With school back in full swing, it can be really easy to let schoolwork and responsibilities pile up until right before the due date. We’re all guilty of a little procrastination when it gets busy in our lives. Last minute completions might have worked for you in high school or even last year, but if you’re tired of feeling rushed, overwhelmed, and like your work isn’t up to par due to procrastination, then these are my tips for how to stay organized during a busy semester.
Maybe you don’t know where to start, or think that you can handle everything yourself last minute, but then you completely forget and the stress ensues. Or you’re the person who thrives on procrastination, so you’ve become accustomed to finishing and handing things in at the very last second, and you’ve been doing it your whole life.
Once you feel the relief and satisfaction of being organized, you won’t want to go back to your old ways. The best way to achieve organization is to find some way of planning that works for you. Most people have work, family obligations, internships, and extracurricular activities but still want to maintain a social life on top of school, so it can be very hard to keep up with everything.
The first thing you need is consistent motivation. A lot of people are very eager, excited, and stress-free in September. Once midterms and big due dates start to hit, your capability of consistency starts to lower due to stress. Motivation to want to stay organized is the key to success. I’m sure wanting good grades is especially motivating for us students, but there are little motivators, too. The motivation to complete something can come from wanting to treat yourself to an episode on Netflix or a really good meal. It can even be wanting to go out with your friends to take a break! It’s a much better feeling taking a break and rewarding yourself when you know you’ve worked hard for it. Your motivation should always feel good for you, and you should focus on being satisfied with what you did.
To stay organized, you will definitely have to invest in some materials. One thing you should think about getting is an agenda or planner if you’re the type of person who is always busy. It’s something a little more organized than your phone notes or just on a piece of paper. Having an actual book to keep in your bag is great and handy at all times. There are really cute designs out there, and it will be like a diary of all the important, exciting, and dreadful due dates to come.
2019 12-Month Spiral Planner Mountain by Pierre Belvedere
$19.99 at Chapters Indigo
2019 12-Month Coptic Bound Planner Ebony Garden y Studio Oh!
$22.00 at Chapters Indigo
If you don’t want to invest in a planner, using the calendar on your phone or your Google calendar will get the job done as well! There are several free apps that can be downloaded to help you stay organized. The Productive app allows you to set goals and reminders for either the day or the month ahead depending on what you want. This is great for when you want to incorporate steady reminders for school, extracurriculars, your wellbeing and anything else that needs to be managed. Another app that’s great is Planner Pro. This links with your calendar app on your phone and lets you colour coordinate different events, and is just a unique way to work with your calendar if you don’t like using the calendar app itself. The Reminder app on your phone works great as well, especially if you need to set reminders for yourself throughout a busy day.
If you’re a little more artistic, you could try making a bullet journal. A bullet journal is like a regular old planner on steroids. It can be therapeutic to make everything themed with beautiful calligraphy, doodles, pictures and harmonious organization. If you’re someone who is easily distracted, making an attention grabbing bullet journal for yourself could really benefit you. You can write your goals in it, glue pictures, make appointments, jot down stuff to do, make a calendar for the year, work out ideas, and write down meal plans. It’s like a second phone with all of your apps combined into a pretty little book.
Once you find your way of keeping all of your details in one place, via a planner or an app, then it’s all about how you plan to make the organization come to life. You can use sticky notes as a frequent reminder by keeping them in your books, on a board, or a wall in your room for you to see. Making to-do lists is a great mental reminder for things you need to get done that day. Tape the list on the wall or keep it on your desk to see every day. Starting on projects or tasks as early as possible will be the biggest help to the process. Getting a head start means less time you will spend procrastinating later on!
There are many benefits to starting assignments early. You can get them reviewed by your teaching assistant, professor, or boss depending on the situation. There is time for changes and improvements as well, making it more likely that you will do better.
You can also use the people in your life to help you stay on track. If you have friends in your class, make a study group with them. You can count on each other to remind everyone to get their assignments done and in turn, get that helpful reminder back when you need it. This goes for coworkers or team members as well.
An important thing to do is to always plan ahead of time. At the start of the week, look at what you have to do, and look at what’s happening the coming week. Doing this will make you feel more prepared and excited for the future. Just like how you plan what you’re going to have for dinner, when you’re going to see your friends and what you’re going to wear tomorrow, organizing your schedule should be just as easy. Take 15-30 minutes out of your day to look at your schedule, update it and feel ready. You can do this while you’re commuting, before you go to bed or by taking a quick break from your phone. It will be well-invested time in the long run. In addition, you should write down your goals for the semester. Keep them somewhere where you can see them often and be reminded of what you want to get done. Ask yourself, “what do I really want to achieve and how is staying organized going to help that?” Maybe it’s better grades, or just being able to try your hardest at something you’ve struggled with.
Lastly, just find out what works for you. Everyone is different, and we all have different styles of learning and organization. I’ve found that sticky notes on a board, a day planner and to-do lists on my phone work best for me to organize everything in my life. Reminders from my friends keep me on task and motivated. I guarantee that if you try out at least one way of the methods of organization that I’ve listed for this year, it’s going to make a great difference in how you feel and how your semester will go. As long as you set your mind to it, you’ll be able to control the path you take to success and the methods you use to get there this semester.