10 Organizational Tips for a New Semester
Do you sometimes forget assignments? Is your head too foggy to think during class? Ever feel like you can’t keep up with daily coursework? Whether you’re preparing for your first semester or your next semester, take comfort that every student faces the same organizational challenges. The secret is that college stress never goes away; you simply get better at managing it!
One of the keys to combatting stress is staying organized. That doesn’t necessarily mean redesigning your entire bedroom or mapping out every minute of your day. Here are 10 simple strategies that take less than 10 minutes each and can help you keep everything in order:
1. Set Out Your Clothes and Materials the Day Before
Getting to class on time kickstarts a productive day. Leaving the house late might mean skipping breakfast, speeding down the highway, and feeling anxious.
When your alarm goes off, every minute counts. Digging through your closet or dirty clothes pile for something to wear will devour your time and self-esteem (as will sifting through stacks of papers, searching for your laptop charger, or doubling back for your notebook).
Before going to bed, take five minutes to set out everything you’ll need for class the next day. You’ll have a frazzle-free morning and be able to sleep more soundly knowing you’re prepared.
2. Check Your Planner, Email, Syllabus, Canvas, and/or Schedule Daily
Take 10 seconds to mentally answer these questions: (1) Where does my instructor post assignments and updates? (2) Where do I keep track of those assignments—in a planner, digital app, wall calendar?
Whether the answer is Canvas, Titan email, a personal planner, or a daily to-do list, take note! Get in the habit of checking these twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening before you go to bed. Doing so will help you to prioritize your daily coursework, make progress on larger assignments, and ensure you are fully prepared for the coming day.
3. Prioritize Your To-Do List
Before you to go bed, take 10 minutes to identify the next day’s must-do’s. Try to limit your list to the five most important items. These might include tasks that can be completed that day (i.e. pick up your History II textbook from the campus bookstore) or small action steps toward a bigger goal (write one page of a three-page essay on leadership).
Once you have your list, rank the items in order of most important to least important. Ask yourself: If I could only get one of these tasks completed tomorrow, which would be the most important one? Which tasks could technically wait another day or two? Then order them A through F. Here’s an example:
| Task | Importance |
| Submit leadership essay to instructor | A |
| Study for tomorrow’s quiz on molecular biology | B |
| Practice speech five times for presentation next week | C |
| Read humanities textbook pages 100 to 125 | D |
| Research topic for extra credit project, due at the end of the semester | F |
Once you have your list prioritized, tackle the tasks in order. You might be surprised when you accomplish more than you expected to!
4. Eat Breakfast
You might be thinking “What does breakfast have to do with being organized?”
Have you ever sat in class with intense brain fog, unable to focus? Or perhaps had trouble processing your homework?
While many factors can cause brain fog, distraction, and restlessness, skipping breakfast is guaranteed to have these results. When your energy tank is empty, it’s impossible to organize your thoughts, let alone your day. Eating breakfast improves memory, mood, energy, focus, and metabolism.
Eating breakfast doesn’t need to be a fancy ordeal. Choose protein-rich foods that you can consume in fewer than 10 minutes with little or no preparation. Get the nutrients you need without compromising your time. Here are some examples:
- Yogurt or cottage cheese
- Protein bar
- Cheese melted on whole wheat bread
- A scrambled egg and cheese
- Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread
- Assorted berries and nuts
- Protein-rich cereal
- Protein shake or smoothie
If your breakfast requires more preparation, consider making it the day before and putting it in the fridge for the next morning. Aim for at least 25 to 30 grams of protein to put the most fuel in your tank. Your homework will thank you later!
5. Arrive to Each Class 10 Minutes Early
Life happens. You won’t always be on time. However, there are benefits to arriving early. Not only does it negate unforeseeable delays, but it will also help you enter class stress-free!
During the 10 minutes before class, review your notes from the previous class. This will help put you in the right headspace for the next lecture, connect the dots between topics, and prepare you for any pop quizzes!
You may have multiple classes in one day. Get to each class 10 minutes early so you can organize your notes from the previous class and prepare for the next one.
6. Use One Folder or Binder Per Class
Choose a unique color for each binder or folder so they’re easy to tell apart at a glance. You might even wish to design a cover for each one or add tabs for different sections, such as “Quizzes,” “Class Notes,” “Homework Assignments,” “Exams,” and so on. This not only helps keep your papers sorted in your book bag or backpack, but it also allows you to quickly file and sort papers before, during, and after class.
7. Toss and Purge Daily
Did you know that 80% of what you keep, you will never use? Take 10 minutes each day to sort through your backpack, folders, flash drive, or inbox and throw away/delete anything you no longer need. This not only clears the clutter, but it also allows your brain to breathe.
At the end of the semester, throw away anything you no longer need or wish to keep (but save examples of your best work!). If you aren’t sure whether you need to keep or toss something, put it in a consistent place where you can easily retrieve it when needed. In other words…
8. Have a Home for Everything
Everything you own should have a home—a file drawer, box, folder, or neat stack on your desk.
Where do you keep your clothes? In a closet on a rack? In the third drawer of your dresser? You probably keep them somewhere consistent. Treat your school essentials the same way.
It may take a bit of work to decide where to keep your college-related supplies, but once you create that space it becomes a matter of minutes to stay organized because you know exactly what belongs where and how to retrieve it. The amount of time you save in the long term far outmatches the time spent planning and organizing that space.
9. Give Yourself “Me” Time!
During the week, make personal time a priority. Organize at least one evening hour around you, letting your brain breathe and your mind relax. College is a marathon, so self-care is essential.
Fill your personal hour with something that truly nourishes your soul and doesn’t just occupy your attention. For example, consider the difference between feeling happy and engaged after an hour of playing a video game (by yourself or with friends) versus mindlessly scrolling through your Instagram account to pass the time. Choose activities that you truly love that will give you a personal boost. This will free your mind to tackle the organizational challenges of the next day.
10. Know the Best-Kept Secret of Good Organization…
When you imagine “good organization,” you might picture a mostly-empty room or a cabinet filled with hundreds of folders and papers perfectly sorted. Perhaps you even secretly find these images revolting and wonder if you and organization just aren’t meant to coexist.
Good news: Organization is not a one-size-fits-all. The purpose of organization is to create a space where you personally feel productive and stress-free. For some, that means having documents out where they are clearly visible. For others, it means having everything neatly put away and out of sight. The key is to determine what style works best for you. Here are a few examples:
- Using a bulletin board to pin assignments and reminders in plain sight
- Storing classwork on multiple flash drives and keeping backups in your drawer at home
- Putting homework in a clear storage bin where it’s on display but neatly stacked
- Filing papers in a three-ring binder with tabs so the work is hidden from sight but easily accessible
One golden rule of organization to keep in mind: If you can consistently find or retrieve something in less than three minutes, your style is effective. If not, reevaluate and try something different! Learn what works best for you.
Want to discover your organizational style? Visit the Career Planning & Development Center web page today to register for upcoming workshops and more.
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