It’s the first month of school and you already feel like you’re drowning. Your professors keep piling on the reading, you’ve got two assignments due on Thursday, your friends all want to hang out, AND you want to go to all the awesome events happening on campus! What’s a girl to do?
We’ve all been there. I’m here to offer a few tips on how to get organized and have a fantastic, successful year. Here are six ways to start the school year off on the right foot.
1. Get a planner
Getting yourself a good planner that works for you and your organizational style is an essential step to having a good semester. At the moment, you might think that you can keep everything in your head, but three weeks from now, you’ll be frantically typing an essay that you completely forgot about until the night before it was due, cursing yourself for not writing it down. If you’d like something on paper, the UVSS hands out snazzy free planners—ask for one at their office in the SUB. If you’re looking for something a little fancier, go to a bookstore and treat yourself to something pretty enough that you know you’ll actually use it. There are tons of electronic options, too: Google Calendars, the calendar in your phone and tons of other apps ranging from free to inexpensive. Browse around the app store and try out a few until you find one that works for you. It’s important to find a system that you like; otherwise, you won’t actually use it.
2. Write everything down
In your syllabi, professors have most likely laid out for you a timeline of their course, including all assignments, exams and anything else you might be marked on. Take your bright, shiny new planner and write down everything—and I mean absolutely everything. “Bring photo to class on November 15”? Write it down. “Extra long class on October 4”? Write it down. “Hugest final paper of your entire life due December 1”? For the love of all that is good, write it down! Having your entire semester available to view in one place will help you keep your head screwed on tight when work is flying at you from all directions. As well, continue to write things down throughout the semester, including any reading you have to do, plans for studying, appointments, social events, and anything else you need to remember. Personally, daily to-do lists have been a huge help. Ticking off yet another tasks make me feel like I have direction and that I’ve accomplished something, and I’m always motivated to have a neat column of ticked-off boxes. Try writing a task list either before bed or first thing in the morning, and see how productive you become.
3. Check CourseSpaces often
Don’t you hate it when you check CourseSpaces the night before your 8:30 a.m. class and find out that your professor assigned a 27-page reading that you didn’t notice? I sure do. While some professors are good about sending out emails letting students know that something has been posted, others don’t, and you may end up in this position from time to time. In order to avoid this, plan a time to check CourseSpaces every day. Open each of your courses, scan for any new items, then either take care of them or write down a reminder to attend to them later. This also goes for any Pearson websites that your courses use, and the conneX website for any computer science courses you may be taking.
4. Do the readings
This isn’t like in high school when the teacher assigns a reading, no one does it, and life carries on. Your professors expect you to do any assigned reading so that you may come to class prepared to participate in discussions and understand what’s going on in lecture. As well, I would recommend pre-reading for any kind of science course, be it biology, calculus or programing. Most professors lecture at top-speed, and I have no idea how anyone tries to learn anything for the first time in a lecture like that. I always read the material in the textbook before we cover it in class in order to grasp a firm understanding of the content before the professor adds their own information during lecture.
5. Set a bedtime
I am definitely guilty of climbing into bed at 11 p.m. then staying up until midnight scrolling through Tumblr, so I completely understand the urge to do so. However, I have also definitely regretted it. If you have to get up at 7 a.m., start to wind down after 10 p.m. Don’t do anything too strenuous, such as intense reading, and try not to look at any screens. The light from electronic screens fools your brain into thinking that it’s daytime, therefore it should be awake and alert, which makes it a lot harder to fall asleep once you finally lie down for the night. I find it to be relaxing to read something for fun right before bed. The mild activity wears you out a little and makes you more tired, but it is not so stimulating as to prolong your sleeplessness. You could also listen to calming music, take a bath, or do anything else that relaxes you. A good night’s rest is essential to mental alertness the next morning.
6. Cut yourself some slack
I aim to complete every task on my daily to-do list, but that isn’t always possible. Sometimes your reading takes way longer than you thought it would, or you get stuck on one math problem that takes you a whole hour to do. If you end the day with unfinished tasks, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, look at all the tasks you DID complete—look at you go! As long as you finish the most important and immediate tasks, it’s okay to leave some things undone. A good strategy might be to draw priority stars next to your three most important tasks for the day, then make absolute certain that you complete them. That way, you can look at your to-do list and feel proud that you’re keeping yourself on the track to success.
I hope that you found this list helpful! Good luck in your studies, and may you always stay organized.
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