After a long relaxing summer or holiday break, it is easy for the start of a new semester to feel overwhelming and difficult to adjust to. You have to get used to new classes, new professors, and adding schoolwork to your schedule while also balancing sports, extracurriculars, and a student social life. I am a marketing major with a theater minor, part of Cabrini Theatre, taking voice lessons, working as a student ambassador, and interning in the Cabrini Marketing department. As you can probably tell, I love to keep busy. My schedule is packed. In this blog, I am going to share with you some tips that help keep me organized and on top of my assignments and schedule.
- Use a planner!
One of the items on my back-to-school list that I have become most dependent on is my planner. It allows me to break down my tasks by day and week while also allowing me to see the bigger picture for each month. I recommend working out a system for yourself that is easy to navigate and enjoyable to look at. I do this by using colored markers and pens to color code each class, making to-do lists for each day, using fun stickers, and highlighting the extra important stuff. My planner also helps me break down bigger assignments into smaller sections to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
- Take good notes.
Another essential part of keeping organized is taking good and effective notes. Whether you type them digitally or write them by hand, it makes studying so much easier when your notes are clean and easy to refer back to. I love to color coordinate them, make bulleted lists and write down the extra stuff discussed in class that may not always be on the PowerPoint slides or in the textbook. You never know what info your professor will cover that might come in handy later.
- Keep a clean workspace.
It may sound silly, but something else I find that helps me stay organized is a clean room or workspace. Nothing bothers me more than a messy desk. When all my things are in order, I feel like I can focus more and can enjoy sitting down to do my work. And hey, Cleaning up can help with de-stressing too!
- Take time for yourself!
It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the stress of school. I have always been extremely hard on myself when it came to schoolwork and things like memorizing lines for a musical. I often would forget to take time for myself and would find myself running on empty very frequently. In college, I realized that taking some time to enjoy something you love every once in a while is crucial to a successful semester. I find it helps me stay calmer and keeps me on track longer when I do sit down to focus.
One of the things I pride myself on is my organizational skills but believe me, becoming like this was definitely a learning process. I hope my tips can help motivate you to stay organized and play a role in your successful semester. No matter what this semester throws at you, remember: You can do it! We’re all in this together!