Starting college can feel like a whirlwind as you try to balance school, work, and free time.
Especially at NYU, living in New York can make you feel like you’re always running out of time or behind schedule. Time management and learning how to stay organized are essential skills. Lucky for us, there are many different things available to help us organize our lives.
Here are five things I use to stay organized in college:
Planners will be your best friend
Since high school, I’ve been a big fan of planners/agendas. Writing out my plans always eases my anxiety. I find them essential to balance school, work and play. One of my favorite brands is Blue Sky, not only do they have super cute designs, but they have many different layouts. Personally, I like planners that have both the monthly calendar page and the weekly pages. I love writing out my plans for the month while also being able to plan out my days on the weekly pages!
Google Calendar works wonders too
If you are more of a paperless kind of person, Google Calendar is the way to go! With it, you’re able to schedule your monthly plans down to the minute. Another amazing feature of this app is that you can enable notifications to remind you of things that have to get done by a certain time. You can also merge calendars from your work schedule and personal calendar.
stick to the Post-It Notes
In my freshman year, one thing I found really helpful was writing myself sticky note reminders and posting them around my room. That way, I would be reminded of the essential things that had to be done while I was busy studying for exams.
take advantage of your tech
Again, an alternative to sticky notes for more digital people, the reminders app on your phone can be extremely helpful during busy weeks! Since you can enable notifications to remind you of your plans or work that needs to be done, you will never forget an assignment.
Setting alarms is another thing that’s really helpful with time management. On busier days, I try to schedule my day down to the hour. Alarms help me gauge if I’m sticking to my schedule or need to modify it.
make old school To-do Lists!
Recently, I ordered a weekly to-do list whiteboard from Amazon that came with different colored dry-erase markers. I’ve been using this list to schedule my week down to the hour. Every Sunday, I write in all my plans and add to them during the week, as more things get assigned. It serves as another way to remind myself of what exactly I have to do.
Hopefully, you find at least one of these tips helpful. Happy organizing!