Some things are guaranteed when you’re in college: you’ll meet new people, learn how to live on your own, most likely gain a caffeine dependency, start the path to adulting, and you’ll probably (read definitely) get stressed out along the way. Stress is inevitable in college. If fact, there’s probably something you’re stressed out about right now (and if you’re not, then you are a special kind of collegiette and should share your secrets with the world). And once you get stressed out, it can feel impossible to get your sanity back. The number one tip to keep yourself as de-stressed as possible is to stay organized. It may seem impossible, but it’s not – so grab your caffeine and get to it:
Write everything down.
You can’t expect yourself to remember everything going on in your life without writing it down. From starting your laundry to making sure you call your mom, write it all down so you physically see what has to get done. Make as many lists as necessary and reward yourself by crossing off each task – because let’s be real, who doesn’t love crossing something off of their to-do list?!
Invest in a planner.
Planners are ~magical~. If you don’t have a planner that you use daily, you should probably go change that right now. Spending at least five minutes with your planner per day lets you dump your brain out onto its pages, organize your thoughts and prepare yourself for the week ahead. There are hundreds of cute and affordable planners out there, so not only will it make your life easier and instantly more organized, it’ll make your desk more Instagram-able too. And who doesn’t want that?
Work ahead.
Working ahead is a tough one. When you feel like you’ve finally caught up on all of your work, the last thing you want to do is keep working on something that’s not due for another week. But if you want to truly get organized and prevent future stress, work ahead. Even if you just dedicate 10-15 minutes of time for a future assignment, you won’t regret it. You’ll thank yourself for preventing a future meltdown when the due date rolls around.
Allow yourself to take a mental break.
Breaks are important too. You can’t expect to work all day and still have a functioning brain by the time you’re ready to go to sleep. Scroll through Snapchat, browse Pinterest or watch some Netflix (in moderation, of course). Do whatever you have to do to give your mind some much needed rest. Letting yourself take a break will reset your mind and prepare you to keep pushing through.
Be sure to get enough sleep.
Determined collegiettes love to pretend they don’t need sleep, but they do. How are you supposed to be organized and stress free when all you can think about is how great a nap (or another Starbucks) would be? Make sure your body gets the rest it deserves and you’ll be ready to wake up and take on the day.
Most importantly, learn the difference between motivation and discipline.
It’s hard to get yourself organized when you just can’t find the motivation. But keep in mind, there’s a difference between motivation and discipline. You might not have motivation to start studying for your final next week, but you can teach yourself to have the discipline to do it anyway. If you keep waiting for motivation to magically appear, it won’t. However, you can rely on your discipline to force you to do the things you know are necessary. Once you start working from discipline rather than motivation, you’ll be able to become more organized and less stressed out.