Everyone jokes about needing to get their life together and how they need to get organized. At the start of this summer, I decided I wanted to get myself organized, become a better student, and be more positive. Throughout that process, here are the 10 things I learned when getting my life together:
1. Just because you have a beautiful planner, doesn’t mean you’re organized
I would spend hours trying to perfect my planner and try to bullet journal. I would spend more time on that than actually doing my homework, which was counterproductive. Even though I had a beautiful layout for the week, I wasn’t able to focus on what I needed to. (But if you can make a beautiful planner AND be on top of your school work? Go for it!)
2. And just because your planner is a mess doesn’t mean you’re unorganized
Since I was obsessed with making my planner perfect and Instagram ready, I thought that when my planner was messy, that I was unorganized and wouldn’t remember a thing. I found though, that sometimes my messy planner with notes scribbled all around actually helped me more because I just quickly wrote the main things I needed to do without anything extra.
3. Sticky Notes are your best friend
I use sticky notes a lot when I need to make a quick note or to remember something. Usually, I’ll grab a sticky note and put it in my planner so it sticks out to me that that is something I need to do right away or very soon.
4. Rank everything!
Usually, on a sticky note or in another notebook beside my planner, I’ll look at everything I need to do for the week and write out the days of the week. Then, I’ll find the most pressing item and make it number 1 for Monday (or whatever day I make the list on.) Then I go on throughout the week until all my number one items are complete. It’s hard to explain but it really helps me not be overwhelmed by all the work I have to do. It gives me a chance to focus on the top priority thing before moving onto the next thing.
5. Schedule in time for yourself
Everyone talks about how important taking care of yourself but rarely anyone does. Making sure that I give myself enough time to actually sit down and not think about stressful things is important. I’m still working on this one but making sure that you get enough sleep at night, eating at least twice a day, and drinking water is a good place to start.
6. Clutter-Free Room = Clutter-Free Mind
I feel like I’m turning into my mom when I say this but making sure your room is clean (or at least put together) can really help you be less stressed. Even something as simple as making your bed in the morning can help start your day right, even if the rest of your room (and life) is in shambles.
7. Give yourself something to look forward to for the day
Getting out of bed and going to class is a struggle no matter what time it is. I skipped class a lot because of this and when getting my life together, I needed to find a way to motivate myself to go to class. Usually, I’ll pick something that will make me want to get up. Like if I got a new makeup product, I’d want to get out of bed to use it. I started this when I was in high school and I’m glad that I picked it up again because now it is so much easier for me to wake up with my first alarm.
8. Pulling all-nighters in the library does not help you learn
At least not in my experience. I could spend until 2 am in the library (yay extended study hours!) and not get a single thing done or retain any information. Even though it’s a stereotype that college students live in the library, I try to give myself a few days before a test to study or at least start early in the day so I can be done studying before it’s too late in the night. If you have time to space out your studying, try and end the study session at 11pm.
9. See the Positive Side
In the world we live in, it’s hard to think positive, but it’s worth it. I was really negative, I used to think the world was out to get me and got angry and sad whenever things didn’t go my way. I always thought that I shouldn’t try anything because I’ll just fail. Since changing my point of view and be more positive, I’ve felt better about myself and the things I do.
10. You’re always changing and growing as a person
Which is good! Most people aren’t the same person they were in middle school and you won’t be the same person you are now. Everyone learns new things and changes as they get older. I get stuck in moods where I think that I’ll never get better or get in a better position then I am now and it helps to remember that I won’t always be here and things will get better.