University may be the busiest time of your life, between balancing your school work, social life and a job there is always something going on. The more you have on the go, the more likely you are to forget an important date or deadline. This should be avoided at all costs, and is quite easy to do if you put your mind to it. I am going to share my tips and tricks to stay on top of all your work, these are all tried and true and have always worked for me.
GET YOURSELF A PLANNER
Either a paper or electronic planner will do, I am a huge fan of paper planners but also have one on my phone that corresponds with my paper one. Everyone is different so this is completely up to you.
As soon as you get your planner, start filling it out. Start with the basics, what days do you work, what days will you be working out, when will you be out socializing. Even if you don't have your syllabus yet, start filling it out, that way when you get the syllabus all you have to do is add in your school stuff.
When using your planner make sure you have a system. I'm not saying everything has to be colour coded, but structure will help to keep things organized. I personally love having a certain colour assigned to each class, as well as work, babysitting, volunteering and working out. This is personal preference so if that's to your jam that's all good!
Your planner wont be of any use to you if you dont keep it on you; I dont leave the house unless I have mine with me. You never know when something may come up that you need to catalog immediately.
Set aside a day each week to go through and update your planner, thirty minutes should be enough to update all the info in your planner. I love sitting down on Sunday evening and updating everything in my planner for the week to come.
MAKE A LIST
I am a huge fan of to-do lists, if you look around my house you will see to-do lists all over the place. If I don't have a to-do list made I have such a hard time getting anything accomplished. As a university student there is always something to do, making lists allows for me to gather my thoughts and see what I have to do. Maybe you're not a fan of lists because it feels like you cant cross anything off. If this is the case start writing things down that you know you will finish before the end of the day. this could include things like showering, or brushing your teeth, I don't know about you but crossing something off a list is so satisfying.
Getting the syllabus at the beginning of the year can be overwhelming, especially when you get five in one day. As soon as I start getting syllabi, I open up my laptop and get to work making a list. I have two different lists for my school work, a required readings list and a due date list, each of these is organized by month.
Once i have my required readings and assignments organized by date I print them off and keep them in my planner. As soon as I have either finished the assignment or read the required pages I will cross it off. This is a great way to visualize how much work you have in remaining in the school year.
SCHEDULE
When scheduling your time, being consistent is everything. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day will help you to be more productive and organize. The more routines you can incorporate into your daily routine the better. This allows for you to have a base structure for your day and all you have to do is fill in the blanks with you daily to-do's.
I'm sure you guys have already guessed his by now, but I am a huge fan of scheduling everything. This give you a very clear picture of what your day will look like when you have put in all your obligations. Now when I say everything, I mean everything. Block out time for cleaning, for studying, for making meals. If you can set aside time in your day for everything then you will have the time to do everything.
PRODUCTIVITY
If you go into your phone, I am sure that you have a clock app of some sort that has a timer in it... USE IT. Using the timer either in your phone or on the stove is great for keeping you on track. Maybe you cant focus for more than 30 minutes because your room is a mess and you have to clean. Instead of fretting about your room and getting half the work you should be doing done, set a timer. Work hard for 30 minutes (or more) then take a 15 minute break, tidy up real quick then hop back to your work. If you do this throughout the day you will find yourself getting so much done.
Wouldn't it be so awesome if we could just work all day and be super productive all the time. I would seriously love this, but unfortunately this just isn't the case, breaks are a must when you have work to do. Even if it is just a five minute break, it is better than working yourself until your burnout and cant function anymore.
Everyone is different and while I am sure some of us can function at 5am, I most definitely cannot. If you want to be the most productive you need to figure out what is going to work best for you. Maybe you get the most work done in the evenings, if thats the case then block out your big to-do's in the evening. This guarantees that you get the most done.
CLEANING
I dont know about you, but there is something amazing about crawling into a nicely made bed at the end of the day. Not only do I feel more relaxed but I find I get a much better sleep when my bed is made. Im sure you are all saying that you dont have the time to make your bed, but I can assure you that you do. It shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes to make your bed, it doesn't have to be perfect it just has to be done. If you feel like your room is an absolute mess, make your bed; you will not a huge difference.
There is nothing worse than trying to get ready in the morning and not being able to find any clothes because you haven't done laundry in a week. I have definitely done this and it sucks. This can be avoided if you set aside the time to do laundry, even if its just one load on Sundays, its better than nothing.
Have you ever tried to study or work in a messy environment? It is kind of impossible (maybe that's just me), if I am in a messy environment I CANNOT focus and wont get any work done. You dont need to do a deep clean every day, but setting aside 15 minutes from your day can be a game changer. As mentioned above, when taking breaks you can set the timer for fifteen minutes and do a speed clean. If you can do this consistently your space should be much cleaner.
I hope you all enjoyed todays post, of course everyone is different in how they stay organized during the school year. This however is how I not only stay organized but stay sane when the workload becomes overwhelming. Let me know how you stay organized when your workload increases.
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