A new semester can mean a new start and opportunity to improve your GPA, resume and social life. But a new semester can also mean 18 credits worth of assignments due at random times throughout the week, club meetings, hours at your new internship, and having to cope with finding a new parking space. The good news is that with preparation and organization you can avoid a lot of the stress of adjusting to your new workload and achieve all your goals for the new semester. There are a variety of techniques that can be used be to stay organized, and there are things that work for everyone whether it be apps for your iPhone or more old school approaches! Here are some great ways to tackle the challenges that a new semester brings!
Bullet Journaling: This is a system of “journaling” that is both quick and creative. If you find that you buy day planner after planner but never really like that system this might be worth a try. You will need a small sketchbook, like a moleskine. There are many tutorials available online, but this one is a great run down of the basics!
Apps: There are apps for everything from planning your time to actually removing distractions from your life so you can get more work done (finally!). Some of the best tools on your phone are still your built in calendar app for storing reminders about project deadlines, group meetings and important dates to remember.
IF is an app that basically gets all your other apps to work with each other, this can be a great distraction remover. If you have a habit of dawdling and wasting time going through tagged pictures, for example, you can tell IF to automatically save pictures you are tagged in on Facebook and instagram to your camera roll. That time can quickly add up. You can create other “recipes” so your phone can work on copying contacts and changing phone numbers so you don’t have to!
Other planning: A lot of old school tricks that our moms insist are great are actually really good ideas. Packing a lunch and a snack for yourself the night before your long day can save what would be an otherwise torturous morning. Pick out the clothes you will wear to your internship ahead of time, maybe the night before or you can plan a few days of outfits ahead of time. It’s also important to plan to set realistic goals this semester, dream big but also dream achievable to avoid getting discouraged and overly stressed.
Stress relief: A big key to actually staying organized once you’re happy with your system is to make sure that you blow off steam when you need to. This means it’s okay to treat yourself and watch Netflix instead of trying to crush it 24/7 this semester. If you let yourself get bogged down with reminders and calendars, you will quickly start to ignore them and fall back into the trap of “just winging it” and probably end up stressing yourself out more. Consider trying out mediation to keep your organized zen flowing this semester!