As college students, we all talk about getting good grades, working hard, and saying we’ll do better next semester — but it is easier said than done. Sometimes the process of getting through the semester is way more grueling than your average productivity Pinterest board makes it out to be (trust me I’ve been there). While staying on top of your grades is inevitably challenging, here are five tips based around glamorizing your academics to make the painstaking journey a bit easier and a whole lot more aesthetic and satisfying.
- Vision boards
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Creating vision boards is a great way to turn your academic dreams into reality. Making a visual representation of what you are trying to embody and achieve is a great intermediate between aspirations and actions. When it comes to academics, try creating something unique to your needs that represents a set of core values that you always want to maintain throughout the semester. For example, the one linked is a personal vision board I’ve made for myself centered around a balance of academics and self-care, both things I strive to prioritize every day.
- Google Calendar
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Creating an effective Google Calendar is something I believe everyone should have. I use Google Calendar to organize the various parts of my life in college — for example: class schedules, club meetings, work, as well as the personal time I like to set aside for myself. It takes the pressure of having to remember every class, meeting, or event I have to attend away. It also allows me to see my commitments on a weekly and monthly basis at a glance and adjust myself accordingly. This can sometimes feel overwhelming, so I color-code my calendar to separate work, school, and personal events. Small customizations such as color-coding can make the chaos of a busy schedule just that much easier to look at.
- Notion
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Notion is the recently popularized way to organize your life and truly feel like “that girl.” It’s the perfect one-stop shop for everything you could possibly want to keep track of. I personally love organizing my coursework, assignments, and exams with spreadsheets, and again color-coding everything according to the subject, and sorting based on days left for completion. I also love Notion to track hobbies, such as fitness, reading, movies, etc. Arguably the best thing about notion is its full customization features — while there are thousands of templates to choose from, you can personalize them entirely to your liking.
- Prepler
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Prepler is my all-in-one academic progress planner. I am a visual person and have used several sites and softwares to track my grades and semesterly progress, but Prepler truly does it all and is extremely user-friendly. All in one view, it shows you your current GPA, credits received, and courses being taken. It allows you to organize your past and future coursework by semester and gives you a comprehensive view of your coursework for the semesters to come. I personally love using this as an extension of my advisor, to plan my future classes and ensure that I’m meeting my major, degree, and pre-med requirements.
- Monthly and weekly routines
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Monthly and weekly routines are a great way to reset and keep yourself on track. No one is perfect and we all drop the ball sometimes. Weekly and monthly routines help me ground myself and refocus on my goals. Create a routine with things that make you feel accomplished, for example, set a day dedicated to planning out your week, checking course updates, or a day just to get ahead.
While navigating the academic scene is stressful at times and can seem daunting, just remember that you can do anything you put your mind to and that hard work pays off. While these five tips might not solve all of your problems, implementing them is a good place to start and even a great way to improve or refresh your already successful routine!