GPAs, finals, and deadlines, oh my! The terrors of finals week loom over our heads as we speak. You might be reading this to take a break from your overwhelming chem review - or using facebook to procrastinate starting that 8 page paper that is due tomorrow. Either way, this guide is here to help! I don’t have any fancy tricks when it comes to studying, except maybe stress eating, but I do know how to stay organized. Staying organized is one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself this finals season. An organized student = a successful (and happy) student. If you’re thinking, pssh, who cares, I’ll just do everything the night before, think again. Imagine that you spend 10 minutes every day looking up what homework you actually have to do. That doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up to 70 minutes a week, and 60.7 hours a year. So essentially you are spending two and a half days looking around for an assignment. Ain’t nobody got time for that! You could be sleeping, eating, watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...literally anything else. So now that you know you could have some free time, why not get organized and improve your productivity with just a few easy steps? What steps, you ask? These steps. These steps on how to become an organizational boss before finals.

1. Get the dates.

Figure out when your finals are, if you have homework due before then, and when your free time (out of class) is. Find everything that you have to do and write it down!!

2. Get a calendar and some highlighters.

Your calendar will need to have sufficient space for writing lots of stuff, because you are about to write out everything you need to do in order to finish the semester. Get some colorful highlighters too - for highlighting due dates and important assignments. Having a planner is helpful because you can physically see how much time in the week you have to spread your work over, and how fast that Dust Bowl research paper deadline is actually approaching.

3. Actually make a plan.

Now that you’re equipped, make a plan that will help you be prepared and reduce stress. Working on a little bit every day is much healthier than doing everything all at once (all-nighters shouldn’t be happening, people), and you actually learn more if you practice every day. After you write down all of your due dates, write what your goal is for that specific assignment each day. Your foreign language oral exam might not be until the 13th, but what you didn’t realize is you have to prepare two dialogues due before class on the 9th. So in the days leading up to the 9th, mark how much you want to accomplish for that day, such as an outline for one dialogue, and the time frame in which you need to work in. It seems tedious, but when the semester is over you will be thanking yourself.

4. So you have a plan. Now what?

No, but seriously, follow your plan. It is easier to complete a task when the workload is a little more approachable. Follow your daily plan like a checklist, and you can reward yourself when you finish everything. When you remember that your final is tomorrow, remember that you’ve been preparing all along. So get a good night’s sleep, eat healthy food, and be confident in your newfound skills!