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You can see it all around. A few leaves are starting to change color and fall to the ground. The weather is getting a little cooler, and sweaters are no longer on sale at the mall.

Although summer isn't officially over, fall has begun. You know what that means: school. You may be weeks into school by now, which means that the excitement and first-day jitters no longer fill the halls.

By now, there is a good chance that school has returned to being the day-to-day drudgery you remember loathing a few months back. Alas, somehow or another, we have to get back into the swing of things. So, here are a few quick tips for back-to-school success compiled by yours truly with the help of Veronica Baker, a guidance counselor at Patrick Henry High School:

• Be organized. We all know that by the end of the year you'll be keeping notes for every class in one big notebook that may or may not have any coherent system of organization. But at least start the year prepared.

Buy separate notebooks or binders for each class and go ahead and buy the 100-count box of bulk pens. You'll use them.

• Come up with a rewards system for yourself. If you spent the whole summer sitting on the couch watching TV, then you probably miss your old sitcom buds. So, for every hour of studying, you can watch one -- only one -- episode of "Gossip Girl." Fair enough, right?

• Sleep. This probably is the most important. Almost all of us spent a good chunk of our summer curled up in bed. Now, all of a sudden we need to wake up about two hours after we're used to going to sleep.

As hard as it is to readjust your sleep schedule, try going to sleep at least two hours earlier than you're used to instead of during class.

• Do your work. I know, I know. How lame is that? But the fact of the matter is that school is only getting started, so you might as well start now.

You can make only one first impression. If you go ahead and do the work you're assigned at the beginning of the year and let your teachers know you're serious about their class, they may be more lenient near the end of the year when things start getting really crazy.