It’s finally that wonderful time of the year when the warm weather makes an appearance for the first time in months, all of the Robins are pregnant and joyfully making nests for their soon-to-come eggs, and all of the spring sports teams begin to have games. But you can’t see any of this, of course. You’ll be inside freaking out about the plethora of assignments, midterms, signing up for classes for next semester, and maybe even starting to prepare for a final in your toughest class. With all of this getting thrown at you, how on earth would you, the girl with a full class schedule, a job, and numerous clubs and activities have time to be outside? Just barely making the deadline for homework or missing the bus to work can be a thing of the past; it just takes a little organization and planning. So, take an hour out of a day where you aren’t completely booked, check out these tips, and finally be the master of both your finals and your schedule.
STUDYING
1. We’ll start with the obvious: flashcards. It’s common. Everyone uses them. You know why? THEY WORK. It’s easy too; read your chapter or gather all the formulas you need to know and simply write them down. I take mine with me and study whenever I have free time. Think about it, at the bus stop, on the bus, before class starts, commercial breaks on TV… Those extra minutes add up quickly. If you’re concerned about losing a paper copy, you can make an account on Quizlet: An online note card site. There are apps for both iPhone and Android operating systems. As long as you have your phone, you will have your flash cards! You can create an account and download the app by clicking here.
2. On the subject of flash cards, a system that personally works really well for me is a ‘flash card of the day’ technique that I found on one of Alisha Marie’s YouTube videos. Simply find two containers that aren’t being used around your house (I used mason jars decorated in washi tape) and stick all of the flashcards you need to know by the time the test rolls around into the ‘don’t know’ container. Start about two to three weeks in advance depending on how many flashcards you have and just make a point to pull one out of the ‘don’t know’ jar once a day. Focus on that specific card all day. Once you have it down, put in in the ‘know’ jar. Then review everything in the ‘know’ jar once a day to ensure that you won’t forget them. Easy and a cute desk accessory!
See the full video here:
3. If you live by yourself (or have a roommate that won’t get mad at you) write terms on your bathroom mirror. This is a great option for that one note card that you just can’t remember. It’s visible from when you wake up and hop in front of the mirror to brush your teeth and put on makeup to when you are getting ready for bed. Unintentionally having the term in your line of vision when you are doing daily things helps you remember it later.
PLANNING
1. The only thing I can honestly say that keeps me sane and organized during finals week is an hour-by-hour schedule. It seems crazy and it totally is but I found that if I make a schedule the weekend before finals start for all five days of the week, I stick to it. Include what time you’ll wake up, eat meals, do activities, study, and of course, take your finals.
NEXT SEMESTER CLASS PLANNING
1. Get your current DPR(s) for you current major(s) or use your personal four year plan if you have one. Determine which classes need to be taken and prioritize them. Write them down in the order of importance.
2. Take your most important class and find the most desirable time slot for it. Add it to your enrollment cart. Do this for the second, third, and so on.
3. As you are working, add your classes and time slots to an excel sheet. This gives you a visual aide of when you do and do not have time for classes.
4. Take travel time into consideration. It’s impossible to get from West Campus to Fraser in ten minutes even with a bus.
5. If it isn’t time for you to enroll yet, check back every couple of days and make sure that the desired classes are still open and taking students. If they were filled, you at least have time to fix it before your actual enrollment date.
USE A PLANNER – A GOOD ONE
1. It is three months into the semester so I really hope this will just be review for you, but in case it isn’t, this is the one way to have it together the entire semester. Right when you get a syllabus and course schedule for each class, put the assignments and due dates in. Simple right? It only takes an hour and that method has saved my grade multiple times.
2. I personally find it really useful to color-coordinate everything in my planner with highlighters. Granted, it looks like a child’s coloring book, but I know what each color means, and that makes my incredibly visually inclined brain understand due dates and activities in a more comprehensive way.
3. It’s so much easier to use a planner with both a monthly and a weekly/daily view. Daily = Places to expand on assignments. Currently I’m using a Lilly Pulitzer planner, but anything of decent size will do!
MONTHLY CALENDAR
1. I have a monthly calendar website that offers free printables of cute designs. At the beginning of each month I will print one off and fill it out with extra important things like tests and essay due dates along with other events that I know the date will not be moved on.
2. Put it in a place where you will see it frequently (mine is on my cork board over my desk) and it simply serves as a reminder to get stuff done!
SUNDAY = PRODUCTIVITY DAY
Useful Apps to Stay Organized (Free)
1. Evernote – All notes in one place online or in an app.
2. Wunderlist – List manager with an awesome completion of task sound.
3. Mint – Personal finance tracker.
4. OneDrive – Store files in a cloud with tons of free space.
5. Blackboard – Can link to KU BB
6. Quizlet – Flash cards