of you because things may not be that bad.
Stressful situations, like tests or presentations, can cause people to go into panic mode as their brain starts to catastrophize the problem. Instead of letting panic-mode control their behaviors, Ned tells people to zoom out on their stressful situations.
By zooming out, the situation can become more objective and manageable. This is mostly because people realize the problem is not really life or death despite what the panicked brain says. People can act more clearly and work more efficiently by putting their energy toward the problem instead of the stress.
If someone laughs at you just laugh and say oops.
Embarrassing things happen to everyone, especially during middle school. Ned reminds us to just act casual if someone laughs at us. In situations like these, which are inevitable, the true action plan is based on how people choose to react.
If the person being made fun of reacts awkwardly or weirdly the perpetrator may continue to embarrass them. Instead, laughing along gives the person the reaction they wanted by making people laugh. This also makes the moment easily pass because everyone laughed instead of a moment of isolation or tension.
Never second guess. Your first answer is probably right.
Although, tests can be intimidating if the materials were studied then trusting oneself is the best option once the test begins. Ned says to avoid letting the bad habit of psychology get in the head. For instance, thoughts like, "maybe choice is just a trick answer" when doing the test only distract from the true intention of the test.
When letting games and tricks influence test-taking performance the grades may show up poorly. Instead, trusting that what has been studied and what has been learned from that is true the test will most likely end up great.
Admit you have a bad habit and get psyched to beat it
Everyone has character flaws or bad habits, it's just a matter of time before they realize it. Critics about oneself can be hard to take, but the true focus is how someone handles the critic. Ned tells people to be excited about beating an old habit or flaw.
Learning from a mistake can make keeping friends easier or fix problems that affect the person directly. Either way, having a positive attitude towards the problem is always a good idea and helps to build motivation around it. Rather than a negative attitude which might lead to retaining the habit.