Effective studying and organization tips for a new semester
At the beginning of a new semester, I am the best student. I do all of my readings, I input all of my due dates, and I begin to plan out all of my assignments. Two or three weeks into the new semester, however, my work ethic just goes out the window. Between classes, several part-time jobs, trying to exercise and keep healthy, and attempting to maintain some semblance of my sanity, I just run out of time to be an organized and effective human being.
If you’re anything like me, you could probably benefit from some tips and tricks to keep yourself organized and on track, both in the classroom and out, as the school year wears on.
Suck it up and use a real planner.
Some people are really effective at using iCalendar or Google Calendar. I have yet to become one of these people, but no matter what format you use, get in the habit of using a planner to track your assignments, your readings, and your other appointments. Try to find something that has a monthly, weekly, and daily view available, so that you’re not finding out about your 30 per cent paper the week (or day) before it is due. If you’re feeling ambitious, create your own planner with free templates from the Internet.
Plan your week out on Sundays.
You go through the insane process of getting yourself organized at the beginning of the semester – you should be good to go now, right? Wrong. Take a few minutes each Sunday to orient yourself for the week ahead: look at what readings you need to get done, what assignments are coming up, and when you might take a minute for yourself. Consider preparing food that keeps well in advance, like pasta, breakfast muffins, or pre-chopped veggies, for when you’re hungry and running late for the bus.
Make smaller “To-Do” lists and group items according to immediate importance.
As you’re planning for your week, create a list that ranks each item by its need-to-get-this-done status. For example, binge-watching Netflix has a pretty low need-to-get-this-done ranking. The assignment you need to hand in on Friday has a much higher need-to-get-this-done ranking, and so it heads up to the top of the list.
That said, take time for yourself.
It’s really hard to be organized and effective when you’re running on two hours of sleep and your anger levels are on the rise because you haven’t eaten all day. Make sure you’re sleeping. Make sure you’re eating. On a busy day, eat that double chocolate chip muffin for breakfast, because it’s technically a breakfast food if it’s a muffin, and you deserve it. Watch a few episodes of something on Netflix, or take a nap in the middle of the day. Do something that makes you happy, because the balance between what you have to do with what you want to do is important.