With most schools online for the fall semester, many students are finding it hard for themselves to manage their workloads while operating from home (as a student, I also have been struggling with this). It can be hard to have all of our class materials online and figure out how to manage them and make sure everything is being completed on time, and I sometimes am overwhelmed that there’s an email with a deadline in it somewhere I’m missing. However, having been through a month of this semester already, here are some tips and tricks I’ve used throughout the years that are helpful in staying on top of all of your work.
- Keeping a Planner
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One of the most important things for me to do to manage my assignments is write out every assignment I have due during the upcoming week. Keeping a planner is helpful for seeing what needs to be completed by when, and it’s always satisfying for me to cross off each assignment that I complete. If you’re like me, however, and more often than not can forget to write in a planner after every class, I use the sticky notes app on my laptop so that I have my to do list in front of my as I go through my day. Regardless of the medium, a planner is helpful in figuring out what time you need to save for the work for each class depending on that particular week.
- The ‘Master Calendar’
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Something I like to do at the beginning of the semester after I’ve received all of my syllabi is to mark all of my deadlines for the semester ahead of time, so I have them all in my calendar and I won’t forget to complete them, regardless of when they’re due. The app that I find useful for this is Google Calendar. I can assign a notification color for each course, so when I look at the month, week, or even day’s overview, I can see which class has what work simultaneously. Though this can be similar to a planner, it’s helpful to be able to look ahead to see what’s coming.
- Make a Checklist
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You know how sometimes there are just days where every class seems to have an assignment due? Or scratch that, a whole week with deadlines for big assignments? While this can be overwhelming, a productive way to manage the workload I’ve found is to create a checklist of the assignments you’re going to complete in order. Everyone can make the list differently – I usually start with the assignments that are going to take the least time, and then leave the heavier-workload assignments for the end, but sometimes you may have to prioritize by due date. The nice thing is, there’s no right way to get organized; it’s just finding a method that works for you and can help relieve some of the stress you may be feeling.
While sometimes it can feel like there’s always the next assignment to get completed and ahead of the game, it’s imperative to find some work life balance, and sometimes working directly out of your bedroom can make people forget about taking some time for themselves. Though completing schoolwork and staying on top of your responsibilities is important, it’s also important to prioritize your mental health during this unknown state of the world – take brain breaks, grab a snack, go for a run or quick workout, and then come back to your work. Although during a remote semester it can be hard to focus and manage all your work on your own time, hopefully some of these organization methods help keep the rest of this semester smooth sailing!