How To Stay Organized In College

College has been one of the busiest times of my life. There is always something going on whether it’s for class, work, sports, student organizations, friends, or family, and it can seem overwhelming at times. I have always been an organized person, but I had to kick it up a notch when I started my freshman year. I found myself struggling to meet deadlines for class projects, accidentally double booking my evening plans, and missing student organization meetings. Here are the three easy steps that I took to keep myself organized in college and get on top of my schedule.

Step 1: Buy a planner!

This one may seem a little bit obvious to some of you, but you would be surprised how many people don’t have one or don’t use theirs. My planner is my lifeline. It tells me where I need to be and what I’m doing every day and keeps me from double booking myself. They make planners in all sizes and with all different set ups. My freshman year I had a smaller one and it worked ok, but I found myself needing more space and got the same type of layout for my sophomore year, but bigger. The style that I like is made by BlueSky, and starts each month with a calendar layout followed by individual weeks with space to write notes for each day. It also has a notes section in the back and a contacts list page. I have found that this style works great for me, but I would recommend looking at a few different layouts to see which one will work best for you. I get mine at Target, but you can find planners anywhere that sells school or office supplies, or online.

Step 2: Write down everything! (And I do mean everything)

Write down every schedule, event, due date, exam, and meeting that you have. I always start by gathering all the syllabi that I received and writing down project, quiz, and exam due dates. It makes it so much easier to remember to study for something when you see its due date approaching in your calendar. The next schedule that I write in in all of my meetings and events for student organizations and other extracurricular activities. I also write in when there are supplemental instruction sessions (aka tutoring sessions) being held for my difficult classes. Even if I don’t end up going to them every week, it is helpful having it in my planner for weeks that I had a harder time understanding the class material. Now that all of my school related schedules are planned out I take a look at what my availability could be for work. When doing this it is important to keep in mind that you need time for studying and homework as well. Giving your work your availability after you have looked at your other schedules makes it a lot easier to schedule out your time and make sure that you don’t miss out on a student organization or club that you would have liked to participate in. You don’t have to schedule everything in the order that I do. You could schedule work first; then schedule your class schedule around it, and lastly see what organizations you can be a part of. The main idea is that you consider all of your schedules when adding a new one in. That way you avoid overscheduling yourself.

Once you have your schedule planned out, it is very easy to make sure that you can access it wherever you are. I always add my work schedule, meetings, and important due dates into my Outlook calendar that I can see on my laptop and phone. This makes it easy to check your schedule wherever you need to and whenever people ask about it.

Step 3: Keep up with it!

Now that you put in all the hard work of getting your schedule set up and writing in all of your important dates, keep doing it! Whenever you need to schedule a meeting or event you can check your planner, pick a date, and write it in right away. I also write down what homework I get and when it’s due. It makes planning out your study time easier because you know at a glance what assignments are due next.

I hope that you use these steps, become organized, and stay organized. It makes a busy and stressful college schedule easier to manage and allows you to plan things out so that you have more free time to spend with friends! Good luck and happy planning!