In college, students take maybe three to five classes on average. Piece of cake, right? Not quite. The due dates pile up fast, life happens, and all of a sudden you are overwhelmed with everything going on. Once the chaos starts it’s hard to stop. Getting organized (and quick) is vital to any successful semester in college. Here are some ways to stay organized, so life doesn’t royally kick your butt.
Planner!
No kidding. Obviously a planner will help with organization. But not everyone thinks to use one for the daily lives. There are so many types from digital to physical, you can personalize and find the right one for you. I prefer a simple, physical binder where I can write down all my important dates on a monthly basis. Being able to have a monthly view of everything I have to do, helps me prepare in advanced. Also, no due dates sneak up! How fun!
Notecards
For day to day reminders and small tasks I utilize notecards. Some professors are kind enough to give you a written notice of any and all assignments. Others don’t give you that luxury. Whenever I am in class I have a notecard on hand so I can jot down any assignments that my professors mention while lecturing. This helps me keep track of what needs to get done, especially what needs to be done the soonest.
Reminders App
The reminders app is another great way to stay on top of things. I use the reminders app for small things that I know I would forget otherwise. Like if I need to email a professor within the next 24 hours. I set a timed reminder that will remind me when I absolutely have to do it. You don’t know how many times I’ve completely forgotten to do something only for the reminders app to be my saving grace. Even if you think you’ll remember something, use the reminders app to be safe!
Google Calendar
Not into the old fashioned pen and paper of a planner/notecards? Google Calendar may be your best friend. I use this to upload my most important deadlines for classes, such as midterms, finals and large projects. I also use it for the non-academic aspects of my life, like social events and appointments. Google is pretty intuitive, and always you to color code different types of events. If you use google calendar as your main source of organization, make sure to enable reminders! It won’t do you any good to have dates in your calendar if you never check or have reminders of said dates.
There are so many ways to stay organized in college. It may seem daunting, but getting a head start on organizing dates and deadlines before the semester even starts, will set you up for success. The four above options are tried and trusted by yours truly. I hope you learned some important ways to stay organized in college.
