Being in college is time consuming. You have classes, extracurricular activities, a social life, jobs, trying to stay healthy, and get enough sleep is at times hard to manage. Eventually something has to give, and usually that is sleeping and trying to stay healthy. College is supposed to be the best four years of your life, but it is also some of the most stressful. Trying to get 48 hours’ worth of stuff done in a 24-hour window is extremely difficult to do.
My dad told me when I was struggling with organization and getting things done, that instead of sitting in-between classes doing nothing, use that time to be productive! Use it to get some homework done and study, or use it to get a coffee with friends. You can do a lot within the 30 minutes to a couple hours you have in-between classes. This time for so many people is lost due to the fact that they don’t realize the ten minutes you spend doing homework in-between class means an extra ten minutes later that night doing what you want. Whether it is watching Netflix, hanging with friends, or being able to work and come home to no homework for once. That time might not seem significant, but it is.
A planner is also an amazing tool to stay organized. Most of us have planners but we don’t use them to their full potential. A lot of us put appointments and exams in our planner, but nothing else. My planner has every appointment, every assignment due date, every exam, and every shift at work scribbled in it. With all this, it can start to look like a bunch of words jumbled together. When this becomes an issue, I use different color highlighters to separate classes, appointments, and work. This may seem extremely over the top, but it truly helps when you need to find something specific in your planner. If you need to look when your exam is then you only need to focus on the purple highlights instead of it all. It is an amazing time saver.
Instead of waiting to do homework at 10 o’clock at night, do it right after classes. When you are done, then you can have your free time you so desperately want. Plan out when you will get your homework done and block off a certain amount of time to do it. If it takes longer then the two-hour window you gave yourself, that’s okay, but get a general idea of how long you will need to work. It is helpful to understand when to start your homework so you can stop at a certain time. This can allow you to have more of a social life, workout like you want to, or even join another club.
Organization will help you a great deal in the future and it is a trait that everyone looks for in a future employee. Organization is a key component in stopping procrastination, as well. By following these tips, this will help you keep everything you need straight, while also keeping your grades up and living the life you want.
