As soon as you finish studying, your first thought might be “it’s Netflix time!” but try channeling your focus a little longer. When you get these three things done, you’ll be thanking yourself later:
1. Back Up Your Computer
With so many papers and projects stored on your computer (and don’t forget the pictures and music), this is an absolute must. Don’t worry if you’re not tech savvy; programs like Apple’s Time Machine make it easy to back your files up to an external hard drive. Once you set it up, you can plug in your external hard drive anytime and it’ll quickly back up your files. If you don’t want to purchase an external hard drive, at least back up your documents to a cloud based storage website like Google Drive. Google Drive gives you up to 15 GB of free storage. Whatever you choose, it’ll save you lots of tears if your computer ever crashes unexpectedly.
2. Update Your Resumé
The last thing you want to realize when you see a posting for your dream internship is that your resumé is completely out of date. Take the hassle out of keeping your resumé current by making a point to update it at least once a month. Ask yourself: Did I join any clubs or organizations recently? Do I still keep in touch with my references? Are my high school experiences still relevant? Updating your resumé a little at a time is so much easier than trying to remember during your senior year what the name was of that award you won freshman year.
3. Organize Your Recipes
If you cook in your dorm or apartment on a regular basis, you’ve hopefully found some recipes by now that are winners. Keeping your recipes organized can make a huge difference when you’re asking yourself “what should I make for dinner?” on a daily basis. You can easily do this by creating a section in your web browser’s favorites for the recipes you’ve tried and liked. (And you can create a separate section for ones you want to try too.) Or if you’re feeling creative, print out the recipes and buy an inexpensive scrapbook to put them in. You can order them by how long they take to make or where they’re from. Bonus: having your recipes accessible and organized will make grocery shopping a breeze.
Being productive may be the last thing on your mind when you finish homework, but it’s worth it when it saves you time in the long run. By doing these three things, you can save yourself from a lot of stress and panic down the road.