29 January 2019
Abby Jadali
One of the hardest things to do as a college student is staying organized. Most of us have very busy schedules that can include and are not limited to, classes, work, homework, studying, clubs and sports. The list goes on and on. A lot of times, these activities can get jumbled together in our brains and we may forget which one we need to be at on certain days and at the correct times. These busy schedules can also wreak havoc on our living situation. Our houses become messy because there is never enough time to clean, papers lay all across the floor and dishes stay piled in the sink. Living in a house that is dysfunctional does not help with the dysfunctional mess going on in our day to day life. So, that begs the question: how do we or how should we start organizing to make our life a little less hectic?
Step One: Figure out your schedule
The most important thing to remember is that you cannot stay organized if you don’t know your schedule. Make sure that your class schedule is set and ready to go before starting classes. If you are a “class shopper” then make sure you get your schedule figured out by the first week of the semester. If you work in a job with a schedule that changes each week, keep on top of it and just make sure it doesn’t interfere with classes. If your work has set schedules each week, then you should be good to figure out your schedule immediately. If you play a sport, go to a club or have study/homework sessions, those will differ depending on the way those activities work with you and your group.
Step Two: Buy/Make a planner
Whether you are the type of person that makes bullet journals, buys agendas from the store or uses a phone, you are going to need a planner with you at all times. In these planners, you should be putting your class schedule, work schedule, assignment due dates, doctor appointments, club/sports dates, etc. If you keep all of this in these planners and keep it on you at all times, you will be able to check back and change things as they go. You can even put in the times when you want to study, do homework, workout, eat and do whatever else you need to do to keep yourself organized and healthy. No more saying you are going to put that in your planner when you get home and then forgetting.
Step Three: Follow your schedules
If you do your very best to work with the schedule your planner says, you will find plenty of time in the week to relax by yourself, play video games, hang out with friends and so much more instead of not remembering when work or class is or being backed up on homework and study. If you write down times to work on homework, and actually do it, then you will have so much more free time and possibly enjoy each and every week of the semester.
Overall, the most important part of staying organized is to keep yourself sane. When life gets messy and jumbles together we can find ourselves panicking and stressing out for no reason. You can use your organizers to keep everything in your life organized, even if you just use it for only homework or house cleaning. The main thing you should take out of this advice is to understand that if you keep it all together and organized in a little notebook or phone application, it will get done more efficiently and keep your life just a little less all over the place.