Do you ever feel like you are constantly chasing your tail? Are you continuously rushing to finish that essay in time, prepare for a tutorial, attend society events, and keep up a social life? As 2024 and a new semester unfolds, it presents a golden opportunity to make some transformative improvements to your current lifestyle by revamping your organisational habits. Adjusting your organisational outlook and routine will lead to a more stress-free 2024 and hopefully free up valuable time for you to spend doing what you enjoy the most.
To start with, take some time to reflect on your priorities for the year ahead and then tailor your organisational needs from there. You might feel that you need to improve your time management, your workspace, or your personal routine — or perhaps a complete overhaul is required.
The first step to being organised is to declutter your living space. Clear out your desk and wardrobe by organising your items into piles: Keep, Bin, and Maybe! Get rid of all those things that are not really serving a purpose by donating to charity, recycling, or discarding them. If your wardrobe is still bursting at the seams and you are finding that your clothes are permanently crushed due to being squashed together, then remove your out-of-season clothing. Put all of your summer/winter clothes into a vacuum pack storage bag and store them under your bed until the warmer/colder months arrive. Review your Maybe pile and add to the bag if needed. A clean and organised room will create a sense of calm, reduce stress, and improve your overall well-being.
Creating a routine is essential to keeping on top of being organised. The most vital way to do this is to write down all your commitments and plans. This can be in the form of weekly planners, calendars, academic planners, or to-do lists. Colour coding can be beneficial to keep you on track. I find it handy to have a weekly planner in my bag at all times for spontaneous schedule updates as well as a neater monthly/yearly planner present in my living space. This is convenient as you are constantly reminded of your wider schedule, but it can also spruce up your living space as there is a large selection of yearly planners/calendars to fit everyone’s taste and style. It is also a good idea to sync this with a digital calendar on your phone so you don’t miss out on anything important.
As well as being put together in paper form, it is also integral to be organised digitally as this is where much of your time as a student is spent. A digital declutter can make an enormous difference to your digital organisation and your storage. A photo and app clear-out is a great start so delete the photos of lecture notes you will never look at or the photo shoot of your beloved shawarma wrap on a night out — be brutal! Also, delete or archive emails to free up your inbox so that you don’t miss or lose important emails. You could also create folders to arrange emails thematically to maximise your inbox organisation. In addition, unsubscribe from your extraneous mailing lists. We are all guilty of signing up to copious mailing lists for random societies out of sheer awkwardness and people-pleasing, admit it! Therefore, by deleting unnecessary photos from your camera roll and having an email clear out, you will be a lot more digitally organised and feel more in control and focused.
Setting aside consistent study times within your schedule can help you avoid last-minute studying and cramming. Choose a workplace that works for you, whether that be in your room or at the library. If you are staying in your room/flat, avoid studying on your bed and couch as this will make you sleepy and unproductive, and put your phone on Do Not Disturb to minimise distractions. Keeping on top of studying regularly will help you to stay focused, make you more productive, and keep your stress levels manageable when it gets closer to deadline dates.
Following a meal and budget planner can help you stay on track with a healthy lifestyle. Keep a shopping list and add to this when you are running low on an item, don’t wait until you have run out! This will cut down the constant trips to the shop, resulting in you buying more than you need. Aim to do a weekly shop based on your shopping list and your budget planner but also make sure that you are only buying for the meals that you will need to eat at home, depending on your diary for that week. This will save you money and time in the long run and minimise the extra trips to the shops.
Keeping on top of your social calendar is important too. Be prepared for what’s coming up by making a list of the birthdays and moments you will be celebrating this semester and stock up on cards/gifts early. Buy cards without slogans or synonymous images on them so that they can be multifunctional in the event of a spontaneous occasion. It is also handy to invest in a reusable birthday banner/party décor for your flat or friend group. This is more sustainable than buying ones that break after one use, plus it is also one less thing to party plan.
Finally, another lifesaver is to have a ‘girls’ emergency kit’ in your daily bag that covers all bases of things you may need during the day. Fill your kit with mini cosmetic products, body spray, a mini hairbrush, and chewing gum along with more useful things such as plasters, tissues, and sanitary products so that most scenarios are covered. It is also useful to invest in a handbag organiser so that you aren’t frantically rummaging through your bag to find things. An empty folder in your bag is also essential for any handouts or notes you don’t want to crush.
I hope you have been inspired by these tips to transform at least one area of your organisational habits. May 2024 be the year you become the most put-together and organised version of yourself!!