As a college student managing my time, and making sure I’m organized is crucial to reducing overall stress, anxiety and staying on top of everything going on in my life. The academic year is especially busy, and I utilize most of these tools every single day when classes are in session, because without them I don’t think I’d be able to stay on track.
Day Designer Planner
It’s funny, because in junior high we were forced to use school issued planners. I always thought they were the biggest waste of time, because I was able to just remember everything that needed to be done, but once I entered high school I understood just how important and useful planners can be. I’ve used different ones throughout the years, but my current favorite is Day Designer. I usually get this brand at Target, because it’s cheaper than the ones from their online store, however, the layout is a bit different, so it all depends on your own needs. You can find their website here.
Google Calendar
In addition to a physical planner I also use Google Calendar to stay on top of everything. Sometimes I won’t have room in my bag to carry my planner with me, but I always have my phone, so I can quickly check what I have going on any given day by simply accessing my Google Calendar app.
Organize Your Syllabi Right Away
This is a big one for me. At the beginning of every semester I gather all of my syllabi and write down all due dates in my planner and organize a study plan for each class, so I know what needs to be done each day to stay on track in the course. After I put everything in my physical planner I put exam dates, assignment due dates in Google Calendar, so I can have digital reminders for the big things. This really helps cut down on some of the stress that goes with classes and making sure you have everything done when it needs to be completed.
Keeping a Routine
Sticking to a consistent routine can really help you stay organized. I usually have a pretty similar routine for each day around my class times. This helps me know what I need to be doing around certain points in the day. The only thing I really change is where I want to study on a given day. I like to change up my study spots, so I don’t start to feel bored.
Clean Your Space Weekly
Tidying up your space can not only help lower anxiety levels regarding a messy space, but it also makes things a lot easier if you’re able to have room to do the work you need to do while studying. My desk tends to get the most cluttered, and I definitely notice a difference in my ability to focus when it’s an absolute mess compared to when I’ve tidied it up before studying.
Flipd
This app is available in both the App Store and Google Play.
I’m fairly new to using this app, but so far I really enjoy it. Flipd is meant to help you stay off your phone while you’re completing a task that needs you to be mindful. You can use the mindful moment presets or create your own to best suit your time needs. Personally I enjoy the background sounds that I can listen to while working on something, and that is shows me how many minutes I’ve spent in a day practicing mindfulness with this app. If you have trouble staying off your phone while working, I’m not sure if it will motivate you to stay off, but I do enjoy it so far.
The Pomodoro Technique
I love, love, love this technique for studying! For those of you who haven’t already heard of the pomodoro technique, it is a way to practice time management by working in intervals with short breaks. You would work for 25 minutes, and when those 25 minutes are up you take a break for 5 minutes. You repeat this for 4 pomodoros (4 cycles) and then take a longer break of 20-30 minutes depending on what you think you need and then you repeat the process. This has been shown to help students in retaining information when studying, increasing attention and make you more productive. There are several apps out there that implement this technique, or you can simply set a timer on your phone if you don’t want an extra app.